On Wednesday, burqa-clad Muslim women continued their protests at pre-university colleges in Karnataka demanding the right to wear hijab
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, in an interview with India Today, has said that no one wears hijab by choice and the custom has been forced on Muslim women.
Adityanath also said that he hasn’t any particular dress code for his staff in office.
When asked if Muslim women wanted to wear hijab out of choice, Adityanath said, “No girl wears a hijab by choice. None of Muslim women had complained earlier about triple talaq as well, but I have seen their pain, the tears in their eyes and the agony in the eyes of their parents and family.” A woman from Jaunpur has come to thank Modi for abolishing triple talaq, he added.
Personal clothing is dependent on individual’s choice, said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. “I didn’t force my sartorial choice on any official. Can I ask everyone at my office to wear bhagua [saffron]? Can I say this to everyone in my party? I can’t. Everyone should have freedom and if there’s an institution, there should be a discipline in that institution,” he said to India Today.
On Wednesday, burqa-clad Muslim women continued their protests at pre-university colleges in Karnataka demanding the right to wear hijab. This, as colleges reopened after remaining shut for a week owing to the hijab row with policemen have been deployed in and around pre-university colleges at many sensitive places in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, petitioners told the Karnataka High Court that the interim order in effect suspends fundamental rights and urged the court not to continue the current order, according to several media reports.
Indian Constitution provides positive secularism and all faiths have to be recognised, the petitioners added. Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the petitioners, said: “The essence of Article 25 is that it protects the practice of faith but not a mere display of religious identity or jingoism.”
The petitioners urged the high court to allow “voluntary expression”. The hearing is set to resume today.
Adityanath’s remarks come a day after BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya said that people who are “not safe in their houses need to wear hijab” and added that they are not required to wear it at the educational institutions.
As per ANI, Sadhvi said, “People who are not safe in their houses need to wear hijab. While outside, wherever there is ‘Hindu Samaj’, they are not required to wear Hijab especially at places where they study.”
“No need to wear hijab anywhere. Hindus are of such culture that we do not need to wear hijab anywhere,” she added.
Adityanath on Monday slammed religious fanatics, saying that their dream of Gazva-e-Hind will not be fulfilled even till the “Qayamat”, and the government will function according to the Constitution and not the Shariat law.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Chief Minister Adityanath said, “I can say with utter clarity that this is new India, this is the India of world’s most popular leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this new India, development is for all and there will be appeasement of none.”
The government works with the motto of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, he said. It works with the principle of Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas. “The new India will work according to the Constitution, and not the Shariat. I also want to say it clearly that the dream of Gazva-e-Hind will not be fulfilled even till the Qayamat,” he said.
Taking to Twitter, the chief minister said, “Those who dream of Gazva-e-Hind, religious fanatics of Talibani thinking, understand this… India will run according to the constitution, not according to Shariat…!”
Adityanath, clearing his stance on the Karnataka ijab row, said that a proper dress code should be followed in schools, adding that he never asked the public or workers in UP to wear saffron for what they wear is their personal choice.
“I strongly believe that the system should run as per the Indian Constitution. We cannot impose our personal beliefs, our fundamental rights, our personal likes and dislikes on the country or institutions,” he told ANI.
“Am I asking the people and workers in UP to wear saffron? What they want to wear is their choice. But in schools, there should be a dress code. This is the matter of schools and the discipline in schools,” he added.
The chief minister also said that one’s personal belief is separate, “but when one talks about institutions, then one has to accept the rules there, he said. In a national context, the Constitution should be followed.”
Reacting to Asaduddin Owaisi’s remark that hijab is a fundamental right and that one day a hijab-clad girl will become the prime minister, Adityanath said, “It is for the freedom and rights of that every girl (daughter of India) that PM Modi put a stop on the malpractice of triple talaq. It is for ensuring justice and honour and empowerment of the girl that these decisions are being taken.”
“We can only say that the system will not work as per the Shariat, but will work as per the Constitution. When the system will work according to the Constitution, every girl will be protected, honoured and become self-reliant,” the chief minister said.
The hijab row began in Karnataka a month ago when Muslim girl students of the state-run PU College in Karnataka’s Udupi alleged that they were denied entry into the classroom for wearing hijab.
With inputs from agencies
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