New Delhi: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi while speaking to ABP News said that the communal angle to the ongoing hijab row has intensified because of some elements.
Naqvi shared his opinion and said that a communal angle should not be added to the issue of hijab and said that there are a few extremists and so-called secularists who are trying to escalate the matter.
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“The chants used by people all mean the same thing ‘God is Great’ so I don’t think that we should give a communal angle to the issue. There are some people so-called secularists who are trying to make such isolated issue into a communal issue,” said Naqvi.
The socio-economic and religious rights of the community are protected and people are just making a communal issue out of an institute’s rules about decorum.
“It’s all about perspective. People are saying the same thing and we should not give it a communal twist to hijab. Such isolated issues should not be used to degrade the country. We have a great country that is inclusive. And whoever is adding a communal angle to this inclusive belief are working against the country".
Protests began in the state after some students were allegedly denied entry to a college in Udupi wearing hijab (a headscarf worn by Muslim women) on February 4.
A circular was released by the pre-University education board stating that students can only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges. The students opposed the decision and began protests on the campus.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has condemned the entire incident.
"I pray that our sisters fighting for their right to wear hijab are successful in their fight. Grave violations of the Constitution's Articles 15, 19 and 21 are being committed in Karnataka. I condemn this decision of Karnataka's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government," news agency ANI quoted Owaisi.
Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday took to Twitter to express her displeasure over the incident and said that whatever a woman wants to wear is guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
"Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans, or a hijab, it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear. This right is GUARANTEED by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women," read her Twitter statement.
The Nobel Peace laureate and women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday said refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying.
Taking to her official Twitter handle, the activist said, “Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”
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