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Another petition has been moved before the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court order in the Hijab row stating that associating scarf/hijab with Muslims only is actually an insult to the centuries-old tradition and practice of covering our heads in India which dates back to even before the commencement of Islam.

The petition filed by one Charanjeet Kaur states that " the girl students and female teachers used to cover their heads with scarf/hijab since decades unknown; and, covering heads by the female of our society is a vital tradition and practice in our subcontinent since centuries unknown."

"This tradition and practice is given equal respect and acceptance by each and every person of the society including our lawmakers, executive and judiciary," the plea adds.

The plea further alleges that "to encash that opportunity by associating scarf/hijab with the Muslims only and thereafter by banning it, the political government of Karnataka wanted to take milage by pleasing religious majority of the State, and in furtherance to it gave fuel to make it a controversy by allowing political leaders and their followers to openly agitate against those girl students who had chosen to observe this tradition and practice of covering their heads by scarf/hijab, and even distributed saffron shawls to the male students to be wore in their school to criticize scarf/hijab."

The plea reads that apart from being a custom, the scarf/hijab has its own health and medical benefits like safety from dust and infectious viruses.

"The politically elected Government of Karnataka is bluntly slandering our centuries-old tradition and practice of covering heads by scarf/hijab, and further the choice of the women to protect their modesty by covering heads by scarf/hijab, and further invading the private space of women by snatching scarf/hijab from their heads," the plea alleges.

Lastly, the plea states that "this controversy associated with our vital tradition and practice of covering our heads with scarf/hijab will spread across the nation and rest of the states and political organizations will follow the same model as adopted by the Government of Karnataka to further traumatize, terrorize, humiliate, ill-treat, harass, invade privacy and outrage modesty of the women throughout the country."

Earlier, The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had refused to entertain mentioning of a plea challenging the Karnataka High Court order whereby the plea challenging the alleged ban on wearing the Hijab at Pre-University colleges in Udupi district of Karnataka was dismissed.

While banning the hijab-wearing inside classroom in the pre-university colleges, the Karnataka High Court had observed that "what is not religiously made obligatory...cannot be made a quintessential aspect of the religion through public agitations or by the passionate arguments in courts."

Cause Title: Charanjeet Kaur Vs. Union of India & Ors.