Hijab not an issue in Bihar, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Patna, Feb 14: Downplaying the ongoing hijab (headscarf) controversy in Karnataka, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said it is not an issue in his state where religious sentiments are respected.
If someone puts something on the head in a classroom, there is no need to comment on it, Kumar told reporters at a programme.
This is not an issue in Bihar, we should not focus on such things.... It's useless," he said.
The matter has gone to court, said Kumar.
In Bihar schools, children wear almost the same type of dress. If someone puts something on the head, there is no need to comment on it. We do not interfere in such matters. We respect religious sentiments of each other," he said.
Everybody is equal for the state government, Kumar told reporters in his public outreach programme, 'Janata Ke Darbaar Mein Mukhyamantri'.
The hijab controversy broke out in Karnataka governed by the BJP, with which Kumar's Janata Dal (United) shares power in Bihar.
It started in Udupi with six girl students coming to the college wearing head scarves citing their faith in December end. In reaction, a few Hindu students began turning up at the college wearing saffron scarves.
Gradually, the issue spread to other parts of the state leading to tension and violence on the campus in certain places.
Subsequently, the Karnataka government announced a three-day holiday from February 9 for high schools and pre-university colleges to avoid any further disturbances and untoward incidents on campuses.
Petitions have been filed on the issue in the Karnataka High Court which, in an interim order, requested the state government to reopen educational institutions and restrained all students from wearing saffron shawls, scarves, hijab and any religious flag within classroom.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
