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Monday, October 14, 2024  
10 Rabi Al-Akhar 1446  

Indian Supreme Court split on decision to allow hijab in classrooms

It arises from a ban in February by state of Karnataka that forbade students to wear hijab in classrooms
Members of media speak in front of cameras after a panel of the Supreme Court said it was divided on a decision to allow hijabs in classrooms, outside the premises of the court in New Delhi, October 13, 2022. Photo: Reuters
Members of media speak in front of cameras after a panel of the Supreme Court said it was divided on a decision to allow hijabs in classrooms, outside the premises of the court in New Delhi, October 13, 2022. Photo: Reuters

NEW DELHI: A panel of India’s top court said on Thursday it was divided on a decision to allow hijabs in classrooms, and referred the matter to the chief justice, who will set up a larger bench to hear the case.

It arises from a ban in February by the southern state of Karnataka that forbade students to wear the hijab in classrooms, unleashing protests by Muslim students and their parents, as well as counter protests by Hindu students.

“We have divergence of opinion,” said Justice Hemant Gupta, one of the two panel judges, as he delivered Thursday’s decision. However, the judges did not say when the larger bench would be set up, or when the next hearing would be held.

Muslims are a sizeable minority in India, accounting for 13% of the population of 1.4 billion in the south Asian nation where Hindus make up the majority.

Some Muslim students challenged in the Supreme Court a ruling by a state court that upheld the ban in March. Critics of the ban say it is another way of marginalising a community, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules Karnataka, could benefit from the polarisation.

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Islamophobia

Narendra Modi

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Hijab

karnataka

Muslims

hijab ban