New Delhi: The Karnataka hijab controversy has taken a new direction as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reacted to the situation saying that denying education to girls with hijab is equivalent to robbing them of their future.
He added that Goddess Saraswati does not differentiate. “By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate,” Gandhi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, Congress has decided to take up the issue in Parliament. The information was given by Karnataka Opposition leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday.
The controversy began when a few female students at a government pre-University college in Karnataka were sent out of class for wearing a hijab in the classroom. The incident took place in Udupi and some other schools in the area followed the suit and denied hijab-clad girls to sit in the classroom.
It is still going on after three days of them being denied entry into the class. In a protest to the same, some other students of the college took saffron shawls in school as a symbolic protest against the hijab.
Following the incident, a petition was also filed in the Karnataka HC on grounds of violation of Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights.
The issue began after the Karnataka education ministry directed a committee to form guidelines for the pre-university college uniform on January 25.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh is adamant about sticking to the guidelines. The matter will be heard in Karnataka HC on February 8, 2022.