Bengaluru, 13 May. Now there will be no ban on students wearing hijab or sacred thread in Karnataka schools. The Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reversed the decision implemented by the previous BJP government in 2022, in which hijab was banned in schools. In the new rules being brought by the Karnataka Education Department, students have been allowed to wear sacred thread, hijab, turban, Rudraksha and scarf along with the uniform.
Students should not face problems due to religious symbols – Education Minister
Madhu Bangarappa, Education Minister in Karnataka Government, while talking on this issue, said that it has been decided by the government that students should not face any problem due to religious symbols. “Children should not be inconvenienced due to traditional and religious practices,” he said. We have prepared guidelines to ensure clarity.
Madhu Bangarappa said that the Chief Minister has directed the department to complete the framework of rules before the start of the academic session. It is expected that these rules will allow limited use of traditional and religious symbols while maintaining uniform system in schools.
On this issue, the Karnataka government said that the purpose of this decision is to strike a balance between discipline in educational institutions and respect for religious and cultural practices. It is believed that this decision may once again intensify the debate on the issue of hijab in the state.
This is why BJP had decided to ban hijab?
Muslim girls coming to college in Karnataka were stopped from wearing hijab during 2021-22. After this it became a big social and religious issue. It was said by the college administration that the uniform rule applies equally to all students. Protesting against this, the girl students said that hijab is a part of their religious identity. In such a situation she will not remove it.
Gradually this controversy spread throughout the state along with Karnataka. In response to the insistence of Muslim girl students to wear hijab, some Hindu organizations tried to come to college wearing saffron shawls, after which the controversy increased. Seeing this controversy growing, the then BJP government banned the wearing of religious symbols in educational institutions.
The dispute reached from the High Court to the Supreme Court
Ultimately this matter reached the court. On this matter, in March 2022, the Karnataka High Court ruled that hijab is not a mandatory religious practice of Islam. Apart from this, implementing uniform in schools is the domain of government and administration. In such a situation, the order of the state government is correct. After this the matter reached the Supreme Court. Here a two-member bench gave the decision by one vote each.
Meanwhile, Congress government came to power in Karnataka in the year 2023. After this, the new government relaxed the decision to ban hijab. After this the matter was buried. However, now that this decision has come to the fore again, there is a possibility of political controversy over it.
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