A year after the Karnataka hijab controversy in the state, the Congress government has decided to lift the controversial hijab ban in the state, terming the previous decision as a communally divisive move by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
The Congress party won the Karnataka Elections 2023 with a huge majority and is currently waiting to settle down and expand its cabinet. Senior leader Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister of the state, with DK Shivakumar holding the post of Deputy CM.
While campaigning for the May 10 assembly polls in the state, the Congress, especially Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, had insisted that the hijab ban and all communally-based laws enacted by the previous BJP government would be repealed after the party came to power. will be taken back.
Asked about Amnesty International’s growing concern over the hijab ban in Karnataka, Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar said at Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday, “I don’t want to comment on the hijab issue as it is a policy matter.”
However, cabinet minister Priyank Kharge, while addressing reporters, said that the Congress would withdraw the ban on hijab, halal cut and cow slaughter laws. Apart from this, the anti-conversion law can also be withdrawn by the Congress government.
The Karnataka hijab controversy began when school and college girls were barred from entering the premises of their educational institutions wearing hijabs for violating the school dress code. This soon led to massive protests by hijab-wearing schoolgirls.
The students, who refused to attend classes without hijabs, still say they will wait for the Supreme Court’s final decision. The issue had taken a communal color and resulted in revenge killings in the state. It had attracted the attention of the global terrorist organization al-Qaeda at the height of the crisis.
Also read:Karnataka Cabinet Minister List 2023: Read here the list of all ministers who took oath today