NEW DELHI: Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Friday responded on the hijab controversy. The governor said women during the time of Prophet believed that hijab was unnecessary and that the first generation of women argued that the beauty bestowed by God was not to be hidden. He clarified his stand on the hijab controversy while talking to the media.

The state government had recently banned students from wearing hijab in government schools and colleges in Karnataka. The government said it will not allow students wearing hijab to class. There was widespread protest against this. The conflict escalated when some Hindu organizations came out in support of the government.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court refused to issue an interim order in the hijab case and the Supreme Court refused to intervene immediately. The Karnataka High Court directed that students should not be adamant in wearing the religious dress in campuses till the final order comes. The case has been postponed to Monday.

A three-member bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Ashwathy, Justices J M Khasi, and Krishna S Dixit demanded colleges to open at the earliest. The court said that a settlement would be reached as soon as possible and that peace and tranquility should prevail. The bench also asked the media not to report the oral references of the court in the case.

Meantime, the state government has announced that classes 9 and 10 will start in Karnataka from Monday. A decision on opening colleges will be taken later. A two-week ban has been announced on a 200-meter radius of educational institutions in Bengaluru.