Court confirms hijab ban in schools in South India

A court on Tuesday upheld the ban on wearing hijab in schools in a state in southern India, weeks after the measure generated violent protests and fears of discrimination against the country's Muslims.

The Karnataka High Court, after several weeks of deliberations, ruled that wearing the hijab “is not an essential religious practice in the Islamic faith”.

He further argued that “the objective of the (school) regulation is to create a 'safe environment' (...) where egalitarian ideals must be easily perceived by all students.”

Hundreds of police officers were displaced Monday night to preserve public order before the ruling.

The southern state spent weeks in tension after a small group of teenage girls were banned from wearing hijab in schools at the end of last year.

The move sparked protests that spread across the state, and police used tear gas to disperse crowds, while more schools imposed the ban and radical Hindu groups organized noisy counter-demonstrations.

The hijab is a piece worn by Muslim women and many in Karnataka say that girls have worn it in schools for decades, just as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have worn it with the symbols of their religions.

Critics accuse the authorities in Karnataka, ruled by the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata, of seeking to divide religious communities that have coexisted peacefully for generations.

Human rights groups say the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 angered radical groups that see India as a Hindu country and seek to undermine its secular bases at the expense of the Muslim community of 200 million people.

Several Muslim students told local media that they would rather stay at home than have to choose between faith and education.

“My daughter has worn hijab since she was five years old, it is to protect her dignity,” Nasir Sharif, father of a 15-year-old girl, told AFP in February.

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