BENGALURU: Contending that neither the Karnataka Education Act nor the rules framed under the Act prescribe any uniform, senior advocate Ravivarma Kumar on Wednesday argued before the Karnataka High Court that entrusting the welfare of the students to the College Development Committee (CDC) headed by an MLA belonging to a party is a death-knell for democracy.
He further contended that people wearing turban are in the Army, so why not a person wearing hijab in educational institutions? Banning the hijab is a draconian decision which spells doomsday for the education of Muslim girls whose presence is very less now in classes and may further come down in future due to this issue, he added.
Arguing that there is no provision in law to prohibit the hijab, he submitted on behalf of the petitioners-students before the full bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi, during the hearing of pleas questioning the order issued by the government, that the CDC cannot prescribe uniforms for the students.
He said bangles, bindi, crucifix and turban are also religious symbols, but these are not included in the government order and alleged that it was a case of discrimination purely on the basis of religion.
Meanwhile, before adjourning further hearing for Thursday, the court asked the state government to file objections to the application filed by the petitioners-students seeking directions to use dupatta of the same colour as the uniform to wear as headscarves by students.
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