Owaisi indulging in vote-bank politics, adding communal flavour to hijab issue: NDA leaders

New Delhi, Aug 26 (IANS) Several leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Wednesday slammed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi over his criticism of the Allahabad High Court’s dress code order and accused him of indulging in vote-bank politics and adding a “communal flavour” to the issue of education and progress.

Owaisi had strongly criticised the Allahabad High Court’s decision dismissing a petition filed by a minor student from a school in Prayagraj, who had sought permission to wear a hijab along with the prescribed school uniform.

Addressing a grand Jalsa-e-Rahmatul-lil-Alameen gathering at the AIMIM headquarters in Darussalam on Tuesday, he said, “I disagree with this High Court judgment; I do not concur with it… Today’s verdict violates Articles 25 and 19 of the Indian Constitution. Who are you to decide what is essential to Islam? Girls are wearing hijab on their heads, not on their minds. It is an attack on Islam.”

Reacting to this, BJP MP Ghulam Ali Khatana said that Islam teaches one to respect and follow the rules and regulations of the country they are living in.

Speaking to IANS, BJP MP Khatana said, “Owaisi indulges in his own brand of vote-bank politics. Islam teaches that in whichever country you live, we should adapt to and respect its norms, laws, and identification regulations, and not create obstacles in their way.”

Shiv Sena spokesperson Shaina NC asserted that while no one is against the idea of wearing hijab, Muslim women are not compelled to wear it.

“Personally, we’re not against wearing the hijab, but nowhere has it been mentioned that women in Islam must wear the hijab. But Asaduddin Owaisi obviously has his own agenda of vote bank politics. He can continue to argue till doomsday, but do understand that uniform discipline and equality represent secularism. When you have uniform instilled discipline, equality amongst children, it projects that the institutional identity is maintained,” Shaina NC told IANS.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also slammed Owaisi over his remarks and accused the AIMIM chief of adding a “communal flavour” to the education issue.

Speaking to IANS, Naqvi said, “Some people are trying to lock up the education and progress of Muslim girls in a Taliban-like manner. And in the name of that, sometimes they try to create communal confusion over the hijab, and sometimes they try to add a communal flavour to their education and progress.”

“The holy scripture of our country, the system of our country, runs according to the Constitution. The hijab is not banned in our country; many countries have imposed a ban on it, but it is not banned here. However, every institution has its own discipline and dress code, and everyone should respect that,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Allahabad High Court observed that the petitioner had failed to produce any religious scripture or other material establishing that wearing a scarf was an “essential” part of her religion, without which her faith would be adversely affected. The court also pointed out that photographs submitted in the case showed other students belonging to the same religious community attending school without wearing scarves.

–IANS

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