New Delhi: Amid the ongoing row over wearing of hijab at educational institutes, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that it was a conspiracy on part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prevent Muslim girls from getting education. He also said prescribing a uniform in the month of January-February, instead of the beginning of the academic session was "deliberate and intentional".
“The code of uniform should have been prescribed at beginning of the session. Doing that in the month of January-February was deliberate and intentional. The conspiracy of BJP is to prevent Muslim girls from getting education,” news agency ANI quoted Siddaramaiah as saying.
He also linked wearing of hijab to wearing of a turban, and said that if a turban can be worn in classrooms, then hijabs should be allowed too.
“The govt could have solved this (hijab row) problem. If students can wear a turban, why can't students wear a hijab? Girls have been wearing it for a long time, there was no breach of peace then. Govt asking people to maintain peace is just drama,” the former Karnataka Chief Minister further said.
Earlier, Kerala Governor AM Khan had called the idea of linking of hijab with a turban as "absurd", saying the latter is an integral part of the Sikh religion unlike the former.
“Hijab is not a part of Islam. Hijab is mentioned seven times in Quran, but it is not in connection with the women’s dress code. It is a conspiracy to stop the Muslim girls from progressing. The hijab controversy is a conspiracy to stop the education of Muslim girls. The Muslim girls are studying now and achieving what they want. I would suggest the students to return to their classrooms and study,” Khan had said.
The ongoing row can be traced back to the beginning of January when some students in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru started wearing hijab to schools as a mark of protest after some of them were not allowed to enter the classroom in a particular institution for wearing the headscarves.
The issue then spread across the state as several other schools and colleges issued similar diktats. The opposing groups of students started protesting both for and against the right to wear hijabs in the educational institutes. Those opposing the Muslim girls donned saffron scarves.
The row then escalated further with national political parties joining in to attack each other over the issue. The protests have further gained momentum by spreading to different parts of the nation and the matter is currently in the Karnataka High Court.