Hijab ban to stay till SC takes a call: K'taka min

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- HT Correspondent

BENGALURU: A ban on the practice of wearing hijabs at educational institutions in Karnataka will continue as the matter is pending in the top court, state school education and literacy minister Madhu Bangarappa said on Friday.

Addressing the media ahead of the upcoming SSLC examinations, Bangarappa said that the existing dress code, which bans the headscarf, will continue.

"Since the matter is in court, we will not take any further decisions on it. What is allowed by the court (dress code) will remain," he said.

The hijab controversy first broke out in January 2022, when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in the state, when the administration of the Government PU College in Udupi denied entry to six students for wearing hijab. Their protests outside the institution triggered counterprotests, with Hindu students donning saffron shawls in several schools. The tension prompted the Karnataka government to issue an order on February 5, 2022, prohibiting religious attire in institutions with a mandated dress code under the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.