PATNA: The hijab controversy of Karnataka spread to Araria in Bihar on Saturday, with a number of girl students and women taking out a procession to register their protest over the recent ban on hijab in educational institutions in that state.
The girl students and women gathered at Yatimkhana Madarsa, from where they set out for Chandani Chowk in the district headquarters with placards and banners in their hands. “Hijab is our fundamental right. Nobody should try to suppress it,” one of the banners read.
They threatened to intensify their agitation if the ban on wearing hijab in schools and colleges of Karnataka was not lifted immediately. “The restriction is an attempt to hurt the religious sentiments of the people belonging to a particular community,” they said.
Earlier, a procession was taken out in Kishanganj on Thursday to show solidarity with the protestors in Karnataka. The procession was taken out under the banner of the National Students Union of India (NSUI).
Araria and Kishanganj are part of the Seemanchal region comprising Araria, Katihar, Purnea and Kishanganj. The region has a sizable population of the minority community.
Reacting to the hijab row, Bharatiya Janata Party state chief Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal said, “Children should abide by the public (read executive) order and abandon the practice of wearing hijab on the campus.” He said under the country’s Constitution, every person has freedom to practise his/her religion. But if there is any public order, as written in the Constitution, then the matters of faith and religion have to be kept separate. Public order has to be obeyed, he added.
On the other hand, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, however, claimed that the country was being pushed towards ‘civil war’ by the powers that matter.