The “row” in Karnataka over wearing the hijab or headscarf by some Muslim girl students, which began in a college in Udupi district, is a whipped-up controversy. Most colleges do not usually have a dress code, except rules against skimpy wear, and many Muslim girls have been going to college with their heads covered. To suddenly stop them from entering institutions that they should consider their own, having enrolled and begun their college life there, is unwarranted and detrimental not only to the students in question but also the State and its goal to educate more girl children, treat them with respect and enable them to find their place in a complex and changing world.