Hijab row | Why is BJP upset if Muslim girls are studying, asks Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik
India Today
Amid the major hijab row in Karnataka, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik asked on Wednesday, "Why is the BJP upset if Muslim girls are studying? Is their Beti Padhao slogan false?"
Amid the major hijab row in Karnataka, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said on Wednesday that choosing "what to eat and what to wear" is a fundamental right.
"The BJP is trying to impose [its choices] on people. Ghoonghat is a cultural practice in North India. Will they remove that as well? This is majoritarian politics," the NCP leader said.
He added, "Muslims girls are going to college - why are you upset if they are studying? Is the [Centre's] slogan of Beti Padhao false then?"
The controversy over hijab (headscarf) in Karnataka began on January 1, 2022, when Muslim schoolgirls at Udupi Women's Pre-University college were not allowed to enter as they were wearing hijabs. Since then, the issue has snowballed and spilled across the state. The matter is in the high court at present.
In a letter written to Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that he was approached by “certain people” who asked him to assist in toppling the MVA government in Maharashtra so that the state could be forced into mid-term elections.
He also alleged that central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were targeting leaders of the Shiv Sena after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party formed a government in Maharashtra with the NCP and Congress.
On this, Nawab Malik said on Wednesday that there was pressure on Shiv Sena and NCP leaders to walk out of the government. "[BJP leader] Devendra Fadnavis is impatient after being out of power. There is a game being played to destabilise the Maharashtra government," he said.
