The Udupi Muslim girls whose petitions seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classrooms were dismissed by the Karnataka High Court said on Tuesday they will not go to college without hijab and fight the case legally till they get "justice".
They also claimed the verdict was 'unconstitutional'.
"We had approached the High Court seeking permission to wear hijab in the classrooms. The order has come against us. We will not go to the college without hijab but we will fight for it. We will try all the legal ways. We will fight for justice and our rights," one of the girls said in a press conference in this coastal town.
"The verdict which came today is unconstitutional...the constitution itself provides us (our rights) to follow my religion and whatever I can wear," the girl stated and also referred to a government order on February 5 banning any cloth that disturbed peace, harmony and public order on the campus.
According to them, the circular came only after they approached the HC.
Accusing the government of 'creating an issue' by issuing a circular, the girls alleged it was done to create pressure.
"How much issue they made! Oh my God! They made an issue for all the colleges. They have denied education to all the girls. This was done to create pressure...," the girl charged.
She reiterated that Hijab was an essential part of her religion.
"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out portion of the order.
The other two judges in the panel were Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.
The bench also maintained that the government has power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation. By the said order, the state government had banned wearing clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges.
The court also rejected the plea to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against the college, its principal and a teacher.
"In the above circumstances, all these writ petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be and accordingly are dismissed. In view of the dismissal of the writ petition, all the pending applications fell into insignificance and are accordingly disposed off," the bench said in its order.
On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom wearing Hijab.
This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear Hijabs in classrooms which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear Hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said.
"The institution did not have any rule on Hijab-wearing as such and no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Gowda had said.
