AIMPLB urges Karnataka govt to withdraw its hijab ban
New Delhi (PTI): As the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the hijab ban in Karnataka's educational institutions, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday urged the BJP government in the state to withdraw its order on the headscarf.
The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the hijab ban in Karnataka's educational institutions, with one judge holding permitting a community to wear its religious symbols will be an "antithesis to secularism" and the other insisting that wearing the Muslim headscarf should be simply a "matter of choice".
While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals challenging the March 15 judgement of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to lift the ban, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia held there shall be no restriction on the wearing of hijab anywhere in the schools and colleges of the state.
In a statement, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board's General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said that Justice Dhulia's judgment is in line with the Constitution of India and the ideals of individual freedom.
Justice Dhulia has focused on promoting girls' education and removing barriers to their education, an aspect that is certainly welcomed and is "missing from Justice Hemant Gupta's judgment", Rahmani claimed.
The Karnataka government is requested to withdraw its order regarding the hijab, he said.
"If the Government of Karnataka withdraws the order in question, the whole controversy will automatically come to rest," Rahmani said.
The government should note that women's education in India, particularly among the Muslim community, is already receiving inadequate attention, he said.
The government should not support any measure that creates obstacles in women's education and rather, it must support a "harmless practice, evidently significant to these young girls, and abstaining from it puts these girls in an uncomfortable situation," Rahmani said.
Noting that the matter will now be referred to a larger bench of the Supreme Court due to the divided opinion of the two judges, he said the board supported the "pro-hijab" side when the matter was before the Karnataka High Court and when the matter reached the Supreme Court, the board itself became a party to the matter and presented its opinions, positions, and arguments with full strength.
"The Board will continue to play its part in the fight of these young girls to carry on with hijab with full strength and willingness," Rahmani said.
With the apex court delivering a split verdict, the high court's judgement still holds the field. However, the split verdict held off a permanent resolution of the vexed row over hijab as both judges suggested placing the matter before a larger bench for adjudication.
On March 15, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students of the Government Pre-University Girls College in Karnataka's Udupi seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms, ruling it is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.
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Drug bust by Mangaluru CCB Police: Kerala man with narcotics worth ₹73 lakh held near Mulki
Mangaluru: In an effort to make Mangaluru ‘drug-free,’ the CCB Police arrested a man, Shameer PK, near Mulki and seized 738 grams of hydro ganja worth ₹73 lakh, which he was transporting in his car.
The police said on Friday that Shameer is a resident of Kandalad village in the Kozhikode district of Kerala. They have also confiscated his mobile phone as well as the car he was using to transport the narcotics, with the total value of the confiscated items estimated to be more than ₹80 lakh.
The officers stated that Shameer was transporting the narcotics from Goa to be supplied to various places, including Mangaluru and Kerala. The CCB Police intercepted his car near Bappanadu on the outskirts of Mulki town, and upon checking the vehicle, found 738 grams of hydro ganja.
An FIR has been filed at the Mulki Police Station, and further investigation is underway. The CCB Police have stated that a preliminary probe revealed the narcotics were supplied from abroad.
The CCB investigation team was led by ACP Manoj Kumar Nayak and included Inspector Shyamsunder HM, Sub-inspector Sharanappa Bhandari, and other police personnel.
