Karnataka withdraws 2022 uniform order, allows hijab, sacred threads in schools

Under the new order, students in government, aided, and private educational institutions, including pre-university colleges, can wear items such as the hijab, sacred thread (janivara), rudraksha, shivadhara, and sharavastra along with the prescribed uniform.

In Short

• Govt allows symbols include hijab, sacred thread, Shivadhara, Rudraksha in schools
• No student can be denied entry or forced to wear these symbols
• Schools must implement policy secularly and without discrimination

In a major reversal of the controversial 2022 hijab policy, the Karnataka government on Wednesday formally withdrew its earlier uniform order with immediate effect and allowed students to wear limited community, traditional and customary symbols, including hijabs and sacred threads, along with prescribed school uniforms.

The order withdraws the government order dated February 5, 2022, which had triggered a nationwide political and legal controversy over hijabs in educational institutions.

According to the notification, all government schools, aided educational institutions, private educational institutions and pre-university colleges across Karnataka will continue to prescribe and enforce uniforms as per institutional requirements and government rules.

At the same time, students will now be allowed to wear limited community, traditional and customary symbols along with the prescribed uniform. The government clarified that these symbols must remain supplementary to the uniform and must not replace, alter or defeat the essential purpose of the prescribed uniform.

HIJAB, SACRED THREAD AMONG PERMITTED SYMBOLS

The government specifically listed the following permissible symbols:

• Hijab (headscarf)
• Janivara or sacred thread
• Shivadhara
• Rudraksha
• Sharavastra

The order also allowed other similar community, traditional and customary symbols, provided they do not interfere with discipline, safety or student identification.

The Karnataka government clarified that saffron shawls would not be permitted, stating that they do not fall under religion, while sacred threads are allowed.

“No student shall be denied entry to an educational institution, classroom, examination hall, or academic activities merely because they are wearing such limited traditional and customary symbols along with the prescribed uniform,” the order stated.

‘NO STUDENT CAN BE FORCED’

The government also emphasised that students cannot be compelled either to wear or not wear such customary symbols.

“No student shall be compelled to wear such traditional and customary symbols. Likewise, no student shall be forcibly prevented from wearing” them, the order stated.

However, the government added that national and state-level dress code regulations may be applied appropriately by the concerned authorities during examinations.

STRESS ON SECULAR, NON-DISCRIMINATORY IMPLEMENTATION

The order directed schools and colleges to implement the policy in a uniform, secular, non-discriminatory and bias-free manner without discrimination based on religion or community.

It said that implementation must follow constitutional values including equality, dignity, fraternity, secularism, scientific temper, rationality and the right to education.

The government also instructed School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs), College Development Committees (CDCs), governing bodies and heads of institutions to ensure that no student faces discrimination or humiliating treatment over attire.

Invoking 12th-century social reformer Basavanna, the government urged institutions to follow the inclusive spirit of “Iva Namava” — translated as “These are our people”.

“All institutions should adopt the inclusive spirit expressed by Basavanna as ‘Iva Namava’,” the order said, adding that institutions must maintain discipline in a manner that does not result in denial of education to any student.

The government further declared that any circular, resolution, instruction, custom or institutional directive contrary to the new order would be treated as invalid.

The Commissioner of the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Director of the Department of Pre-University Education have been directed to issue necessary instructions for implementation across educational institutions in the state.

BJP ATTACKS CONGRESS OVER APPEASEMENT POLITICS

The decision, however, triggered sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which accused the ruling Congress government of reviving the hijab issue for electoral gains.

Leader of the Opposition, R Ashoka, alleged that the Congress had brought back hijab in schools for “vote-bank politics and excessive appeasement of Muslims."

“Whoever criticises Hindus or does injustice to them, the entire Hindu community is standing united and teaching them a lesson. Hindus must teach a proper lesson to Siddaramaiah and all Congress MLAs in the coming days. This is an anti-Hindu government,” he added.

Ashoka further claimed that “the people of the state will decide and remove this anti-Hindu government”.

Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya also attacked the Karnataka government in a detailed post on X, accusing the Congress of “quietly withdrawing” the 2022 order and reopening the door for hijab in schools under the guise of permitting “limited traditional and faith-based symbols”.

He argued that schools should remain neutral spaces focused on equality and education rather than religious identity. “This is not empowerment. This is the institutionalisation of religious identity in classrooms and the slow burial of childhood under layers of dogma,” he said.

“Schools must be spaces where young minds grow free, curious and equal, not where political parties reinforce separateness for vote-bank politics,” he added.

GOVT DEFENDS MOVE, SAYS CUSTOMARY PRACTICES CLARIFIED

Defending the revised order, Karnataka School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa said the government had only formally clarified long-standing religious and customary practices followed by different communities.

“Whatever people have been practising religiously, whether it is wearing the sacred thread (janeu), wearing the Shivadhara, some wearing a turban, some girls in North Karnataka wearing their traditional attire, or members of the Jain community wearing their customary dress, or hijab, all such things that are religiously allowed have been properly specified in a Government Order,” Bangarappa said.

He said the intention behind the order was to ensure that students up to Class 12 do not face difficulties over wearing permitted customary symbols in educational institutions.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also defended the decision and said the revised policy merely permits limited customary practices.

“Limited customary practices are being allowed and nobody should be hurt because of this,” he said.

WHAT'S 2022 HIJAB ORDER

The 2022 Karnataka hijab order was a government directive issued on February 5, 2022, that empowered school and college authorities to enforce prescribed uniforms and effectively barred students from wearing clothes deemed to disturb “equality, integrity and public order” in classrooms.

The order came after protests erupted in Karnataka when some government pre-university colleges stopped Muslim students from attending classes while wearing hijabs. In response, several Hindu students began wearing saffron shawls to colleges, escalating tensions across campuses.

Under the 2022 order:

• Educational institutions could prescribe uniforms through College Development Committees (CDCs) or management bodies.
• If no uniform was prescribed, students were asked to wear attire that promoted equality and public order.
• Institutions could prohibit clothing considered disruptive to uniformity and discipline.

The order effectively resulted in hijab bans in several government educational institutions in Karnataka.

- Ends