By Mustafa Shaikh / India Today
Bajrang Dal Karnataka convener Sunil KR termed the hijab controversy “hijab jihad” and alleged a conspiracy behind the ongoing row. Speaking with India Today TV on Wednesday, the Bajrang Dal leader said, “There is a conspiracy behind the hijab controversy, hence we are calling it hijab jihad.”
“We are speaking on this issue because anti-national forces like the PFI [Popular Front of India] and th SDPI [Social Democratic Party of India] are active on this issue,” Sunil KR said.
He also said students should wear a uniform.
Meanwhile, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) member Poornima Suresh said, “These girls are trying to send a message by wearing hijab that we are different. They are creating a divide, hence it’s jihad.”
“Those Hindu and Muslim girls, who used to eat together, are now looking at each other as [if they are] different — this is the problem,” Poornima Suresh said.
“At some places, hijab was allowed, but these girls started a fire which engulfed the entire state. They have also asked for a probe by the NIA [National Investigation Agency],” Poornima Suresh said.
The comments by Bajrang Dal and VHP leaders came on the day pre-university and degree colleges reopen in Karnataka amid the ongoing hijab row.
The spat between students and college authorities were reported from several areas after burqa-clad girls were asked to remove their hijabs and sit in the classroom.
Amid tight security with policemen deployed in and around pre-university colleges at many sensitive places, the day saw a section of Muslim students remaining adamant not to remove the Burqa, let alone Hijab, the Islamic scarves.
Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Bagalkot, Bangalore, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, Shimoga, Tumkur, Mysore, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada.
The row over girls wearing hijab started in January when six girl students of a college in Udupi protested against the college authorities for denying them entry into the classroom while wearing Hijab.
The full bench of the Karnataka High Court where the girls had petitioned is hearing the matter on a day-to-day basis.
This article first appeared on indiatoday.in