Opposition walks out of Lok Sabha on hijab row

Cong. says India is a secular country where people are free to practice their religions

Opposition parties staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after raising the hijab row in Karnataka, and only getting a BJP MP responding to their demands instead of a government statement as demanded by them.

Among the parties that staged a walkout were the Congress, the DMK, the Indian Union Muslim League, the CPI(M), the CPI, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

During zero hour, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, raised the hijab row, stating that India was a secular country where people were free to practice their religions without being prohibited but that “now there are some parts of the country where Muslim sisters are being penalised for wearing a hijab.” Mr. Chowdhary demanded a response, a statement from the government on the row over prohibiting students in Udupi colleges from wearing hijab.

‘A State subject’

At this, BJP MP from Karnataka Shivakumar Udasi said the matter was a State subject and was also being heard in court and therefore there was no call for the Central government to make a statement.

At this, the opposition parties staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha.