The Karnataka High Court is expected to pronounce its judgment in the hijab row case at 10.30 am on Tuesday, 15 March.
Ahead of the judgment, Section 144 has been imposed in Bengaluru, Belgavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Kalaburagi, and Shivamogga. All types of gatherings, agitations, protests, or celebrations in public places are prohibited in Bengaluru for one week from 15 March to 21 March, an order issued by the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, Kamal Pant said.
Meanwhile, the Dakshina Kannada district commissioner has ordered a holiday in all schools and colleges for Tuesday. All schools and colleges will also remain closed in Udupi district on the day of the verdict, District Magistrate Kurma Rao M has said.
The high court had on 25 February reserved its verdict in the batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls seeking protection of their right to wear hijabs in classrooms, after the matter was heard over nearly two weeks.
Senior advocate Devdatt Kamat, in his rejoinder arguments in the case filed by Muslim girls, had said, "Their (female Muslim students’) right to education, which is paramount, is being put on back burner."
According to the court's 10 February interim order, government Pre-University and Under Graduate colleges governed by College Development Committees (CDC) should bar their students from wearing religious clothing, including hijab.
The row over the wearing of hijab in classrooms had broken out in December 2021, when six students of Government Pre-University College for Girls had been denied entry into a classroom as they were wearing the headscarf.
While the court was considering their petition, protests against hijab broke out in several colleges in the state, with Hindu students sporting saffron shawls in order to mark their opposition to the wearing of hijab in educational institutes.
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