No one has yet accused the Catholic Church of Islamophobia but many wonder why a minority community is keeping silent
by John Dayal
The Karnataka government’s controversial order banning school and college-going Muslim girls from wearing the traditional hijab covering their hair has provoked protests from the community in many Indian states.
Protests have also been made in Islamic countries such as Kuwait, where influential leaders are calling for a ban on the entry of any member of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into their country.
The ban order was issued after an altercation in the Udipi district between hijab-wearing students and members of a right-wing Hindu group, which objected and in turn came to the campus sporting saffron color scarves.
The confrontation on campuses between Hindu and Muslim students also reflects the political binary between the Kerala-based Popular Front of India through its student wing called the Campus Front of India and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the ideological front of the BJP that rules Karnataka.
The constitutionality of the official order has been challenged in Karnataka High Court. At first, a single judge seemed to have reinforced the ban while referring the matter to a full bench, saying no religious dresses should be worn in the interim period. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and comprising Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Khazi Jaibunnesa Mohiyuddin is now hearing arguments in the case.
The Karnataka government has argued in court that the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam and preventing its use does not violate Article 25 of the Indian constitution that guarantees religious freedom.
A prominent section, including many in left-wing political parties, support the right of women students to wear the hijab as a part of their religious identity
Lawyers for the women students say the government order was unconstitutional, vindictive, targeted the minority community and would have the effect of injuring the education of Muslim women.
Nationwide, the numbers of Hindu and Muslim women in senior schools and college are substantially behind those from the Christian and Sikh communities, surveys have shown.
The High Court bench has invited great interest for several reasons. Its proceedings are being livestreamed on YouTube and are attracting audiences in the tens of thousands across the country.
It is also putting the spotlight on the female Muslim judge along with Justice Dixit, who has in the past been called out for remarks criticized as being misogynist.