Karnataka Hijab Policy Flip Draws BJP Ire Over Minority Appeasement

In a bold political counterstrike, Karnataka's BJP chief R. Ashok on Wednesday tore into the Congress-led state government's rollback of the 2022 uniform dress code order. The fresh directive greenlights hijabs and other select religious attire in classrooms, prompting accusations of cynical vote-bank maneuvering. The trigger, according to Ashok, is the stinging defeat in the Davangere North by-election and brewing unrest within the minority electorate. 'Panicking over lost ground, Congress is resorting to frantic minority mollification,' he declared, painting the move as a knee-jerk reaction to electoral setbacks. Karnataka faces a perfect storm of challenges: skyrocketing prices, graft scandals, agrarian crises, and security breakdowns. Yet, Ashok charged, the government prioritizes polarizing religious issues over governance. 'They're ignoring burning problems to hand out targeted sops to one community,' he said. Judicial defiance forms the crux of BJP's outrage. Ashok invoked the Karnataka High Court's 2022 verdict upholding uniform codes, slamming the reversal as a blatant judicial slight. 'Courts ruled unequivocally: educational spaces demand uniformity and order, free from faith-based spectacles,' he stressed. The critique extended to perceived double standards. 'Hijabs sail through citing liberty, but try wearing a saffron scarf—it's banned on sight,' Ashok highlighted, accusing the regime of 'pick-and-choose secularism.' This showdown revives the 2022 hijab row that gripped the state, splitting opinions along communal lines. While the government defends the change as rights-based, BJP frames it as divisive opportunism. As debates rage, the policy's long-term impact on campus harmony remains a pressing concern amid Karnataka's turbulent polity.