Hijab Row: Prayers are unusual, Counsel for Udupi PU College in HC

"The prayers are unusual. The mandamus is to conduct an inquiry against the principal and its lecturers for their hostile approach," senior counsel SS Naganand told the full bench of the Karnataka High Court.

The councel for the Udupi based pre-university college contended that the prayer regarding the institution's authorities were unusual and said there is a fine line of distinction between religion and culture. 

"The prayers are unusual. The mandamus is to conduct an inquiry against the principal and its lecturers for their hostile approach," senior counsel SS Naganand told the full bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit. Reading out the portion of the petition, he said the petitioners studying in the Government PU College were wearing their regular headscarves over their college uniform.

"The principal, lecturer and the College Development Committee insisted that the petitioners remove their headscarves by shaming them (and) invoking their religious identity," Naganand said while reading from the petition.

However, the petitioners did not say whether they were wearing Hijab when they joined the college and how many other students wore it. The girls also did not disclose that when they joined the college their parents had signed an undertaking that they will abide by the uniform rule and for how many days they have been wearing Hijab.

"They say that in the month of August 2020, respondent 6 and 7 (principal and lecturer) rebuked the petitioners and told them that their parents have signed a consent letter at the time of admission, accepting the terms and condition. Then they were scolded," the senior counsel said.

According to the lawyer, the girl students were not in the habit of wearing Hijab previously in the college. Occasionally, the parents of the Muslim girls used to enquire whether wearing of Hijab is permitted during the college study hours, he added. Naganand also told the court that the parents of the Muslim girls, who want Hijab to be permitted on the college campus, requested the teachers to ensure that their daughters are not involved in singing, dancing, music and extra-curricular activities.

"Now a different context is given to the whole thing. I don't know whether they mean Muslim girls should not sing with their classmates. If the national anthem is sung, they should not sing? Is it against Islam? If they are taught to sing a devotional song on the country, Mother India, they should not sing?" the counsel for the PU College said.

None of these things have anything to do with religion as there is a fine line of distinction between religion and culture, he averred. Citing some examples of wearing 'Mangala Sutra' and 'Saptapadii', he said Hindus everywhere do not have the practice of following these traditions. However, the members of those communities who culturally do not have these traditions, actually follow them when they are in places where other people follow the practice of wearing "Mangala Sutra" or 'Saptapadi'.

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