Karnataka court upholds ban on hijab in schools

An Indian court upheld a local ban on the hijab in classrooms yesterday, weeks after the edict stoked violent protests and renewed fears of discrimination against the country's Muslim minority.

Southern Karnataka was on edge for several weeks after a small group of girls in their late teens were prevented from wearing the garment on school grounds at the end of last year.

Demonstrations snowballed across the state and police used tear gas to disperse angry crowds as more schools imposed their own bans and radical Hindu groups staged boisterous counter-demonstrations.

After weeks of deliberations, Karnataka's high court ruled that the wearing of the hijab "does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith".

The court said schools had reasonable grounds to impose dress codes that forbade the headdress in the interests of preventing divisions on religion and other grounds.

"The aim of the regulation is to create a 'safe space'... And the ideals of egalitarianism should be readily apparent to all students."

Additional police were deployed around Karnataka on Monday ahead of the ruling, though there was no sign of fresh protests till mid-afternoon.

As tensions came to a head in February, several violent confrontations in cities across the state were broken up by police and schools were shut.

The hijab is an important article of faith in Islam and many in Karnataka say that Muslim girls have worn it in schools for decades, just as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have done with symbols of their respective religions.

Critics accuse authorities in Karnataka, which is ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party, of seeking to drive a wedge between religious communities that have coexisted peacefully for generations.

The state high court initially ordered a temporary ban on the wearing of all religious symbols -- including Hindu and Christian ones -- in schools.