[1][2] Over the following weeks, the dispute spread to other schools and colleges across the state, with groups of Hindu students staging counter-protests by demanding to wear saffron scarves.
[3] On 5 February, the Karnataka government issued an order stating that uniforms must be worn compulsorily where policies exist and no exception can be made for the wearing of the hijab.
[8] Y-category security has been provided to the Karnataka High Court judges who delivered the hijab verdict, and two people were arrested for making threatening speeches.
[10] The implementation of dress codes by educational institutes, banning the hijab, was criticised inside India and abroad by officials in countries including the United States and Pakistan, by Human Rights Watch, and by figures like Malala Yousafzai.
[11] [12] The ban was defended by politicians such as Arif Mohammad Khan, Aaditya Thackeray, Vishva Hindu Parishad and activist Taslima Nasreen.
A second-year PU student at Moodabidri was disallowed from attending classes for an entire year in 2011–12 due to her insistence on wearing a hijab.
[23] It had adopted popular Hindu nationalist policies such as banning cow slaughter[41][42] and passing an "anti-conversion bill" which prohibits conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement or marriage.
[2] The girls offered to use the existing uniform's dupatta to cover their head, arguing they didn't need to wear a separate hijab of a different colour or material, but the college refused.
[71] The college development committee, which is responsible for setting the uniform policy, was headed by K. Raghupati Bhat, an MLA belonging to the ruling BJP.
[71] After the dispute erupted, Bhat held a meeting with parents of all students on 1 January and declared that the college would continue with its uniform code, which does not allow for hijab.
[74] A leader of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, declared, "if girls are allowed to wear hijab then other students will come with saffron shawls to institutions across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
"[73] A co-educational first-grade college in Koppa tehsil in the Chikmagalur district, was the first to witness this development when some students wore saffron scarves and demanded that the dress code be enforced.
[75] The matter was resolved a few days later at a parent-teacher meeting where it was decided to allow Muslim girls to wear the hijab as long as they did not pin the headcover or tie them around their head.
[105] On 8 February, the Government of Karnataka announced the closure of high schools and colleges for three days, after the controversy over the wearing of hijab by Muslim students intensified.
[99] On 10 February, a lone Muslim woman, named Muskan Khan, clad in a burqa was heckled on her college grounds in Mandya by a crowd of male Hindu students wearing saffron shawls and chanting "Jai Shri Ram".
[111] The treatment of Muskan Khan was condemned by many notable figures, including by actors John Cusack,[112] Pooja Bhatt,[112] Fakhre Alam,[112] and footballer Paul Pogba.
[118] Two students from the Bhandarkar's arts and science college in Kundapura also filed a petition, who were represented by senior advocate Yusuf Muchhala.
After hearing the initial arguments, the judge concluded that the chief issue was whether wearing hijab is an essential religious practice, and, if it is so, why the state should interfere in the matter.
It requested the State to re-open the educational institutions and restrained students from wearing any sort of religious clothes in classrooms until the court decided the matter.
[129] Senior advocate Ravivarma Kumar also claimed that, by choosing to ban the hijab, the government was selectively targeting Muslim students.
[127] Senior Advocate Yusuf Mucchala, appearing on behalf of a Muslim student, stated that the Government Order was "manifestly arbitrary".
[134] During the hearing on 16 February (Day 5), the senior advocate of the petitioners, Ravivarma Kumar, challenged the legality of the college development committees, which are said to have been empowered to decide on uniforms.
[144] Y-category security has been provided to the Karnataka High Court judges who delivered the hijab verdict and two people were arrested for threat speeches.
Advocates requested the court to urgently hear the case so that the girls can appear in the school exams to prevent the loss progress made over the previous year.
A man Naveen and his mother Sarojamma were also attacked in the village of Nallur, by an angry mob of around 300 masked people bearing deadly weapons.
[152][153][154] On 21 February, a Bajrang Dal member who took part in the anti-hijab protests[155] of Hindu students was found murdered in the Shivamogga district.
[161] Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were invoked by the police, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Field Officer Sh.
[162][155] Hazra Shifa, one of the petitioners in the Karnataka High Court, alleged that her brother Saif was beaten up by a group of intoxicated people, who opposed the statements made by their father to a local news channel in support of the hijab.
[163] After the High Court verdict which upheld the hijab ban in government schools, many women students were either turned away or did not appear for the class 10th and 12th board exams.
[198] A study published by human rights body People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) reported that the move to ban hijab has widened the social divide and increased fear among Muslims in Karnataka.