Amid The Hijab Controversy In Karnataka, Madras HC Asks 'What's Paramount, Nation Or Religion?'

At a time when Karnataka is seeing unprecedented scenes playing out following the hijab controversy, the Madras High Court in neighbouring Tamil Nadu has asked what's paramount -- nation or religion?

The first bench of Acting Chief Justice M N Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthi bemoaned that of late, certain forces have raised controversies relating to dress code and it is spreading all over India.

BCCL

¡°It is really shocking, somebody is going for the ¡®hijab¡¯, some others for the ¡®topi¡¯ (cap) and a few others for other things. Is it one country or is it divided by religion or something like that? This is quite surprising,¡± the bench added.

Pointing out the fact that India is a secular country, the ACJ said: ¡°What is found from the current affairs is nothing but an effort to divide the country in the name of religion.¡± The ACJ made the observations while hearing a batch of PIL petitions filed by Rangarajan Narasimhan of Srirangam in Tiruchirapalli district.

In his PIL he prayed the court to order strict implementation of the dress code for devotees, disallowing non-Hindus from stepping into the temples across the state and a ban on commercial activities in the premises of the temples.

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He had also sought that display boards should be placed prominently at the entrance of the temples banning entry of non-Hindus and prescribing dress code.

While hearing the plea the court asked the petitioner how display boards can be put up when there is no particular dress code.

The court also directed the petitioner to produce the evidence to show what part of the Agamas (rituals) refer to pants, dhotis, and shirts.

A division bench of Madras High Court had already set aside an order of a single judge prescribing a dress code as it was beyond the scope of the writ petition.

This comes as the controversy in Karnataka refuses to die down.

BCCL

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to urgently list a plea challenging the Karnataka government rule on dress code that created a raging controversy over wearing hijab.

A Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli said a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is hearing the matter.

Karnataka government had on Wednesday ordered the closure of high schools and colleges in the state for three days.

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The Hijab protests began in January this year when some students at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in Karnataka alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Later such incidents were reported from more colleges, forcing the government to appeal to students to maintain restrain.

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