‘Will take decision after…’: Karnataka minister on lifting hijab ban amid row
Amidst an ongoing debate on the hijab ban in Karnataka, the state’s Home Minister G Parameshwara has said that the government will decide on lifting restrictions after looking into the matter “deeply”.
“We have not made any orders regarding hijab. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself said that even if it is done, we will check it. The government will take a decision after looking into it deeply,” G Parameshwara told news agency ANI.
A political row erupted in Karnataka after Siddaramaiah said that his government would withdraw the order banning hijab in schools and colleges in the state. The statements were made during a public meeting on Friday, December 22.
“The choice of clothes is one’s own prerogative. I have directed to withdraw the hijab ban. PM Modi’s ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ is bogus. The BJP is dividing people and society based on clothes, dress, and caste,” the Chief Minister said in the public meeting.
The comments of Siddaramaiah attracted a sharp reaction from the Karnataka BJP.
BJP leader and ex-CM Basavaraj Bommai accused Siddaramaiah of hiding the failures of his government as well as raising the issue for only political gains.
He told reporters that hijab was not banned all over the state but not allowed where there was a dress code. Muslim women are permitted to wear the hijab everywhere.
“When the hijab is not banned where is the question of lifting the ban,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
In February 2022, a government college in the state’s Udupi district banned the hijab inside classrooms, and many other institutions followed suit.
Later, the then Basavaraj Bommai government issued an order to ban hijab inside campuses, stating that “any clothing that would disturb equality, integrity, and public law and order” would not be allowed.
The order had led to multiple protests and counter-protests, leading to the closure of institutions in the state. The matter reached the Supreme Court, which pronounced a split verdict on October 13 last year. The division bench then requested the Chief Justice to refer the matter to a larger bench, and it is pending before the top court.