Saurabh Sharma and Sumit Kanna

AHMEDABAD/LUCKNOW India (Reuters) – Hardline Hindu groups demand restrictions on hijabs in Indian classrooms after a Karnataka State court upheld a ban. The decision worries Muslim students who have protested against it.

High-ranking federal ministers representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationist Bharatiya Janata Party BJP also welcomed the Karnataka High Court’s Tuesday decision. It backed February’s ban on the hijab. [L2N2VI09V]

India does not have a uniform standard, so states tend to leave the decision up to their schools.

Rishi Trivedi of Akhil Bharat Hindu MahaSabha, president of Hindu-first group Akhil Bharat Hindu MahaSabha stated: “We are a Hindu nation. We don’t want to see any type of religious outfits in education institutes of this country.”

We welcome the verdict of the Court and we want that the rule be applied throughout the country.

Some parents and students of Islam protested the ban on Karnataka, which was ruled by BJP. Counter-protests were led by Hindu students. Critics claim that the ban is another attempt to marginalize the Muslim community, which accounts for approximately 13% of Hindu-majority India’s 1.35billion people.

Vishvahi Parishad (VHP), an affiliate to the RSS, claimed they asked Modi for a ban on hijabs in Gujarat, Modi’s hometown, and that they would write soon to Uttar Pradesh, the nation’s largest state. In both of these states, the BJP is at power.

The hijab isn’t allowed in government offices, the police and the defense forces. So why do schools and colleges insist on wearing it? said VHP’s Gujarat secretary, Ashok Raval. Ashok Raval, VHP’s Gujarat secretary said that the move was meant to increase communal tensions.

Jitu Vaghani (Gujarat Education Minister) declined to comment. On condition of anonymity, a state minister and a bureaucrat said that there is no immediate plan for banning the hijab from schools.

Uttar Pradesh officials, where the BJP held control of the state election, refused to comment, saying that a decision would only be made by the next administration, which should have been in place within days.

Ayesha Hajeera Almas, who challenged Karnataka’s ban in court and now considers approaching the highest court of the country to overturn the ban, said that there is real concern about the possibility of the hijab ban going national.

After the school barred Muslim girls in December, the teenager claimed she was unable to attend school.

Almas, who was speaking from Udupi’s Karnataka district, said that the protests are becoming more intense.

“I’m fighting for myself, my sisters and my faith. It is my fear that the entire country will see such changes. However, I hope this does not happen.”

Krishna N. Das also reports and writes; Raju Gopalakrishnan edits