Now Reading: Allahabad HC says hijab not essential religious practice for Muslim women
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Allahabad HC says hijab not essential religious practice for Muslim women
Allahabad HC says hijab not essential religious practice for Muslim women
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition by a Class 11 student of Tagore Public School in Prayagraj seeking permission to wear a headscarf with her school uniform. A division bench…
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition by a Class 11 student of Tagore Public School in Prayagraj seeking permission to wear a headscarf with her school uniform. A division bench of Justices J.J. Munir and Indrajeet Shukla, in an August 21 order, held that the student had not established wearing a headscarf as an essential religious practice in Islam protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.
The court noted that photographs from the school showed no other girl student, including those from the same community, wearing a headscarf. The bench said the student's claim was a 'bare assertion' without factual or legal foundation. It ruled that the school was enforcing institutional discipline through its uniform policy, not curbing religious freedom. The fact that she had worn the scarf from Class 6 without objection did not create an enforceable right.
The court relied on earlier Bombay and Karnataka High Court judgments that reached similar conclusions. Muslim clerics, including Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed, criticised the verdict, arguing hijab is integral to Islam.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Hindu and the Economic Times both report the core judgment neutrally, but differ in framing: The Hindu leads with the essential religious practice finding and closes on the court's institutional-discipline reasoning, while the Economic Times adds criticism from Muslim clerics in its final paragraphs, giving weight to the religious-rights counterargument. Neither outlet overstates or omits major facts. The student's long-term practice at the same school and the school's sudden enforcement of the dress code for Class 11 remain the unresolved tension. The Supreme Court's split verdict on the Karnataka hijab case will likely shape any appeal.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): thehindu.com (neutral report), economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
