A post is being shared on social media claiming that the Karnataka High Court had given a historic verdict on the ongoing Hijab row by allowing Muslim girls to attend educational institutions wearing Hijab. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Karnataka HC issued an order allowing Hijab in educational institutions.
Fact: On 10 February 2022, the Karnataka HC issued an interim order in the writ petitions filed against the Hijab ban in educational institutions. In the interim order, the Karnataka HC restrained all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders. The next hearing of the case will be on 14 February 2022. Challenging the Karnataka HC interim order, students filed a petition in the Supreme Court on 11 February 2022. The Karnataka HC’s interim order did not allow Hijab practise in educational institutions. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched on the internet with relevant keywords, it is found out that, on 10 February 2022, the Karnataka High court issued an interim order in the petitions filed against the Hijab ban in education institutions in Karnataka. According to the media reports, the Karnataka High Court had requested the State Government to re-open educational institutions and also, restrained the students of all religions from wearing shawls, scarves, Hijab, and any religious flag within the classroom.
We found the interim order on the Karnataka High Court website. The interim order of the Karnataka High court reads, “In the above circumstances, we request the State Government and all other stakeholders to reopen the educational institutions and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest. Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders”. Further, the Karnataka HC clarified that the interim order is confined to such educational institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform. The next hearing of this case is slated for 14 February 2022. The Karnataka HC’s interim order did not allow Hijab practice in educational institutions.
Challenging the Karnataka HC interim orders on disallowing students from wearing religious attire, a student filed a petition in the Supreme Court on 11 February 2022. But the Supreme Court rejected an urgent hearing on this petition. Declining the urgent hearing on the petition, Chief Justice NV Ramana said, “Don’t spread these things to a national level. We will interfere only at an appropriate time”. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that neither the Karnataka HC nor the Supreme Court had passed a verdict allowing Hijab practice in educational institutions.
To sum it up, the Karnataka High Court did not pass a verdict allowing Hijab in educational institutions.
