It is very unlikely that the curtain would be brought down on the issues raised by the hijab controversy in Karnataka and elsewhere in India through administrative and judicial initiatives that are afoot now. There has been some respite with the brief closure of institutions of academic learning in the face of the demand by some young Muslim girls that they be allowed to wear a hijab to college that was countered by supporters of Hindutva outfits wearing saffron outfits. The High Court of Karnataka, in an interim order, has also made it clear that “all students, regardless of their religion or faith, have been restrained from wearing saffron shawls (bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags or the like within classrooms until further orders” with regard to petitions “pending consideration” on the issue of the right to wear a hijab in classrooms. This order has also been confined to institutions where a student dress code/uniform has been prescribed. In addition, the police have held flag marches in some cities and towns that could witness a communal flare-up as a result of opposing stances.
The hijab as a differentiating marker has been an explosive issue elsewhere in other political societies as well in coming to terms with pluralism. But what is it that makes the hijab the test case for living with pluralism in Karnataka? The approach that we employ to engage with this issue will have its repercussions elsewhere too.
