Karnataka Government Issues Order Banning Hijab In Minority Institutions

Karnataka Hijab Controversy: All educational institutions run by the Minority Welfare Department have been ordered not to allow hijab, scarves, saffron shawls and other religious symbols.

As per the government order, students can come to campus wearing hijab but cannot attend classes wearing it (Getty Images)

New Delhi: The Karnataka Minority Welfare Department issued an order on Thursday restraining students of minority institutions run by the government from wearing hijab, scarfs or saffron shawls, ANI reported.

In the circular, Major P Manivannan, Secretary for Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf Department, said that the interim order of the Karnataka High Court also applied to residential schools run under the Minority Welfare Department and Moulana Azad Model Schools (English medium).

Karnataka Minority Welfare Department restrains students of schools under the Dept from wearing saffron shawls, scarfs, hijab, religious flags or similar inside classrooms until further orders pic.twitter.com/xPjfR74Np6

— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2022

All educational institutions run by the Minority Welfare Department have been ordered not to allow hijab, scarves, saffron shawls and other religious symbols in the classrooms.

Interestingly, the uniform for students in some minority institutions includes the hijab itself. As per the government order, students can come to campus wearing hijab but cannot attend classes wearing it.

READ | Karnataka Hijab Row: Petitioner Asks HC To Allow Students To Wear Hijab On Fridays, Hearing Adjourned

"We request the state government and all their stakeholders to reopen the educational institutions and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest," the circular quoted the HC order as saying. 

"Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders," it further said.

"We make it very clear that this order is confined to such institutions wherein the college Development Committees have prescribed the student dress/uniform," it said.

The circular was issued after it came to notice that women students were attending classes wearing the hijab. In the absence of a clear order, some students had started staging protests as well as submitted memorandums to the concerned Deputy Commissioners across the state.