'Inhuman': Siddaramaiah backs Muslim girls in hijab row, slams BJP govt for inaction

Karnataka Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah threw his weight behind Muslim girls on their right to wear the hijab to schools and colleges, in a first assertive statement from the Congress on the ongoing controversy.

“Denying the girls entry inside a college, that too a government college is a violation of the students’ fundamental rights,” Siddaramaiah told a news conference.

“The principal of a government college closing the gates on the girls who were crying…it is inhuman,” Siddaramaiah said.

Also read: Hijab-clad students denied entry to college in Udupi district

On Friday also, hijab-clad girls and saffron-shawled boys were denied entry at the Government Junior College in Kundapura.

The Congress leader accused the BJP government of allowing the issue to escalate. “The row has been going on for a month. What is the government doing?” he asked.

According to Siddaramaiah, there is no prescribed uniform that students should stick to. “That being the case, why did some BJP people start wearing saffron shawls? That was to politicise the issue,” he said.

He added the High Court will take a call on this matter on February 8.

Siddaramaiah’s deputy UT Khader said hijab or the headscarf is “a religious essential” for Muslim women. “Today it is happening in Udupi. Tomorrow, it may happen in Bengaluru and Mangaluru as well. Why is the government silent? Let the government take a stand,” he said.

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