Hijab row: Owaisi questions barring students' entry; says 'I wear skull-cap in Parliament'

Wading into the Hijab row, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, on Wednesday, questioned why were girls barred from entering schools in a Hijab, terming the attire as 'essential' in Islam. Comparing his attire to the schoolgirls, he asked why they (Hijab-clad girls) cannot go to school in hijabs, if he can go to Parliament in skull cap. Karnataka High Court's 3-member bench is hearing a plea challenging Karnataka govt's order banning students from wearing hijabs in schools. 

Owaisi: 'If I can wear skull cap in Parliament..'

"Kerala HC has stated that burqa, hijab and chadar (blanket) are an essential feature of Islam. If I can comment on PM Modi & BJP donning a beard, skull cap in Parliament, why are you preventing this girl from wearing hijab? Let her study. Make your daughters engineer, doctor, collector, DMs," said Owaisi in a Moradabad public meeting.

On Wednesday, Karnataka High Court formed 3-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and J M Khazi to hear the Hijab row plea. After Hijab protests across Karnataka, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced the closure of all high schools and colleges for the next three days and asked everyone to cooperate with orders. Section 144 has also been imposed across several districts of the state and all public gatherings and protests have been banned in Bengaluru for two weeks.

Karnataka Hijab row

In December, Udipi's Kundapur PU college's principal - Rudra Gowda issued a circular - banning students from wearing hijabs in classrooms. Defending his order, Gowda said, "Students are free to wear hijabs inside school premises but not in classrooms. This rule is being followed to ensure uniformity in classrooms". This decision led to uproar, with some students not being allowed to enter classrooms by college staff and fellow students.

Similarly, students were stopped from attending college for wearing head-scarves instead of full-length hijabs. While the college authorities stated that they could not enter premises, students cited the college rulebook which allowed students to wear head-scarves if the colour matches that of uniform. Escalating the matter further, students from the other community (presumably Hindu) started wearing saffron scarves to college in protest against the hijab-wearing Muslim students. Several govt schools across Udipi, Chikmagalur, Mangalore, Bhadravathi, Kundapura, Belgaum, Hassan and Honnali have barred entry to hijab-clad female students.

Later, the Government PU College, Kundapura allowed the Hijab-clad female students to enter the premises on Monday. However, in a controversial move, the Hijab-clad students were seated in separate classrooms, away from other students. The state govt has transferred Director of Pre-University - Snehal R, without a posting and replaced her with Bidar Depty Commissioner Ramachandran R. The state govt has issued an order imposing a ban on the wearing of clothes that tend to disturb equality, integrity, and public order.