Rape Rate Is High As Several Women Don't Wear Hijab: Karnataka Congress MLA's Statement

After making the appalling statement he said that while the Hijab wasn't compulsory, women who wanted to protect themselves and don't want to show their beauty to people will choose to wear a hijab.

New Delhi: Amid the Hijab row, Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed in Karnataka made a shocking statement. He said the rape rate was high in India because some women did not wear a headscarf to hide their beauty.

"Hijab means 'parda' (veil) in Islam. It is for hiding the beauty of girls when they come of age. Today you can see that the rape rate is the highest in our country. What do you think is the reason for this? The reason is that several women don't wear hijab," said the MLA, Zameer Ahmed according to ANI.

After making the appalling statement he continued with, "But, wearing hijab is not compulsory, only those who want to protect themselves and those who don't want to show their beauty to everyone wear it. This has been in practice for years", ANI reported.

Protests in Karnataka began after six students of the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district alleged last month that they had been barred from classes for wearing headscarves, the reason given by the school was that it wasn't a part of the school uniform and wanted to protect secularism in the classroom. This escalated into protests & counter-protests across Karnataka, spreading in the country and beyond.

Tensions rose after some students of the school in Udupi in support of the hijab ban wore saffron stoles for the counter protests. 

According to the ANI report, the Karnataka High Court on Friday, in an interim order, prohibited students to avoid wearing the hijab, saffron shawls or any religious clothing in class "until further orders". The court was hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state. The hearing of the petitions will continue on February 14.