The members of a few Hindu organisations staged a protest in Bengaluru on Wednesday, October 25, against the Karnataka Examination Authority’s (KEA) decision to allow Muslim students to wear hijab while writing recruitment-related examinations to be held on October 28 and 29. In this regard, Founder of Rashtra Dharma Sangathan Santosh Kenchamba, said, “The Karnataka government has unnecessarily brought the hijab issue into the limelight again despite the court’s strict guidelines that it is not allowed in educational institutions."
Speaking to the media, Kenchamba said the issue is being highlighted again by the state government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to garner the votes of the minority community. Citing the 2006 Sachar Committee report, Kenchamba said the government must take steps to make the education system affordable and inclusive with minorities joining mainstream educational institutions. Instead, the government is taking decisions that lead to divisions in society on communal lines, he added.
Earlier at a progress review meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar, it was decided that Muslim students will be allowed to wear hijab while writing exams, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
To recall, in 2022, protests erupted in different parts of the state over the hijab controversy. Muslim students were not allowed to enter colleges in a few districts on the grounds that it was a violation of their uniform policy. The previous BJP government in the state issued orders banning students from wearing hijab in educational institutions, he said.
The district coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Sharadh Kumar said the state government is overruling the high court’s decision. The hijab was banned to ensure uniformity among students inside the school and college premises. There is no need for students to wear hijab or saffron scarf inside educational institutions. "This decision of the state government is not right," he added.
