Karnataka govt withdraws BJP-era 2022 order banning hijab in classrooms, to allow limited 'custom-based' symbols

The new order allows students to wear peta/turban, janivara, Shivadara, Rudrakshi, headscarf or hijab and other such symbols of tradition. The order comes in the wake of Muslim leaders reminding Congress that the hijab issue, among others, remained unresolved even after three years of the party coming to power.

The Congress government in Karnataka has withdrawn a 2022 order banning Hijab in classrooms.

The government issued a fresh order on Wednesday allowing students to wear, along with prescribed uniforms, “limited traditional and custom-based symbols.”

The previous BJP government had banned Hijab in a February 2022 order.

Controversy over the hijab broke out in early 2022 when some Muslim girls were stopped from attending classes because their headgear was not in line with the prescribed uniform.

The BJP government’s February 5, 2022, order insisted that students should stick to the uniform.

In March 2022, the Karnataka High Court upheld the order and concluded that wearing the hijab was not an essential religious practice in Islam.

When the matter went to the Supreme Court, it delivered a split judgement in October 2022 on the validity of the hijab ban, leaving the issue for a larger bench to decide on.

The hijab controversy in Karnataka made headlines globally. Terror outfit Al-Qaeda’s Ayman Al-Zawahiri used the hijab issue to target democracy in India.

The decision comes following angry outbursts from Muslim leaders when Congress did not give the Davangere South bypoll ticket to someone from their community.

Congress’ Samarth Shamanur Mallikarjun won by a thin margin of 5,700 votes, which was attributed to a split in Muslim votes.

Muslim leaders had reminded Congress that the hijab issue, among others, remained unresolved even after three years of the party coming to power.

The new order allows students to wear peta/turban, janivara, Shivadara, Rudrakshi, headscarf or hijab and other such symbols of tradition.

However, none of them should come in the way of discipline, safety and identification of students, the order states.

No student shall be forced to wear or remove such tradition-linked symbols, the order states. Also, no student shall be denied admission to or participation in learning activities for wearing such symbols.

The order also comes in the wake of recent controversies involving Brahmin students who were made to remove their janivara (sacred thread) to write the Common Entrance Test (CET).

School Education & Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa released the fresh order at a news conference along with Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao, a Brahmin, and Shivajinagar Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, a Muslim.