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Bengaluru: The VHP on Friday objected to the Karnataka government's decision allowing hijab in educational institutions across the state and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the order lifting the restriction.

The demand comes two days after the state government passed an order allowing students to wear hijab, sacred thread, Shivadhara, and Rudraksha in schools. The government scrapped the BJP government's 2022 order banning hijab in government schools following a hijab versus saffron shawl controversy, which, according to the VHP, reflects "appeasement politics." In a statement, the VHP said that the restrictions imposed vide government order dated February 5, 2022, were issued under Section 133(2) of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983. The order empowered institutions to prescribe uniforms to ensure discipline, uniformity, and the secular character of classrooms. It was founded on the principle that educational spaces must remain free from visible religious markers that create segregation among students.

It argued that the present reversal undermines the statutory mandate of Rule 11 of the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Classification, Regulation and Prescription of Curricula, etc.) Rules, 1995, which recognises the authority of institutions to enforce dress codes.

"By allowing individual religious practice to override institutional regulation, the government has diluted administrative discipline and created grounds for legal uncertainty," the VHP alleged.

The organisation further said that public educational institutions are bound by the constitutional principle of secularism and cannot be equated with private spheres of religious observance.

The VHP also noted that the earlier government order had been challenged in the Karnataka High Court and later upheld, with further appeals currently pending before the Supreme Court. It said the matter remains sub judice.

The organisation added that equating different religious symbols in schools was inappropriate.