TUMAKURU: In a significant development to contain the hijab controversy, Karnataka Wakf Board Chairman Maulana Shafi Saadi met Siddaganga Mutt pontiff Sri Siddalinga Swamiji here on Sunday and the two discussed ways to sort out the issue harmoniously and to resurrect the image of the state as a land
of peace.
“The issue has been blown out of proportion. The government is under pressure, while Muslims are panic-stricken. Many people have called me from across the state up expressing their anxiety,” Shafi told reporters. The issue should be put to an end by religious heads soon after the Karnataka High Court passes the verdict, he added.
Shafi, who is also the general secretary of Karnataka Muslim Jamaat, said, “There is no tug-of-war between religions and the Constitution has given religious freedom to all.” He asserted that miscreants from both religions are behind escalating the issue. “We have to unite and nail the vested interests to keep the state peaceful, befitting the ideals of Basavanna and Kuvempu, who had shaped Karnataka as a garden of all religions,” he said.
Siddalinga Swamiji told the media that leaders from all fronts should work towards putting an end to the hijab-saffron shawl controversy by following the high court verdict. Students should focus on their academics and help maintain communal harmony in the state, he said.