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Muslim students battling the hijab ban by the Karnataka state High Court have been called terrorist sympathizers by state leaders from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yashpal Suvarna, BJP leader and vice-president of Udupi Government Pre-University College Development Committee in Karnataka, called the girls “anti-nationals” saying they were “members of a terrorist organisation.”
“What should we expect from them for the country when these students call the verdict given by learned judges as politically motivated and against the law? They have only proved that they are anti-nationals,” Suvarna said.
Meanwhile, Muslim girls have raised their voices, saying that their futures are at risk due to the discriminatory hijab ban. Aliya Assadi, a state-level karate gold medalist who has won numerous tournaments, has expressed her fears of having to drop out of the college if the Supreme Court upholds the high court’s orders over the state’s hijab ban.
Assadi is one among the six Muslim students whose petition demanding headscarves to be allowed in educational institutions was dismissed by the Karnataka high court on Tuesday. The court said the Islamic headscarf was not an essential religious practice of Islam and the imposition of uniform was a “reasonable restriction.”
While the headscarf wearing Muslim women are struggling to get justice through courts for practice their right to education, the Hindu nationalist BJP government is continuing to Hinduize the education system in India. After Gujarat, the ruling BJP government in Karnataka is all set to introduce the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, in the school syllabus.
BJP senior leader M.P. Renukacharya stated that he would welcome the decision to include Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus.
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