[Hijab Row] Plea filed before Karnataka High Court against 60 plus media houses to stop chasing students and teachers, videographing them

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed before the Karnataka High Court against more than 60 media houses seeking directions to restrain them from chasing and videographing students and teachers who are on their way to schools and colleges wearing hijab..Besides media houses, the plea has arraigned Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp as respondents. The plea filed by Abdul Mansoor, Mohammed Khalil and Asif Ahmed said that media houses provoked by certain vested interests are humiliating students and subjecting them to disgrace by criminalising their faith, belief, identity, culture, etc."Repeated attempts are being made to polarize, divide, and to communalize the student community by injecting the venom of hate, disrespect, and vengeance which ultimately culminates into violent actions and reactions," the plea said.It contended that many members of the Muslim community are distressed by the manner in which Muslim women and children have been disrespected and humiliated by coercing them to publicly remove their hijab and burqa outside the school gates in violation of the order passed by the High Court."Since one month, the cameramen and reporters are seen assembling in and around premises of government colleges and schools wherever the female children and teachers are proceeding to attend their classes, they were being chased, abusing, screaming, sloganeering, targeting, demeaning, compelling to uncloth themselves which are being photographed, videographed, and being printed and telecasted around 24/7 hours with the sole intention of belittling the democratic values and cherished principles of unity in diversity," the petition stated.The plea underscored that the freedom of press as envisaged under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India is not absolute right and the same is subject to the reasonable restrictions provided under Article 19(2) of the Constitution."It is humbly prayed before this Hon’ble court to issue appropriate writ to restraining Respondent Nos.3 to 73 from chasing the students and teachers who are proceeding to their schools & colleges and videographing and photographing them, telecasting on day-to-day basis , in the interest of justice and equity," the petitioners prayed..A full-bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi are hearing a batch of petitions challenging the ban imposed by certain colleges in the State on wearing hijab inside the campus.On February 10, the High Court had passed an interim order directing students not to wear hijab, saffron shawls (bhagwa) or use any religious flags while attending classes in Karnataka colleges which have a prescribed uniform.