Hijab verdict: Will try to win hearts of "misguided" Muslim girl students, says Minister B C Nagesh
Bengaluru(PTI): With the Karnataka High Court upholding the state government's decision on restrictions on hijab inside classrooms, the the Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh on Tuesday said we will try to win the hearts of the 'misguided' Muslim girls who are against the move, and 'bring them in the mainstream of education'.
He also said the shortcomings in the Karnataka Education Act-1983, especially the one related to the school uniform, will be rectified.
"We will try to win the hearts of those girls who were 'misguided'. We will try to bring them in the mainstream of education," Nagesh told reporters.
He was reacting to the High Court order which said hijab (headscarf) was not an essential religious practice in Islam.
"I have faith that the girls will come to the college and continue their education because the people of Karnataka neither speak against the court verdict nor go against it. I believe that these girls were misguided. They will be 'all right' in the coming days," he added.
On the anomalies in the KEA-1983, he said, "Based on the judgment, the Karnataka government will try to rectify the certain confusions in the KEA."
According to him, school uniforms help in instilling patriotic feeling.
"We all knew for many years that school Uniform helps in instilling patriotic feeling. We will make uniform mandatory to make students realise that they are the children of the nation," Nagesh said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra too welcomed the High Court order upholding the government order regarding the mandatory school uniform.
"Everyone should abide by the HC order. Maintaining the law and order is everyone's responsibility," he said.
Jnanendra added that the police have taken all kinds of precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident in the wake of the High Court order.
The Karnataka High Court today dismissed petitions filed by some girl students studying in two Government Pre-University colleges in Udupi district, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside classrooms.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.
The bench also maintained that the government has power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation.
By the said order, the state government had banned wearing clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges.
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Mumbai Metro lines 9 and 2B open for commuters
Mumbai (PTI): Commercial operations on the first phases of Mumbai Metro corridors 9 and 2B began on Wednesday morning, a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the mass-transit routes, officials said.
While the Metro 9 marks the first direct connectivity between a suburb in Mumbai and a part of Thane city in the metropolitan region, the Line 2B will provide the first metro connectivity on the Harbour Line in Mumbai.
The 5.6-km elevated Phase 1 stretch of Metro Line 9 comprises four stations -- Dahisar East, Pandurangwadi, Miragaon and Kashigaon. The 5.53-km Phase 1 of Metro Line 2B has five stations, including Deshbhakt N G Acharya Udyan (Diamond Garden), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, Deonar, Mankhurd and Maharashtra Nagar–Mandale.
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According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Line 9 is expected to cut travel time between Mira-Bhayandar in Thane district and Mumbai to around 30 minutes from the current one to two hours. Built at Rs 6,607 crore, it will eventually provide seamless connectivity to south Mumbai through interlinking with other lines.
With the addition of the two new lines, Mumbai’s operational Metro network has expanded to six corridors, including Line 1 (Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova), Line 2A (Andheri West-Dahisar East), Line 7 (Dahisar East-Andheri East) and the underground Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra Kurla Complex-SEEPZ).
As per MMRDA, the revised timetable for Line 2A and Line 7 came into effect on Wednesday, aimed at improving frequency, predictability and overall commuter experience.
It said that with the inauguration of Line 9, Metro Line 2A will now operate as a standalone corridor between Andheri West and Dahisar East, with services from 5.50 am till around 11 pm and a peak frequency of about six minutes.
The integrated Line 7-9 corridor (Gundavali to Kashigaon), spanning 19.79 km, will operate from 5.50 am to 11 pm, with a peak frequency of under six minutes and 276 services on weekdays.
Metro Line 2B (Phase 1) services commenced at 6 am and will run till around 10.30 pm at intervals of approximately nine-and-a-half minutes, operating 209 services daily, according to officials.
MMRDA said the integration of Line 7 with Line 9 enables direct connectivity from Andheri East to Mira-Bhayandar, while Lines 2A and 7 will function as separate corridors.
A seamless interchange facility at Dahisar station will allow passengers to switch between Lines 2A and 7 without exiting the “paid” (ticketed) area.
