BENGALURU, May 14 -- The Congress government in Karnataka on Wednesday issued orders allowing students to wear limited traditional and faith-based attire such as hijabs and turbans along with their prescribed uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

The new directive, issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, revoked a controversial 2022 order issued by the previous BJP government that in effect barred the wearing of hijabs in schools and colleges.

The order stated that students could not be compelled either to wear or remove religious or traditional symbols permitted under the order, underlining that educational institutions were spaces intended to promote "scientific temper, rationality, equal...