At India’s Supreme Court hearing on the controversial ban that came into force in February, a senior government official cited ongoing protests in Tehran over Mahsa Amini’s death to show that “for Islam the veil it is not essential and therefore, in order to uphold secularism, it should not be allowed to be worn over the school uniform.” Statement by 2,000 Indian intellectuals: “This ban is a hate crime”.
New Delhi () – The protests taking place in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini – the young woman beaten to death by the “moral police” for not wearing the hijab correctly – were cited today in India by a senior official of the Hindu nationalist government, in a Supreme Court hearing, as a fact that would justify the decision to ban the use of the veil in schools. The General Defender of the State, Tushar Mehta, expressed himself in these terms during the debate on the appeal filed by some Islamic associations against the ruling of the High Court of the State of Karnataka, which sanctioned in February the prohibition of female students from wearing the veil, stating that it is incompatible with the school uniform.
The case sparked protests, exacerbating tensions with the Muslim community in one of the Indian states ruled by the BJP’s Hindu nationalists. Before the judges, Mehta argued that India is a secular country and that even in constitutionally Islamic countries like Iran not all women wear the hijab, indeed, they also fight against the veil. According to the Koran itself – she continued – “it is allowed, but it is not essential”.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court replied that “it must be proven beyond any doubt that the use of the hijab constitutes a threat to public order, public health or morals.” The general defender, on the other hand, attacked the Indian Popular Front (PFI), affirming that the “protest movement was planned to provoke agitation”, with messages on social networks where the use of the hijab is invited. The local government, he added, would be “guilty of breach of constitutional duty” if it had not acted as it did.
Several appeals have been filed in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s verdict that wearing the hijab does not form part of the essential religious practices that are protected under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. In February, during the controversy over the ban on wearing the hijab in Karnataka, 2,000 intellectuals had signed an open letter of solidarity with Muslim students. “The hijab ban, which is now being extended to other states, is a hate crime,” they said. “The uniforms in the schools -they added- aim to minimize the differences between the students. They do not intend to impose cultural uniformity in a plural country”.
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