It is the BJP that is responsible for creating a row over hijab. The ruling party is responsible for making the issue spread to all villages and towns, Satish Jarkiholi, KPCC working president, said in Belagavi on Friday.
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He told journalists that the Congress was watching the issue closely. “We have supported the rights of some Muslims who choose to wear the hijab. It is part of the essential religious practices that the Supreme Court has upheld in several earlier cases,” he said.
Some BJP leaders were saying some Muslim organisations were behind the issue. But this was not true. It was the BJP that raised this ugly issue for achieving political gains. It wants to divide the student community as such a division would benefit it in future elections. “A young boy or girl who is in school or college now, will become a voter in a few years and will develop deep-rooted hatred against minorities. That will work in favour of the BJP. We need to stop this,” he said.
He said that the anti-hijab row was neither about education nor about liberating Muslim women. It was a clearly thought strategy to divide the student community and society in general. However, this would not work for long as the people would see through it. Just as the NRC-CAA issue died out on its own, so would this, he said.
However, for the sake of students, he said he would appeal to the leaders and officers to intervene in the issue and see that it was resolved peacefully. “If we don’t tackle it now, it can seriously damage the interests of students, he said.