Bengaluru: Pro and anti-hijab groups have intensified their protests across Karnataka ahead of the High Court order on the matter.  The same issue had sparked controversy across Europe for years. 

In 2021, the European Union court in Luxembourg ruled that companies may ban Muslim employees from wearing a headscarf under 'certain conditions'.

The EU court said in its ruling that courts in the bloc’s 27 member states should weigh up whether the ban corresponded to a “genuine need” on the part of the employer. They must also consider the rights and interests of the employee, including by taking into account national legislation on freedom of religion, it said.

“A prohibition on wearing any visible form of expression of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace may be justified by the employer’s need to present a neutral image towards customers or to prevent social disputes,” the court said.

Two women in Germany, who were suspended from their jobs after they started wearing hijab, brought the case to the court. Hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women who feel it is part of their religion.

France's top court upheld in 2014 the dismissal of a Muslim day care worker for wearing a headscarf at a private crèche that demanded strict neutrality from employees. France, home to Europe's largest Muslim minority, prohibited the wearing of hijabs in state schools in 2004.

The EU's highest court has today again upheld the right of employers to sack Muslim women from their jobs for wearing the headscarf if justified by notion of "neutrality". The ECJ also seems to admit that this is a form of discrimination

In November 2021, Europe's top human rights organisation has pulled posters from a campaign that promoted respect for Muslim women who choose to wear headscarves after provoking opposition in France.The Council of Europe released the images last week for a campaign against anti-Muslim discrimination.