Patna(CNA Media/Insaaf Times) The Supreme Court stated that the Karnataka government’s order disallowing hijab ‘came as a death knell for students desirous to take secular education.’Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi argued before Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhashu Dhulia, on behalf of the petitioners, stated that there was no legitimate interest of the state in imposing the ban.“The GO (government order), even if it appears to be neutral, has to be struck down for running afoul of Article 14 of the Constitution if it targets a particular community,” Ahmadi said. “Here is a community where certain students have been able to break stereotypes and go to schools albeit with a head scarf. The GO will strike a death knell for such students,” Ahmadi said, claiming that disallowing hijab would create barriers for education and fraternity.He argued that the state should be promoting diversity and not standardizing everything.He referred to the PUCL report and claimed that after the High Court’s judgment, 17,000 students have dropped out.Earlier, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, also arguing for petitioners, argued that so long as it was bona fide and prevalent, the practice of wearing hijab must be allowed, and there is no need to refer to the religious text.“In fact in Vedas, they worshipped nature, there was no temple. “No outside secular authority has any right to say it is not an essential practice, if it is said hijab is used in Karnataka,” he said.He also added that women across the world wear hijab so why couldn’t it be allowed inside classrooms?Dhavan also added that one has “to apply additional degree of sensitivity” in such matters and “adopt the least restrictive approach”. The GO probably targeted Muslim women and violated Article 14, and 15 and was, therefore, unconstitutional, he said.