India’s Hindu groups want wider ban on hijab after court verdict

Al Jazeera :

Hindu supremacist groups are demanding restrictions on Muslim girls wearing hijab in classrooms in more Indian states after a court upheld a ban on the traditional headscarf in Karnataka state, worrying students who had protested against the ban.
The Karnataka High Court’s decision on Tuesday, backing the southern state’s February ban on the hijab, 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.
A female Muslim student has already appealed the verdict in the country’s highest court, which could take up the matter later this month, her lawyer said on Twitter.
“I believe it is a wrong interpretation of the law,” lawyer Anas Tanwir told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
“As far as essential religious practice is concerned, [that] should not have been the question. The question should have been whether the [authorities] had the power to pass such orders.”