Hatred for Muslims has been normalised in India: Omar Abdullah over Hijab row
Srinagar, Feb 8: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said hatred for Muslims has been normalised in the country and India no longer celebrates its diversity.
Abdullah was commenting on a video on social media which showed some men heckling a woman wearing a Hijab at a college in Karnataka.
"How brave these men are and how macho they must feel while targeting a lone young lady! Hatred for Muslims has been completely mainstreamed and normalised in India today. We are no longer a nation that celebrates our diversity, we want to punish and exclude people for it," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said incidents like these should not be seen in isolation.
"Harassing a Muslim girl in broad daylight without fear of any repercussion shows such goons enjoy patronage from those in power. Such incidents shouldn't be seen in isolation as the BJP hopes that it helps to polarise in UP elections," she tweeted.
How brave these men are & how macho they must feel while targeting a lone young lady! Hatred for Muslims has been completely mainstreamed & normalised in India today. We are no longer a nation that celebrates our diversity, we want to punish & exclude people for it. https://t.co/KfxaF88Otd
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 8, 2022
Harassing a muslim girl in broad daylight without fear of any repercussion shows such goons enjoy patronage from those in power. Such incidents shouldn’t be seen in isolation as BJP hopes that it helps to polarise in UP elections. https://t.co/NJo058o1xi
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 8, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
