BENGALURU: “Did any Muslim leader insist that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah withdraw the hijab ban? He should stop doing such political ‘dombarata’ (somersault) as he cannot satisfy the Muslim community with this. Forgetting that the people will teach Congress a lesson, he has been talking about it. I strongly condemn it,” said former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, here on Saturday.
Replying to Siddaramaiah’s statement that the government is deliberating on withdrawing the hijab ban in schools and colleges, Yediyurappa urged the CM to step back from taking a decision.
“BJP treats people from all communities - Hindus, Christians and Muslims -- as the children of one mother and Siddaramaiah is against it. The hijab ban was implemented to stop differentiation among students,” he said. He said there is no need to take up a struggle over the issue. The Congress government is trying to divert the attention of the people as it has failed to implement the guarantees, he added.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka too said the government is trying to divert the attention of the people from its failures. The government is trying to avoid the embarrassment it faced because of the disrobing of an ST woman in Belagavi and schoolchildren forced to clean the septic tank He also alleged, “Siddaramaiah has a Tipu Sultan’s mindset and has made it a habit to divide society, which is in his blood.”
BJP state president BY Vijayendra alleged that Siddaramaiah has been trying to divide the youth on the lines of religion.
Senior BJP leader Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said he will give a call to Hindu students in schools and colleges across the state to wear saffron shawls and attend the classes as Siddaramaiah has said that anybody can wear any clothes. “Siddaramaiah lacks information. There is no order banning hijab in the state. Although the Karnataka High Court has said that local colleges can decide on the implementation of uniform policy in schools and colleges, Siddaramaiah is working to suspend the uniform policy of schools and colleges for politics,” he posted on ‘X’.
LAW SHOULD TREAT ALL EQUALLY: PEJAWAR MUTT SEER
Vishvaprasanna Shripad seer of Pejawar Mutt, Udupi, spoke to reporters on Saturday and shared his opinion on the hijab row in Karnataka. “Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister to all people of the state. Withdrawing the ban on hijab in the state is not right, and will create an imbalance in the equality of the people. The government should make laws which are equal and applicable to all. It is not right to make laws with the intention to target one community or tribe. Recently, there were rules that a candidate had to remove her ‘Mangalsutra’, ‘earrings’, ‘toe ring’ before attending a competitive examination, while the candidate of another community was allowed to attend the examination without removing ‘Hijab’. The CM should not run an administration like this,” the seer advised.