Hijab Verdict
On 15th March, the much-awaited verdict of the Karnataka High court over the Hijab controversy finally came. As we have holistically covered this burning topic in our previous reports – #HijabRow – A Row of Communalism and Mapping #Muskan: A protest amplified by Pakistan. Now, here in this report, we will take into account, the Karnataka High Court Hijab verdict and the after story.
The Verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the HijabRow.
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the ban on wearing the hijab by the students in the class. Further, the court stated that wearing a hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam. Therefore, it need not be protected under the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution. Any reasonable restrictions are constitutionally permissible. The Bench also upheld the legality of the Karnataka government’s February 5, 2022, order prescribing guidelines for uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges under the provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.
Reaction on the Hijab Verdict.
Human beings by the virtue of being human have certain rights and choices. Moreover, the tendency to mooting upon any issue that may affect their choices is quite natural. And, the freedom to be expressive about it is a sign of a healthy democratic consciousness. Consequently, there has been a lot of debates and discussion on the Hijab Verdict. Many people supported the judgment saying that students must abide by the rules and discipline of the college. Also, it will maintain uniformity among the girls of different communities. While many other people were critical of it calling the verdict against the freedom of choice and freedom of Religion mentioned under Article-25.
The chairperson of the national commission for Women welcomed the Karnataka HC decision. She said that when a uniform is there every student irrespective of religion must follow it. And, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan stated that Hijab has been mentioned 7 times in the Quran, but not in the context of the dress code.
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On the other hand, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti called the Hijab Verdict very disappointing. And, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi said that he disagrees with the decision stating that it has suspended fundamental rights to freedom of religion, culture, freedom of speech, and expression.
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Meanwhile, some propagandists got the maneuver to incite hate. They started a campaign on social media against India. Extremists like parvezsio, Kakavaani, PeaceMoin, and many more started tweeting against India and alleged India to be biased against Muslims.
Tweets On The Karnataka High Court Hijab Verdict
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Timeline
The timeline graph of the hashtag shows that the hashtag was initiated on 14th March and was at its peak on 15th March and then gradually decreased. More than 6,700 tweets were done on 15th March.
Hashtag Used
The below graph shows what were the hashtags that were used in the tweets. Some of the hashtags that were used apart from the trending hashtag #HijabVerdict include #hijab, #HijabRow, #HijabBan, #HijabControversy, #KarnatakaHighCourt, etc.
Accounts Mentioned
The accounts that were mentioned or tagged the most include @asadowaisi with more than 160 tags, followed by @bsbommai with more than 50 tags, followed by @bjp4india, and @ranaayyub with more than 35 tags each.
Accounts who Tweeted / Replied Mostly
Below is the graph that shows who were the accounts that tweeted/replied the most on the hashtag. Most tweets were done by @mikhan700 with almost 100 counts, followed by @current_capsule with more than 100 counts, followed by @zubz02 and @islamophobiame with more than 80 and 65 counts respectively.
Wordcloud
The word cloud that shows the maximum used words in the tweets containing the hashtag. Some of the words include, “hijab”, “Muslim”, “Karnataka”, “Islam”, etc.
User Creation Timeline
Below is the timeline of more than 7,200 accounts on Twitter that interacted with the hashtag. The timeline shows that the frequency of creation of the account increased from 2020 to 2022. Moreover, 24 accounts were created on the same day when the hashtag was at its peak. All those 24 accounts interacted with the hashtag and tweeted on the same topic.
Users on World Map
The world map below shows the countries from where the accounts interacted on the hashtag. The majority were from India with more than 3,600 accounts interacting followed by Pakistan and UAE with more than 60 and 35 accounts respectively.
Tweets from Pakistan
As usual, Pakistan never misses any single chance to defame India’s image. And, to falsely accuse India of discrimination against Muslims. @SanaFatima00 in one of her tweets stated that the Verdict means “Division Accepted but Justice Denied.” Similarly, another Pakistani account who calls herself Journalist by Passion, Dictator by Mind in her Twitter bio @AqsaYounasRana called the judgment shame for the so-called secular State. Above all, @TrimiziiiSyeda had mentioned Jinnah in his tweet and wrote, “Hijab Ban continues in India, Time proved JINNAH was right Indeed.”
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In our analysis, we found many Pakistani accounts that tweet a lot on this issue. Their tweets were filled with criticism of the India and Karnataka High Court judgment.
Pakistan Users who all interacted with the hashtag
Below is the graph of Pakistani Twitter accounts that all interacted with the hashtag. Many news media tweeted on the hashtag including, @Nawaiwaqt_, @Waqtnewstv, @ePakistanToday, @The_Nation, @UrduNewsCom, etc. Moreover, other Pakistani accounts tweeting on the same topic include, @TrimiziiiSyeda, @IamHBI, @khawajaNNInews, @AqsaYounasRana, @SanaFatima00, etc.
Conclusion
From our exclusive analysis, we found that there are many users in India and outside who tweeted against India and the Karnataka High Court Verdict. Although, the hijab Petitioner has gone to the apex court of Justice in India. And, the final verdict of the Supreme Court is still pending but hate mongers like Kakawaani, Peacemoin have got an opportunity to incite hatred. So, they are using it very wisely.
Peace and harmony are paramount for a progressive society. Therefore, any person who spread hate and tries to mislead people should be discouraged.
