Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Hardline Hindu groups demand wider India ban on hijab

Hardline Hindu groups demand wider India ban on hijab

HARDLINE Hindu groups are demanding restrictions on wearing the hijab in classrooms in more Indian states after a court upheld a ban on the traditional Islamic head-scarf in Karnataka state, worrying Muslim students who had protested against the ban.

The Karnataka High Court decision on Tuesday (15), backing the southern state's ban on the hijab in February, has also been welcomed by top federal ministers from prime minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who say students should avoid wearing religious clothing in class.


There is no national guideline on uniforms in India, and states often leave it to schools to decide what their students should wear.

"We are a Hindu nation and we do not want to see any kind of religious outfit in educational institutes of the country," said Rishi Trivedi, president of the Hindu-first group Akhil Bharat Hindu MahaSabha.

"We welcome the court verdict and want the same rule to be followed throughout the country."

GettyImages 1238353454 Activists from Students Federation of India (SFI) hold placards during a demonstration against the recent hijab ban in few of Karnataka's educational institutes, in Chennai on February 10, 2022. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The ban in BJP-ruled Karnataka had sparked protests by some Muslim students and parents, and counter-protests by Hindu students. Critics of the ban say it is another way of marginalising the Muslim community that accounts for about 13 per cent of Hindu-majority India's 1.35 billion people.

Leaders of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), an affiliate of the RSS, the BJP's parent organisation, said they have asked for a hijab ban in Modi's home state of Gujarat and would soon write to the country's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is in power in both states.

"The hijab is not allowed in the defence forces, police, and government offices, then why the insistence on hijab in schools and colleges?" said VHP's Gujarat secretary, Ashok Raval. "It is an attempt to raise communal tensions."

Gujarat education minister Jitu Vaghani declined to comment. A state minister and a bureaucrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no immediate plan to ban the hijab in schools.

Officials in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP retained control in recent state elections, declined to comment saying a decision will only be taken by the next administration which should be in place in days.

Ayesha Hajeera Almas - who had challenged the Karnataka ban in court and is now considering approaching the country's highest court to get the ban overturned - said there is a real fear that the hijab ban will now go national.

The 18-year-old said she has not attended school since late December after its authorities barred Muslim girls from wearing the hijab, even before the state-wide ban came in early February.

"Increasingly, we feel we are living in an India where its citizens are not treated equally," Almas said from the Karnataka district of Udupi, from where the protests began.

"I am fighting for myself, fighting for my sisters, fighting for my religion. I'm scared that there will be changes like this in the whole country. But I hope it does not happen."

(Reuters)

More For You

Liz Kendall

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will outline welfare reforms in a green paper next week, followed by chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement on 26 March.

Ministers may drop plan to freeze disability benefits: Report

MINISTERS are considering dropping plans to freeze Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for a year, according to a report.

Initial proposals suggested PIP would not rise in line with inflation, but strong opposition from Labour MPs has prompted a review.

Keep ReadingShow less
BBC settles age and sex discrimination case
BBC headquarters in Central London.
Getty Images

BBC settles age and sex discrimination case

THE BBC on Friday (14) said it had settled a case with four female journalists who claimed they lost their jobs because of their sex and age.

Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera, who have all presented on the BBC's television channels, claimed they lost their jobs following a "rigged" recruitment exercise.

Keep ReadingShow less
Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

In this screenshot from a video posted by @Sec_Noem via X on March 14, 2025, Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at United State’s Columbia University, leaves the country after her visa was revoked by the Department of State. (@Sec_Noem via PTI Photo)

Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

AN INDIAN student at Columbia University, whose visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas, has self-deported, says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, came to the US on an F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, and her visa was revoked on March 5.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

From LtoR- Lord Karan Bilimoria, Sir Trevor Phillips, Seema Malhotra MP, David Tyler and Nathan Coe

'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

COMPANIES with diverse leadership are better positioned for sustainable growth, improved decision-making, and will connect better with multicultural markets, equalities minister Seema Malhotra has said.

She added that the government will soon launch a public consultation on their approach to mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with  Wang Yi (right)

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with Wang Yi (right)

S Jaishankar: ‘Delhi’s global interests shape its regional ties'

INDIA today sees itself as a global power or, at least, a country with global interests, which is why Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has spoken of its equation with Russia, China and notably the Middle East.

India’s external affairs minister was in conversation last Wednesday (5) in London with Bronwen Maddox, director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House.

Keep ReadingShow less