Hijab controversy reaches UP, Opposition parties smell 'conspiracy'

Burqa clad Muslim women take part in a demonstration in Hyderabad on February 9, 2022 to protest after students at government-run high schools in India's Karnataka state were told not to wear hijabs in the premises of the institute. Credit: AFP Photo

The hijab controversy, which has rocked Karnataka, has reached Uttar Pradesh amid the ongoing assembly elections with Muslim students taking out protest marches and the Opposition parties alleging that it was a 'conspiracy' to 'polarise' the polls along communal lines.

In Jaunpur district of the state, a Muslim girl, a student of a degree college, alleged that she was not allowed to enter the class by her teacher as she had worn hijab though the teacher rejected the allegations.

The girl, identified as Zarina, complained that her social science teacher admonished her for wearing hijab and did not allow her to enter the classroom. The teacher, however, denied that he refused her entry in the class. The college management said that it was investigating the matter.

Also Read — Karnataka HC bars scarves, hijabs in classroom for now

According to the reports, a large number of students took out a march in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus on Friday in protest against the ban on hijab at schools and colleges in Karnataka.

They accused the BJP of 'deliberately' stoking the controversy with a view to gain mileage in the ongoing assembly polls in UP. ''BJP is behind it... it is doing so to polarise the polls in the state,'' said one of the students, who was part of the protest march at AMU.

Track live updates on hijab row here

Muslim women and girls also held a protest march in Prayagraj as a result of which traffic in Khuldabad locality was disrupted. A memorandum, addressed to the President, was also submitted to the district officials by the protesting Muslim women stating that it was their right to wear hijab and that the Muslim girls were being 'persecuted' on the pretext of dress code.

Muslim clerics have also condmened the ban on hijab at schools and colleges in Karnataka and said that it was violation of their fundamental rights. The Hindu Jagaran Manch, a saffron outfit, however, defended the ban and said that everyone should follow a dress code of the educational institutions.

Also Read — Will interfere at appropriate time: SC on hijab row pleas

The Opposition parties in the state said that it was a 'conspiracy' hatched by the BJP to polarise the polls in UP. ''BJP has realised that it is going to lose the polls and so it is doing everything to polarise the elections along communal lines... Their attempts will not succeed as the people of the state have decided to oust the saffron party,'' said a senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader here.

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