Hijab freedom of expression, not of religion, so it can be curbed: Karnataka AG

Hijab freedom of Expression, not of Religion, so it can be curbed: Karnataka AG

                                                            Photo by PTI

THE WEARING of hijabs is a right that falls under freedom of expression, which is subject to institutional discipline, and not under freedom of religion in the Constitution, the Advocate General for Karnataka argued on Tuesday during a hearing in the High Court on petitions filed by Muslim girls against the hijab ban in some colleges in Udupi.

Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi told a full bench of the Karnataka High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna Dixit and Justice J M Khazi, that wearing the hijab is an optional practice in Islam and, as a consequence, is not an obligatory religious practice.

“It is their argument that it is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a) to wear a dress to exercise the freedom of expression. The argument runs mutually destructive and contrary to the proposition of hijab being essential because if their argument is accepted, then those who do not want to wear the hijab can also choose not to wear it,” Navadgi told the court.

“It is either the right to freedom of religion under Article 25 (1) or the right to freedom of expression under Article 19 (1) (a). It cannot be both…If women have an option of wearing the hijab, then it is a 19 (1) (a) right and not a right under Article 25,” he said.

“My submission is that what is optional is not obligatory and what is not obligatory is not compulsory and what is not compulsory is not essential. Therefore, it does not fall in the realm of essential religious practice,” Navadgi said.

(Source : The Indian Express)