Bengaluru: The Muslim community in Karnataka has decided to protest against the Karnataka High Court’s Tuesday order disallowing students from wearing the hijab in pre-university colleges that have a prescribed uniform.
The HC had ruled that wearing the hijab wasn’t an ‘essential religious practice’ in Islam, and dismissed petitions filed by Muslim girl students in Udupi.
As prohibitory orders continue to be clamped in various districts of Karnataka, Sageer Ahmed Rashadi — the Ameer-e-Shariath or tallest Muslim religious leader in the state — has called for a statewide bandh Thursday.
“To display our anger against the regrettable order of the high court in the hijab row, I call for a day-long peaceful bandh across Karnataka. We appeal to the oppressed classes, the poor and vulnerable and all sections of the society to join the bandh,” Rashadi said in a press conference Wednesday.
“We specifically appeal to the youngsters to not use force to shut businesses or disrupt peace. This is to show our disappointment with the order,” he added.
Rashadi’s call for bandh has been backed by Dalit organisations.
“We wholeheartedly support the bandh call given by Muslim organisations Thursday. It is because Muslims and Dalits went separate ways that Yogi Adityanath has become chief minister once again. We should not let that happen again. Dalits will firmly back Muslims in this fight,” Dr Mohan Raj, state president of the Republican Party of India and the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, told reporters Wednesday.
The call for the bandh comes at a time when protests, gatherings, celebrations and public meetings have been banned by district administrations across Karnataka.
Also read: Restriction on wearing hijab ‘reasonable’: Full text of Karnataka HC judgement upholding ban
Muslim-owned businesses shut in Bhatkal
In the Muslim-majority town of Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, Muslim business owners shut their shops Wednesday.
The Majlise Islah Wa Tanzeem — a century-old influential social and religious organisation in Bhatkal — Tuesday asked all those opposed to the HC verdict to shut down businesses.
“We did not call for a bandh but only said that we will close our office and asked for solidarity from those who also think the high court order was unacceptable. It was voluntary,” Imran Lanka, executive member of the Tanzeem, told ThePrint.
The Tanzeem will, however, extend its support to the call for the bandh given by the Ameer-e-Shariath Thursday.
The Bhatkal police Tuesday arrested four persons — Sharikh Anees, Taimur Hassan, Azim Ahmed and Mohideen Abhir — on allegations of forcing shops to shut down soon after the high court’s verdict.
(Edited by Saikat Niyogi)
Also read: ‘If Ambedkar were alive, he’d be crying’, says hijab petitioner as state hails ‘historic’ HC order