With the Karnataka hijab row reaching different pockets of India, Samajwadi Party leader Rubina Khanam said in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on Saturday that the hands of those who try to touch the hijab will be chopped off. On Friday, women students of Aligarh Muslim University had held a protest against the hijab ban at some educational institutes in Karnataka.
Sparking a controversy, Rubina Khanam said, “If you try to play with the dignity of the daughters and sisters of India, it will not be long before they become like Jhansi ki Rani and Razia Sultana and chop off the hands of those who touch their hijabs.”
The Samajwadi Party leader also stated that India is a country of diversity and that it should not matter whether an individual has a tilak on the forehead or is wearing a turban or hijab.
She added that ‘ghunghat’ and hijab were “integral parts of Indian culture and traditions”. “Creating a controversy by politicising these issues is terrible,” she said.
“The government may be run by any party, but no one should make the mistake of considering women weak,” Rubina Khanam stated.
The Samajwadi Party leader’s statements come amid the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly election which will be concluded on March 7. The votes will be counted on March 10.
KARNATAKA HIJAB ROW
The Karnataka hijab row erupted after a group of young Muslim students were not permitted to enter their college in Udupi on account of wearing hijabs. The issue spread across the state as more colleges and schools issued similar diktats. Opposing groups of students began protesting both for and against the right to wear hijabs in educational institutes. Those opposing the Muslim girls donned saffron scarves.
The controversy snowballed further with national political parties attacking each other over the issue. The protests have now spread to different parts of the nation and the matter is in the high court at present.
