Supreme Court continued hearing the petitions which challenged the Karnataka High Court judgment given on September 19 which had upheld a ban order given on wearing hijab by Muslim students in state’s educational institutions. On the seventh day of hearing by aTop Court Bench which comprised Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia who submitted that Muslim girls wearing a Hijab could not be said to have hurt anybody’s sentiments as they remarked “Our identity is hijab“.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave who appeared for the Petitioners made elaborate submissions on the religious and cultural diversity of India, the Constituent assembly, and the protection of religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution. He submitted that Muslim girls wearing Hijab cannot be said to have hurt anybody’s sentiments. “Our identity is hijab,” Dave remarked.
He added that first, the entire dispute over ‘love jihad’ and now, the prevention of Muslim girls from wearing hijab to educational institutions, reflected a pattern that was intended to “marginalize” the minority community of the state.
Supreme Court Judge urged the Bench which is hearing the case to expand the scope of Articles 19 and 21, as the Constitution has to interpret liberally the concept that. “Religious right is individual which was conceptualized 5,000 years ago, Dave said, “This country is built upon beautiful traditions. And in 5,000 years, we have adopted many religions…many religions…India gave birth to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Islam came here without conquering and and we accepted. India is the only place where people who came here settled here without conquest, except the British.
