Students Appearing for Recruitment Exams Can Wear Hijab, Says Karnataka Minister

"This is a secular country. People are free to dress however they want," MC Sudhakar said, according to India Today.

Kaneez Fatima leading protests against the hijab ban. 

(Kaneez Fatima/Twitter)

Candidates appearing for recruitment exams conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority can wear the hijab, The Times of India quoted state Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar as saying.

What did the minister say? The minister said that by not permitting candidates to wear the hijab, the government would be "infringing on the rights of people. Even in NEET, candidates are allowed to wear hijab."

"This is a secular country. People are free to dress however they want," he said, according to India Today.

Why is this important? On 5 February 2022, the previous BJP-led Karnataka government issued an order banning the hijab in government educational institutions, saying that "clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public law and order should not be worn."

A month later, the Karnataka High Court upheld the state government's ban on the hijab.

Why you should read on: The recruitment exams conducted by the KEA, which are scheduled to be held on 28 and 29 October, will fill vacancies in the Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and Mysore Sales International Limited, among others.

He, however, said that students wearing the hijab would have to appear at the exam hall at least an hour before the examination. "They (students) will be thoroughly checked. We don't want any sort of malpractice," he said, according to India Today.

Congress' stance on the hijab ban: After the Congress came to power in the state in May, the party's lone Muslim woman MLA Kaneez Fatima had said the ban would be revoked.

Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge also said in May that the hijab ban order would be revised or withdrawn after review.