Will lift hijab ban in K'taka, says CM Sidda

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced on Friday that he has asked the administration to revoke orders passed by the earlier government barring the use of hijabs in state-run educational institutions, signalling the end of a divisive rule that sparked protests across the country.

- Arun Dev 

In a public meeting in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah also backed individual rights and said the decision to wear a hijab boiled down to the simple idea” that people have different ways of dressing themselves.

“The order imposing restrictions on wearing] hijab, we will take it back. The hijab order] will not be there anymore. You can wear a hijab and go now. I have already instructed them officials] to withdraw the order,” he announced.

“What you wear and what you eat is your decision. How can the government come in the way of it? You wear what you want to wear and eat what you want to eat. What I eat is my right, and what you eat is yours,” he added.

The comments mark the potential rollback of a fractious rule that was also among the most controversial steps taken by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party BJP) government.