Congress leader Siddaramaiah slams BJP in Karnataka over hijab row

Karnataka Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Siddaramaiah issued a statement in support of Muslim girls’ right to wear the hijab to schools and colleges.

The support was issued a day after Muslim girls stood outside the college premises in Udupi asking to be allowed into the campus. However, the administration refused to do so. The students and the college have been at loggerheads since

Speaking at a press conference, the Congress leader said, “Denying the girls entry inside a college, that too a government college is a violation of the students’ fundamental rights.” He further said that the principal of the college closing the gates to girls who stood outside crying was a deeply inhuman thing to do.

He further accused the BJP government ruling the state of escalating the issue. “The issue has been pending for a month. What is the government doing? It is important that they take a stand.”

Hindu organisations in the college have said that if Muslim students come in hijab, Hindu students will flaunt saffron shawls and went ahead to do so. On the other end, Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is holding seminars on how the ruling BJP is bulldozing constitutional rights of Muslim women by not allowing them to wear hijab.

Siddaramaiah took issue with male students of another government college in Udupi adorning saffrom scarves around their necks in a protest after Muslim girls defied the state’s new hijab diktat.