Hijab row takes international stage, Opposition attempting to instigate Muslim women for political gains: PM Modi
Hijab Row took the international stage on Wednesday this week as Nobel prize winning Malala Yousafzai took to Twitter to condemn the controversy in Karnataka. She said, “refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying.” She called for Indian leaders to stop the marginalization of Muslim women while sharing a news report on Muslim girls being forced to choose between their education or wearing a hijab.
French football star Paul Pogba also posted a story on his Instagram sharing a video captioned ‘Hindutva mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India.’
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi-led bench comprising of Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit heard the petition against the restrictions on wearing hijab and decided to hear the matter again on Monday, February 14. In the interim, the HC asked the students on both sides of the controversy to refrain from wearing any kind of religious garments to colleges.
Petitioners took to Supreme Court against the interim order of Karnataka HC, claiming it as an ‘unreasonable classification’ affecting only Muslim women. But SC refused to hear the urgent plea saying let the Karnataka HC hear it first. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta commented that if the Karnataka High Court order has not come, how is it being challenged in SC.
“Let the HC decide. It should not be made political and religious,” Tushar Mehta said.
PM Modi also broke his silence on the Hijab row at an election rally in UP’s Saharanpur on Thursday. He accused the opposition of instigating and tricking Muslim women so that their lives would remain backward. He claimed that a Yogi-led government would ensure that Muslim women aren’t being oppressed in UP.
PM Modi addressed an election rally in UP’s Saharanpur on Thursday.
“BJP government freed Muslim women from triple talaq. When Muslim women started openly supporting Modi government, opponents got anxious. But we stand with every Muslim woman,” PM Modi said, speaking the same day that Uttar Pradesh began voting in the first phase of the Assembly election.
On the other hand, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sought to calm the raging Hijab controversy by saying small incidents are not good for society and that we are one big family. In an interview with CNN News-18, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways said:
“Some people go to mosque, some go to temple, some to gurdwara. I always remember the song in the RSS —’Sanskruti sab ki ek chirantana, purakhe jiske Hindu hain, virat sagar samaj apna, hum sab iske bindu hain’. We are all part and parcel of one society, one family and we should respect every religion and make religious harmony in the society.”
Published by- Aashay Bhujbal
Edited by- Kritika Kashyap
