Ban On Religious Attire Only In Colleges Having Uniforms: K’taka CM

Mumbai: Karnataka CM Basavaraj S Bommai said on Wednesday in the state Assembly that the ban on wearing religious attire is not applicable in all colleges.

“The High Court order will not be followed in all colleges. The HC has said that only colleges where uniforms are prescribed, the ban will apply,” Bommai told the assembly.

The chief minister’s remarks came after Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah raised the issue of Muslim students not being allowed to wear a hijab during Zero Hour.

The Congress leader on Tuesday sought clarification from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on a statement by Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan that the High Court’s ban on religious symbols would not apply to degree colleges.

Chief Minister Bommai in his reply said that as per the February 10 order of the High Court, the ban on religious symbols is for pre-university colleges where the uniform without headscarf has been prescribed by the college.

The Karnataka HC in its order prohibited “all students, regardless of their religion or belief, from wearing saffron shawls (saffron) scarves, hijabs, religious flags or such other things within the classroom until further orders.” It also said that the order is “limited to such institutions where the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform.”

Despite the hijab being banned only in colleges where these headscarves are not allowed as part of their dress code, this has been interpreted as a general ban in many districts of Karnataka.

On Wednesday, when colleges reopened after a break following the protests by Muslim girls in a few pre-university colleges in Udupi for their right to wear hijabs and counter-protests by Hindu youths to wear saffron shawls, many degree colleges did not allow students to attend classes with headscarves.

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