Hijab ban: Indian court begins hearings as pupils return to school

Some education institutions have barred students from wearing a headscarf

Indian police officers stand outside a government girls school in Udupi, Karnataka, as pupils arrive for class on February 14, 2022. Reuters

The Karnataka government banned public gatherings to prevent protests on Monday as the high court in the south Indian state began hearings on the constitutionality of schools and colleges barring female pupils and students from wearing the hijab.

A group of Muslim students petitioned the Karnataka High Court earlier this month after several schools and colleges in the state began enforcing rules against wearing the headscarf to class.

The court on Thursday directed students not wear “religious dress” to class until it reached a decision, and ordered the reopening of schools and colleges that the state government had shut as protests against the hijab ban escalated.

Schools across the state opened on Monday but higher education institutions remained closed. Pupils and teachers wearing the hijab were seen being asked to remove them before being allowed to enter the schools.

India's Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear petitions against the high court's temporary ban on religious dress for students. Chief Justice N V Ramana appealed for calm while the lower court considered the issue, and promised to uphold students’ rights under the country’s secular constitution.

The Karnataka High Court said it would continue hearings on the issue on Tuesday.

The state government, run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has defended the hijab ban, saying that allowing pupils to wear it disturbed uniformity and harmony.