Asking girls to take off hijab invasion of privacy: Justice Dhulia

Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia in the split verdict on Karnataka hijab ban on Thursday said by asking girls to take off their hijab before they enter school gates is an invasion of privacy attack on dignity and denial of secular educationHe said this is the time when children should learn not to be alarmed by our diversity but to rejoice and celebrate this and also this is the time when they must realise that diversity is our strengthJustice Dhulia said By asking the girls to take off their hijab before they enter the school gates is first an invasion of their privacy then it is an attack on their dignity and then ultimately it is a denial to them of secular education These are clearly violative of Article 191a Article 21 and Article 251 of the ConstitutionThe judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Dhulia While Justice Gupta dismissed the appeals challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment Justice Dhulia set aside the high court judgment and quashed the Karnataka government order dated February 5Also read Bar Association seeks 5 judges bench for Hijab issue writes to CJIThe petitioners had moved the apex court challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the stateJustice Dhulia said there shall be no restriction on the wearing of hijab anywhere in schools and colleges in Karnataka He added that the unfortunate fallout of the hijab restriction would be that they would have denied education to a girl childA girl child for whom it is still not easy to reach her school gate This case here therefore has also to be seen in the perspective of the challenges already faced by a girl child in reaching her school The question this court would put before itself is also whether we are making the life of a girl child any better by denying her education merely because she wears a hijab he saidHe added that the constitutional scheme wearing a hijab should be simply a matter of choice and it may or may not be a matter of essential religious practice but it still is a matter of conscience belief and expressionJustice Dhulia said if a girl wants to wear hijab even inside her class room she cannot be stopped if it is worn as a matter of her choice as it may be the only way her conservative family will permit her to go to school and in those cases her hijab is her ticket to educationIn a 73page judgment he said fraternity which is our constitutional value would therefore require us to be tolerant and as some of the counsel would argue to be reasonably accommodating towards the belief and religious practices of others We should remember the appeal made by Justice O Chinnappa Reddy in Bijoe Emmanuel our tradition teaches tolerance our philosophy preaches tolerance our Constitution practices tolerance let us not dilute itHe emphasised that the Government Order dated 5 February 2022 and the restrictions on the wearing of hijab also goes against constitutional values of fraternity and human dignityJustice Dhulia said Liberty equality fraternity the triptych of the French Revolution is also a part of our Preamble It is true that whereas liberty and equality are well established properly understood and recognised concepts in politics and law fraternity for some reasons has largely remained incognito The framers of our Constitution though had a different vision Fraternity had a different and in many ways a much larger meaning with the main architect of our Constitution Dr AmbedkarHe added that schools in particular our preuniversity colleges are the perfect institutions where children who are now at an impressionable age and are just waking up to the rich diversity of this nation need to be counselled and guided so that they imbibe our constitutional values of tolerance and accommodation towards those who may speak a different language eat different food or even wear different clothes or apparelThis is the time to foster in them sensitivity empathy and understanding towards different religions languages and cultures This is the time when they should learn not to be alarmed by our diversity but to rejoice and celebrate this diversity This is the time when they must realise that in diversity is our strength he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever