There is no ban on wearing the hijab in India, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Sunday, according to PTI.

Naqvi made the statement in the context of a recent ban on wearing “religious clothes”, including the hijab, in educational institutions in Karnataka.

“The matter is in the court,” the minister told reporters in Hyderabad. “... There is no ban on [wearing of] hijab in India. It is clear.”

However, Naqvi said that some institutions have dress codes and uniforms. “When we talk of rights of Constitution then we have to talk of Constitutional duties also,” he said.

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Naqvi, along with Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy and Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali inaugurated a “Hunar Haat” in Hyderabad. “Hunar Haats” are an initiative of the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs that aims to provide a platform to artisans to showcase their work.

Naqvi had emphasised on “constitutional duties” while commenting on the hijab ban earlier as well. On February 13, he had claimed that protests on the matter were a conspiracy aimed towards stopping the education of Muslim girls, according to ANI.

“Many people are saying that it [hijab] is their constitutional right,” the minister had said. “But what about your duties?”

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On February 5, the Karnataka government had passed an order banning clothes that “disturb equality, integrity and public order”. On February 10, a three-judge bench had barred students in Karnataka from wearing “religious clothes” in schools and colleges until further orders.

Earlier this month, Hindu students and mobs of men protested against Muslim women wearing hijabs to educational institutes at several places in the state. At some colleges, Muslim students were heckled, while in another case some men climbed up a flagpole to plant a saffron flag and broke into classrooms.

On Friday, the Karnataka High Court reserved its verdict on a group of petitions seeking the right to wear hijabs in educational institutions.