Hindu Groups Launch Saffron Shawl Protests Across Karnataka After Govt's Hijab Policy

Bengaluru: Fresh political and social tensions have flared up across Karnataka after several Hindu groups launched massive saffron shawl counter-protests in response to the state government's decision to permit the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions. 

The decision has effectively sparked a deeply polarising debate over religious attire in classrooms, a dispute that previously drew international headlines.

The controversy gathered momentum after the government's formal move to relax restrictions on religious clothing in schools and colleges. 

In a swift reaction, right-wing Hindu organisations mobilised students and activists across various districts. 

Carrying saffron flags and wrapping saffron shawls around their necks, hundreds of students marched toward institutions, demanding equal rights to display their religious identity if clothing rules are being altered for one community.

Protesters outside multiple campus gates raised slogans, asserting that educational institutions must either strictly enforce a uniform, secular dress code or allow students of all faiths to wear their respective religious symbols. 

"If the administration permits religious attire for one section, it must extend the same rules to everyone," a student activist at a demonstration noted. 

Campus security and local police forces have been deployed across sensitive zones in coastal Karnataka to prevent any escalation into law-and-order situations.

The government's decision marks a significant policy U-turn from the previous administration's stance, which had strictly banned the hijab in state-run classrooms, a directive that was subsequently upheld by the Karnataka High Court in 2022. 

Opponents of the current policy relaxation argue that reversing the ban compromises the secular environment of classrooms and risks creating deep communal divisions among young students.

Conversely, defenders of the government's move argue that it protects the fundamental right to education for young Muslim women, ensuring they are not forced to choose between their religious beliefs and their academic futures.

College authorities in several districts are holding emergency meetings with parent-teacher associations to defuse the situation, even as political parties exchange sharp barbs over the commercialisation of identity politics within the state’s education system.

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