Jaipur: A Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker’s remarks on hijab have led to protests by Muslim students of a government school in Jaipur, with the protesters condemning the MLA’s statements and asserting their rights to wear hijab.
The students of the Government Senior Secondary Girls School, Gangapol, held protests on Monday, January 29 outside the Subhash Chowk police station, over the remarks made by Hawa Mahal MLA and Hindu priest ‘Baba’ Balmukund Acharya or Sanjay Sharma.
A video of MLA Acharya, who had come as a guest at the government school’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26 has been widely circulated on social media.
In the video, Acharya can be seen asking teachers of the school, “Hijab ka kya chakkar laga rakha hai? Shaadi shuda hai kya ye bacchiyan?” Translated, it means, “What is this deal with hijab? Are the girls married?” Acharya can also be seen asking whether one can even breathe in hijab.
“Hijab ki wajah se mahaul kharab kar rakha hai (the environment has been spoiled because of hijab),” Acharya also said.
During his visit to the school, Acharya also chanted slogans of “Bharat Mata ki jai, Saraswati Mata ki jai” and then asked some girls who were apparently not joining him as to whether “they have been told to not do so.”
He later chanted slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” at the school.
Acharya, a first time MLA has been in the news ever since he won from the Hawa Mahal constituency in December last year by a narrow margin.
Earlier, he had been seen inspecting meat shops and urging the administration to take action against what he called were “illegal slaughterhouses,” adding that “he won’t let Jaipur, which is also known as ‘Choti Kashi’, become Karachi.”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here .