Karnataka revokes 2022 hijab order, permits religious symbols with uniform

It said institutions were spaces intended to promote scientific temper, rationality, equality, dignity, fraternity, discipline, mutual respect & social harmony

The Karnataka government on Wednesday revoked the 2022 government order that effectively barred hijabs in classrooms where uniforms were prescribed, reopening the door for students to wear limited religious and traditional symbols in schools and colleges across the state.

FILE PHOTO: A student wearing school uniform and hijab listens to fellow students wearing burqas after they were denied entry into the campus of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial college on Feb. 24, 2022 (AP Photo)

The new directive, issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, allows students to wear items such as the hijab, turban, sacred thread and rudraksha along with institutional uniforms, provided they do not interfere with discipline, safety or student identification.

“The Government Order No: EP 14 SHH 2022, dated: 05.02.2022, is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect,” the order dated May 13 said.

The government order said students could not be compelled either to wear or remove religious or traditional symbols permitted under the order, underlining that educational institutions were spaces intended to promote “scientific temper, rationality, equality, dignity, fraternity, discipline, mutual respect, social harmony, and the responsibilities of our constitutional democracy.”

It added that “secularism in a constitutional sense is not an opposition to personal beliefs; rather, it is the giving of equal respect to all, institutional impartiality, and non-discriminatory behaviour.”

The controversy first emerged in January 2022 at a government pre-university college in Udupi, where a group of Muslim students said they had been denied entry to classrooms because they wore hijabs. Similar disputes soon surfaced in other districts, triggering demonstrations by students both supporting and opposing the headscarf.

As tensions escalated and questions were raised about the powers of the institutions, the state government issued an order on February 5, 2022 directing students to follow uniforms prescribed by educational institutions. In places where no official uniform existed, students were instructed to wear clothing consistent with “equality, integrity and public order.” This order became the basis for restricting hijabs in several colleges.

The issue soon escalated into one of Karnataka’s most divisive political debates. Some institutions temporarily suspended classes amid protests and counter-mobilisations, while images of students wearing saffron shawls and hijabs became emblematic of the standoff.

The government’s order was challenged before the Karnataka High Court by Muslim students who argued that wearing the hijab was protected under constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and privacy. But the high court upheld the government’s position in March 2022, ruling that the hijab was not an essential religious practice under Islam and affirming the authority of educational institutions to enforce dress codes.

The case later reached the Supreme Court, where a two-judge bench delivered a split verdict in October 2022. One judge upheld the restrictions while the other ruled in favour of the petitioners. The matter was referred to a larger bench, where it remains pending.

The Congress, which was in Opposition at the time, opposed the restrictions and promised to revisit the issue if elected to power in Karnataka.

In its order, the government said it had reconsidered the matter after receiving concerns related to “traditional and belief-based markers worn by students of various religions and traditions.”

“Upon re-examining this matter, the Government is of the opinion that the discipline and order of the institution can be maintained without restricting such limited traditional and practice-based symbols usually worn by students,” the order said.

The government maintained that uniforms would continue to be mandatory in educational institutions. “All government schools, aided educational institutions, private educational institutions, and pre-university colleges in the state shall continue to prescribe and mandate uniforms as per the rules,” the order stated.

At the same time, it clarified that religious and traditional symbols could not override the basic character of the uniform. “Such traditional and practice-based symbols must be supplementary to the uniform and must not change, modify, or defeat the basic purpose of the prescribed uniform,” the order said.

The directive specifically listed “Peta/Turban, Janivara/Sacred thread, Shivadaara, Rudrakshi, Headscarf (Hijab)” among the permissible symbols.

It also barred institutions from excluding students from classrooms, examinations or academic activities because they wore such items with their uniforms.

“No student shall be denied entry to the educational institution, classroom, examination hall, or academic activities for the reason of wearing such limited traditional and practice-based symbols with the prescribed uniform,” the order said.

Any institutional circular, instruction or custom inconsistent with the new order would be treated as void, the government said.