2022 Karnataka hijab row

At the beginning of February 2022, a dispute pertaining to school uniforms was reported in the Indian state of Karnataka, when some Muslim students of a junior college who wanted to wear hijab to classes were denied entry on the grounds that it was a violation of the college's uniform policy which was also followed by the other religion students as well.^[1][2] Over the following weeks, the dispute spread to other schools and colleges across the state, with groups of Hindu students staging counter-protests by demanding to wear saffron scarves.^[3] On 5 February, the Karnataka government issued an order stating that uniforms must be worn compulsorily where policies exist and no exception can be made for the wearing of the hijab. Several educational institutions cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab.^[4][5]

Petitions were filed in the Karnataka High Court on behalf of the aggrieved students. On 10 February, the High Court issued an interim order restraining all students from wearing any form of religious attire. The order was implemented in all schools and colleges across Karnataka, with students, and in some cases teachers, being asked to remove hijabs and burqas outside the school gates. After a hearing of about 23 hours spread over 11 days,^[6] the court delivered its verdict on 15 March 2022, upholding the restrictions on hijab.^[7] The court ruled that the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam.^[8] Y-category security has been provided to the Karnataka High Court judges who delivered the hijab verdict, and two people were arrested for making threatening speeches.^[9] After control of the state legislative assembly changed from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Indian National Congress in the 2023 election, the new state government rescinded the order in December 2023.^[10]

The implementation of dress codes by educational institutes, banning the hijab, was criticised inside India and abroad by officials in countries including the United States and Pakistan, by Human Rights Watch, and by figures like Malala Yousafzai. ^{[11] [12]} The ban was defended by politicians such as Arif Mohammad Khan, Aaditya Thackeray, Vishva Hindu Parishad and activist Taslima Nasreen.^[13]