Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh on Sunday requested political parties not to turn the subject of school uniforms into a political issue, and appealed to them to instead strengthen the idea of uniform to build unity and bonding among students.

His comments to the ET came in the backdrop of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress getting into a war of words after sections of Muslim girls with hijab or headscarf and some Hindu boys sporting saffron neckscraf tried to enter their schools and colleges in a latest eruption of defiance to prevailing uniform regulations. The authorities at schools, however, have been denying them entry.

Karnataka never faced an issue with regard to student uniform and it has suddenly become an issue due to the instigation of some people. About 1.2 crore children are studying in government schools, and none of them has an issue with wearing their school uniform. Only 29 students have an issue, the Minister said.

“I have appealed to all these students to honour the uniform prescribed by the government. I am also making it clear that those who want to defy the government’s school uniform regulations cannot enter their schools and attend classes,” Nagesh said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet, said, “By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate. ” Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too, in a tweet, said: The Constitution has given the right to practice any religion which means one can wear any clothes according to their religion. Prohibiting ‘Hijab’ wearing students from entering school is a violation of fundamental rights.”

The Karnataka government on Saturday issued an order making it compulsory for students to wear only such uniforms as prescribed by the government, or their respective school or college managements.

The government notification followed a row that erupted after sections of girls sought to enter their schools and colleges wearing a hijab covering their face, and authorities denied them entry. The incident, which first occurred in coastal Karnataka district of Udupi has now spread to other districts with many students seeking entry with hijabs covering their face. As a reaction to this, at some schools and colleges, boys also sought entry wearing saffron neck scarfs. The authorities, however, denied entry to all these students on grounds that they violated the prescribed uniforms.

This has taken a political turn with the Congress supporting students wearing hijab to classrooms while the BJP opposing it.

Independent political observers think the row has erupted in view of the assembly elections due next year.

The government order says students of government schools will wear uniforms as decided by the government and students of private institutions will sport uniforms prescribed by their respective management. In respect of pre-university colleges, students will wear uniforms prescribed by the college development committee or the management concerned.

The government has cited orders and judgments in this regard pronounced by high courts of various states and the Supreme Court, according to which, an educational institution asking students to comply with a uniform code was well within its rights, and would in no way violate a student’s constitutional rights. It also cited a specific judgement by the Bombay High Court in which it upheld an educational institution’s order requiring its students not to wear hijab to schools, and ruled that an institution asking students not to wear hijab to classes was not a violation of his or her constitutional rights.

Karnataka’s notification says its own law, the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, requires students to conduct themselves as members of one family. But of late it has noticed instances of students wearing dresses in conformity with their religious practices. This disturbed unity and equality in schools and colleges, it said.