Siddaramaiah, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Karnataka, on Friday announced that his government will withdraw the ban order on the Hijab imposed by BJP and said that there should be no politics on what people prefer to wear and eat.

The previous BJP government in the State had imposed a Hijab ban on students in educational institutions. The matter reached the Karnataka High Court which also upheld the ban imposed by the then BJP government. In this regard, Supreme Court had delivered a split verdict leading to the Karantaka High Court being upheld.

Addressing a public rally in Mysuru city on Friday, the Karnataka Chief Minister said that this decision will be taken back and women can go out wearing Hijab.

“We will take back that decision, there is no hijab ban now. Women can go out wearing the hijab. I have told the officials to take back the order (previous government order). Dressing and eating food is your choice, why should I object? Wear whatever dress you want, eat whatever you want, why should I care? We should not do politics to get votes, we don’t do that,” Karnataka CM said.

Hijab row

The hijab row in the State erupted in January 2022 when the Government PU College in Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering. Following this, the girls protested outside the college over being denied entry.

Earlier last month, the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) restricted all forms of head cover in the exam hall during recruitment exams for various boards and corporations to avoid malpractice.

Though the dress code does not explicitly ban hijab, it is implied by the new guidelines. The order said that this is part of the effort to stop exam malpractices using Bluetooth devices.