India's top court split on school ban on hijabs

(13 Oct 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS New Delhi - 13 October 2022 1. Wide of media gathered on lawns of Supreme Court 2. Mid of dome of Supreme Court 3. Indian flag 4. Lawyers entering building 5. Cameras 6. Lawyer speaking to media 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ejaz Maqbool, Lawyer representing Muslim petitioners: "There is a split verdict has come between the two honourable judges, Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. Justice Hemant Gupta has framed 11-12 questions, and he has held that the GO (government order) passed by the Karnataka Government and the impugned judgment of the High Court is correct, and he has dismissed all the appeals preferred by the parties. Justice Dhulia has respectfully differed with his opinion." 8. Maqbool speaking to media 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ejaz Maqbool, Lawyer representing Muslim petitioners: "He (Justice Dhulia) has held that her fundamental right to education is more important, that whether she should be permitted a hijab or not permitted." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: Udipi, Karnataka - 24 February 2022 10. Various of Muslim students walking towards the gate of a college which is denying them entry into college wearing a hijab 11. Student comforted by other student 12. Various of police outside the college gate, students gathered outside gate STORYLINE: Two judges on India's top court on Thursday differed over a ban on the wearing of the hijab, a headscarf used by Muslim women, in educational institutions and referred the sensitive issue to a larger bench of three or more judges to settle. Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued a split ruling after hearing petitions filed by a group of Muslims against a high court’s judgment in Karnataka state. The state court had refused to stay a government order issued in February that banned people from wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges. Karnataka State Education Minister B.C. Nagesh said Thursday the ban on wearing the hijab in educational institutions in the state would continue until the top court settled the issue of whether the Muslim headscarf is an essential religious practice in Islam. The dispute began early this year when a government-run school in Karnataka’s Udupi district barred students wearing hijabs from entering classrooms, triggering protests by Muslims who said they were being deprived of their fundamental rights to education and religion. Hindu students launched counter-protests by wearing saffron shawls, a color closely associated with that religion and favored by Hindu nationalists. More schools in the state followed with similar bans and the state’s high court disallowed students from wearing hijab and any other religious clothing. The Muslim groups petitioned the Supreme Court against the ban. Supreme Court Justice Gupta on Thursday said there was a divergent opinion and that the matter should be referred to a larger bench of more than two judges. He dismissed the appeal by Muslim groups against the government order. However, Justice Dhulia said venturing into essential religious practice was not needed and the state high court had taken the wrong way. “It was just a question of choice. One thing which was topmost for me was the education of a ... child,” he said. During the arguments, the petitioners insisted that preventing Muslim girls from wearing the hijab in the classroom would jeopardize their educations since they might stop attending school. The state government, however, claimed that its order banning the hijab in classrooms was “religion-neutral.” Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/23a38cbd6428412596e7a102980642f4