Kochi: The Kerala government on Friday told the High Court here that not permitting a Muslim girl to wear her headscarf (hijab) to school was an "invasion" of her privacy and dignity and a "denial of her right to secular education".

The government said the right of the girl to wear a headscarf in her house and outside it, "does not stop at the school gate".

The submissions were made in an affidavit filed in response to a plea moved by the church-run St Rita's Public School at Palluruthy here challenging the General Education Department's directive to permit the Muslim girl to attend classes wearing her religious headscarf or 'hijab'.

The school had also challenged the department's notice, which stated there was "serious malfunctioning" at the institute.

When the matter was taken up on

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