Women Revolting Against Hijab Even In Islamic Nation Like Iran, Hijab Protests Orchestrated By PFI: Karnataka Govt Tells Supreme Court

Karnataka government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday (Sep 20) that students were goaded into wearing hijab to school by radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) through a concerted campaign.

Pointing out that women are launching resistance movement against the hijab even in Islamic countries such as Iran, the Karnataka government informed the court that what unfolded in the state before some college development committees banned the hijab in their respective educational institutions was not "spontaneous" but "part of a larger conspiracy".

A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka. On Mar 15, a three-judge bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S. Dixit and J.M. Khazi upheld the Karnataka government's Feb 5 order banning pre-university students from wearing the hijab.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made a detailed submission on behalf of the Karnataka government.

Mehta pointed out that no student of the school was insisting on hijab till 2022.

"Neither anybody was insisting on wearing a hijab, nor was anybody insisting for saffron shawl," he said. "In 2022, a movement started on social media by an organisation called the Popular Front of India. The movement — as the FIR lodged subsequently suggested — was designed to create a kind of an agitation based on religious feelings of people, and as a part, there were continuous social media messages that (said), start wearing hijab."

Since a section of students was insisting on wearing saffron shawls to classrooms, rules were notified prohibiting both hijab and saffron shawls.

The government also pointed out that its circular notifying educational institutions to stick to their prescribed uniforms was "religion-neutral".

"A movement was started in 2022 on social media by the PFI… Continuous messages were sent to start wearing hijab. This was not a spontaneous act by a few children but part of a larger conspiracy and children were acting as advised," Mehta argued.

Dismissing arguments that the government was 'throttling the voice of the minorities', Mehta said that the government was forced to enter because of the circumstances created by the protests.

"If the government had not acted, it would have been a dereliction of duty. The circular was secular. It is not that one particular community was stopped from wearing hijab. All students had to adhere to their respective prescribed uniforms. The circular was religion neutral," Mehta submitted.

Mehta highlighted the dismay expressed by the Karnataka High Court over the agitations happening in the middle of the academic year.

"We have the power to issue directions to the institutions to implement uniform… There was no disparity shown among students," Mehta emphasised.

He said the hijab, at best, could be categorised as a "permissible practice" and not an "essential religious practice" in Islam.