Allahabad High Court’s hijab ruling an “attack on Islam”: Owaisi
Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has criticized the Allahabad High Court’s dismissal of a petition seeking permission for a minor Muslim student to wear a hijab along with her school uniform, calling the ruling an “attack on Islam”.
According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking at an event at the party’s headquarters in Hyderabad, Owaisi, who represents Hyderabad in Lok Sabha, questioned the court’s authority to determine what constitutes an essential religious practice and said the judgment was contrary to the constitutional protection given to religious freedom and freedom of expression.
Owaisi also referred to the ongoing Sabarimala case in the Indian Supreme Court, where a nine-judge bench is examining issues concerning essential religious practices.
The Allahabad High Court had dismissed the petition filed by minor Muslim student Sakina Rizvi, who sought permission to wear a hijab with her school uniform at Tagore Public School in Allahabad. She had approached the court after completing Class 10 and seeking admission to Class 11 at the same school.
Rizvi argued that she had worn the hijab at the school from Class 6 through Class 10, but the school had now objected to her wearing it with the prescribed uniform.
The court said she had failed to provide sufficient legal and religious material to establish that wearing a headscarf constituted an essential religious practice in Islam, the denial of which would affect her faith.
