Will lift hijab ban in Karnataka, says CM Siddaramaiah
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered the revocation of a ban on hijabs in state-run educational institutions, ending a divisive rule.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday that he has asked the administration to revoke orders passed by the earlier government barring the use of hijabs in state-run educational institutions, signalling the end of a divisive rule that sparked protests across the country.
In a public meeting in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah also backed individual rights and said the decision to wear a hijab boiled down to the “simple idea” that people have different ways of dressing themselves.
“The order [imposing restrictions on wearing] hijab, we will take it back. The hijab [order] will not be there anymore. You can wear a hijab and go now. I have already instructed them [officials] to withdraw the order,” he announced.
“What you wear and what you eat is your decision. How can the government come in the way of it? You wear what you want to wear and eat what you want to eat. What I eat is my right, and what you eat is yours,” he added.
The comments mark the potential rollback of a fractious rule that was also among the most controversial steps taken by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
The row broke out in January 2022 when the Government PU College in Udupi was accused of barring girl students wearing the hijab from entering classrooms. The demonstrations, which started in Udupi, later spread to other parts of the state, and then captured the nation’s attention. What began with two colleges in the coastal districts snowballed into a statewide row after more institutions announced a ban on the hijab, Hindu groups mobilised groups of men wearing saffron shawls to oppose the entry of women in hijab in schools and colleges, and isolated clashes broke out.
In February 2022, the then BJP administration in Karnataka issued an order under the Karnataka Education Act and pertinent rules to prescribe a dress code, barring students from wearing the hijab in state educational institutions.
The order was challenged in the Karnataka high court, which held on March 15 that wearing the hijab was not mandatory in Islam. It upheld the ban on the headscarf imposed by the state government in schools and colleges and said that the state government was empowered to mandate uniform in schools.
In October last year, the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the ban – with one judge holding that the religious belief cannot be carried to a secular school maintained using state funds, and the other stressing that discipline cannot be enforced at the cost of girl students’ freedom, dignity, and privacy. The clutch of petitions challenging the ban have been now placed before the Chief Justice of India for the constitution of an appropriate bench to resolve the standoff.
But on Friday, Siddaramaiah hinted that the government was looking to scrap the order – marking the most high-profile rollback yet of a decision taken by the previous BJP administration.
In Mysuru, the CM said that the decision to wear the hijab boiled down to the simple idea that people have different ways of dressing themselves. “And you should not do politics with it for the sake of votes. We won’t do it,” he said.
He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of inclusive development. “The BJP is dividing people and society based on clothes, dress, and caste,” he added.
A senior bureaucrat who requested anonymity said that officials were “aware of the CM’s statement” and “will take action based on further specific instructions from the CM’s office”.
In the past, the Congress government had signalled that it was rethinking the ban on wearing of hijab. In June, nearly a month after winning the assembly elections in the state, senior cabinet minister Priyank Kharge had said that the Congress would withdraw the ban on hijab, halal restrictions, and cow slaughter laws. However, these matters were not taken up in the assembly sessions that followed.
In October, Karnataka allowed students to wear the hijab while appearing for competitive and recruitment examinations, kicking up a row.
Hours after the chief minister’s announcement, the state unit of the BJP said that Siddaramaiah was trying to create communal disharmony.
“The uniform policy has been implemented in schools and colleges to ensure that children have equality. This has also been upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the Chief Minister is creating a difference in the minds of the school students regarding the issue of uniforms. Siddaramaiah is going to amend the constitution itself for a vote bank to appease PFI (Popular Front of India) goons and minorities. In the coming days, the people themselves will teach this a lesson,” the party state unit said in a statement.
