Bengaluru, February 18: Amid the ongoing Hijab row, the Karnataka Minority Welfare Department on Thursday issued a circular to ban students from wearing saffron shawls, scarfs, hijab, religious flags inside classrooms until further orders at educational institutions that come under the ambit of the department.

The circular quoted the operative part of the Karnataka high court's interim order that asked the state government to reopen educational institutions in the state and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest. Karnataka Hijab Row: Refusing to Let Girls Go to School in Hijabs Horrifying, Says Malala Yousafzai.

"We request the state government and all other stakeholders to reopen the educational institutions and allow the students to return to the classes at the earliest. Pending consideration of all these petitions, we restrain all the students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (Bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within the classroom, until further orders. We make it clear that this order is confined to such of the institutions wherein the college Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code/uniform".

The Hijab protests in Karnataka began in January this year when some students of Government Girls PU College in the Udupi district of the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Following this incident, students of different colleges arrived at Shanteshwar Education Trust in Vijayapura wearing saffron stoles. The situation was similar in several colleges in the Udupi district.

The Pre-University Education Board has released a circular stating that students can wear only the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges.

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