New Delhi: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday (December 22) that he had ordered the revocation of the ban on hijabs in the state’s educational institutes.Earlier on Friday at a function in Mysuru district, he said his government would revoke the ban and that “people can wear the dress of their choice”, The Hindu reported.“I have instructed [the officials] that there will be no restriction from tomorrow [December 23],” The South First news portal quoted him as saying.In February last year, the state government, then controlled by the BJP, said that students in government schools and in colleges falling under the state’s pre-university education board must wear uniforms fixed by the state or the colleges’ administrative bodies.It also prohibited the use of clothes that “threaten equality, unity, and public order”.The order came on the heels of female students at a pre-university college in the state’s Udupi district being disallowed from entering their classroom for wearing the hijab, a headscarf traditionally worn by Muslim women.A month later, the Karnataka high court ruled that wearing the hijab was not an “essential religious practice” in Islam and that uniforms were a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression.The Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the matter later that year.Siddaramaiah added at the function on Friday that “your choices are yours and my choices are mine. It’s that simple … I wear dhoti and kurta, and you wear pant and shirt. It’s your choice. What’s wrong in this?”, according to the Indian Express.His post on X also said that the BJP was “doing the work of dividing people and dividing society on the basis of clothes, dress [and] caste.”State BJP leaders have criticised Siddaramaiah’s statement on revoking last year’s government’s order.“By allowing religious attire in educational institutions the Siddaramaiah government is dividing young minds along religious lines, potentially hindering the inclusive learning environment,” Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra said according to The Hindu.Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna told The South First that the BJP would challenge and protest Siddaramaiah’s decision.