‘No proposal to ban hijab’, Madhya Pradesh govt clarifies after minister’s remark on 'dress code'

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New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday (February 9) clarified it does not plan to ‘ban hijab’ in educational institutions in the state. 

This comes after MP school education minister Inder Singh Parmar “supported” 'hijab' ban, proposing a dress code in schools, later adding that his statement was "wrongly interpreted”, PTI reported.

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said, “There is no controversy over (the wearing of) 'hijab' in Madhya Pradesh. No proposal is under consideration of the state government regarding hijab ban. So, there should be no confusion in this regard.”

Earlier, the school education minister had said that "since hijab is not part of the uniform, so I think it should be banned." He had told reporters that the School Education Department is working to implement a dress code in schools across MP to ensure that a "sense of equality and discipline prevails among all students". "This will be implemented from the next (academic) session," Parmar said. 

Issuing a video statement later, Parmar said that his remarks about the uniform in schools were related to "uniformity, discipline and identity of schools".

On Wednesday, Parmar said, "Some people wrongly interpreted my remarks and presented it with a wrong reference. I am refuting it. We are not going to implement a new uniform code. There is no work underway in this direction. Present arrangement in schools regarding the uniform will continue." 

Karnataka has been witnessing intensified protests since last week since the state government issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

(With agency inputs)