The Karnataka government on Wednesday officially withdrew the controversial 2022 order introduced by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration that had enabled educational institutions to restrict hijabs in classrooms, allowing students to wear certain religious symbols along with prescribed uniforms.
The fresh order, issued by the Congress government, permits students in government, aided and private educational institutions under the School Education Department to wear “limited traditional and practice-based symbols” in addition to uniforms. These include the hijab, sacred thread, rudraksha, shivadhara and sharavastra.
The government clarified that uniforms would continue to remain compulsory, but religious and customary symbols could be worn as supplementary items as long as they did not affect discipline, safety, cleanliness or identification. No student can be denied entry or forced either to wear or remove such symbols, the order stated.
Institutions have also been instructed to implement the policy in line with constitutional values including equality, dignity, fraternity, secularism, scientific temper, rationality and the right to education.
School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa announced the decision at a press conference alongside Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad. The government later issued a note stating that Government Order No. 14, dated February 5, 2022, had been withdrawn under provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, the Karnataka Educational Institutions Rules, 1995 and constitutional guarantees.
The hijab controversy first began in Karnataka’s Udupi district in late 2021 after Muslim students were stopped from attending classes for wearing headscarves. The issue soon escalated across the state, triggering protests and counter-protests on campuses. Some Hindu students wore saffron shawls in opposition to hijab-wearing classmates, prompting temporary closure of schools and colleges in several districts.
In March 2022, the Karnataka High Court upheld the restrictions, ruling that wearing the hijab was not an essential religious practice in Islam. The matter later reached the Supreme Court, which delivered a split verdict.
The ban remained politically and socially contentious in the years that followed. Muslim students and rights groups said the restrictions severely affected women’s access to education, leading to exclusion from classrooms and examinations, discrimination and mental distress.
The issue resurfaced earlier this month during the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET), when several students were reportedly asked to remove hijabs and sacred threads before entering examination halls. Gundu Rao had described the incidents as “inhuman”, according to local media reports.
The BJP government had defended the restrictions by arguing that visible religious attire could disturb equality, integrity and public order in educational institutions. Supporters of the Congress government’s move say the reversal restores educational access and upholds constitutional freedoms.