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Updated March 16th, 2022 at 17:51 IST

Hijab row: CFI backs K'taka bandh against verdict on March 17, urges students to partake

Hours after there was a call for Karnataka Bandh over the High Court's verdict on Hijab, the Campus Front of India (CFI) came forward to back it on Wednesday.

Reported by: Sudeshna Singh
Karnataka hijab row
Image: PTI | Image:self
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Hours after a call was raised for Karnataka Bandh over the High Court's verdict on Hijab, the Campus Front of India (CFI) on Wednesday voiced support to the same. In a press release, the Karnataka State President of the CFI made clear that the body is all in support of the Bandh and urged 'every student and student organization' to join in. 

"High court must not be let unquestioned for the verdict which denies individual and religious rights of a person. So, the Campus Front backs the call for Karnataka Bandh and urges every student and student organisation to extend their support to this Bandh," CFI state president Athavullah Punjalkatte said in the press release. Earlier in February, when the controversy was at its peak, Republic Media Network had exposed CFI admitting on record that it led the students' protests 'from the front.'

Karnataka Bandh on March 17 

Muslim organisations in Karnataka have jointly called for a state-wide peaceful bandh on March 17 in a bid to protest Karnataka High Court's verdict on the Hijab row. The signatories include Imarat-e-Shariah Karnataka, Jamiat-i-Ulama Hind Karnataka, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees, Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat Karnataka, Karnataka Muttehda Muslim Mahaz, Popular Front of India, All India Milli Council, GIO Karnataka and Forward Trust. The bandh was announced on Wednesday by Ameer-e-Shariah Karnataka Maulana Sagheer Ahmed Rashadi.

Karnataka HC's verdict on Hijab row

Earlier on Tuesday, the Karnataka HC bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna Dixit and JM Khazi ruled that Hijab is not an essential religious practice. The bench was hearing the plea of students of Government P.U. College for Girls, Udupi who sought permission to attend classes wearing a Hijab and a direction to the effect that it is an "essential practise" of Islam.

In its judgment panning 129 pages, the court has eloquently answered key questions pertaining to the Hijab row and stressed that the prescription of the school uniform is only a reasonable restriction that students cannot object to. The judgment observed, "There is absolutely no material placed on record to prima facie show that wearing of hijab is a part of an essential religious practice in Islam and that the petitioners have been wearing hijab from the beginning. This apart, it can hardly be argued that hijab being a matter of attire, can be justifiably treated as fundamental to the Islamic faith. It is not that if the alleged practice of wearing hijab is not adhered to, those not wearing hijab become the sinners, Islam loses its glory and it ceases to be a religion." 

"Young students are able to readily grasp from their immediate environment, differentiating lines of race, region, religion, language, caste, place of birth, etc. The aim of the regulation is to create a ‘safe space’ where such divisive lines should have no place and the ideals of egalitarianism should be readily apparent to all students alike. Adherence to dress code is mandatory for students," it further elaborated. 

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Published March 16th, 2022 at 17:51 IST

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