Denying education to hijab-clad girls ‘sartorial despotism’, says retired judge

He says there is a need to look at gender justice with many other social issues woven into it and not in isolation

K. Chandru, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, described girls being denied entry into educational institutions or not being allowed to write exams because they were wearing hijab as “sartorial despotism”.

He was speaking after releasing the translation of his book Listen to My Case into Kannada, brought out by Kriya Madhyama, and a discussion on women and access to law. India cannot be dictated from Nagpur, but has to be dictated by “We the people of India” who gave the Constitution to themselves, said Mr. Chandru.

He said the fundamental issue is that education cannot be denied to children. “In the name of discipline, in the name of uniform, education cannot be denied to thousands of people,” he argued, talking about the hijab controversy in Karnataka. There is an “experiment in Karnataka now on how to exclude people from the system”, he said, calling it “majoritarian doctrine”. He underlined the need to look at gender justice with several other social issues woven into it and not in isolation.

Even though more women are taking up law as a profession, to the common people and especially women, the gates of the judiciary are not just unwelcoming but also often intimidating, he said.

H.N. Nagmohandas, retired judge of Karnataka High Court, and Hemalatha Mahishi, senior advocate, also spoke.

The book Listen to My Case narrates the stories of 20 courageous women and their interface with the courts in Tamil Nadu, in most cases the Madras High Court.