Karnataka’s hijab row: A rollback, at last

In what was called an “emergency” press conference last week, Karnataka’s Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa announced the rollback of the 2022 order on uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges. The controversial order of the previous BJP government had led to hijab-donning girls being barred from entering classrooms. It started with six Muslim girls in hijab being prevented from entering their classroom in the coastal town of Udupi, spread quickly across the State, and reached the High Court and eventually the Supreme Court.

Though the rollback was a manifesto promise of the Congress, the government had been dragging its feet on it for nearly three years. In fact, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had a few months after the party’s stellar victory in 2023 elections made a public announcement that people can “wear whatever they want, eat whatever they want”, only to clarify the next day that no formal order had been issued and the government was only considering revocation after discussion with officials.