Rajasthan minister bats for hijab ban in schools

Kirori Lal Meena said the insistence on wearing the hijab to school was wrong and that he would bring the issue of wearing hijab in schools to the notice of Chief Minister as the BJP legislator has rightly raised the issue which should be debated and discussed.

Jaipur : Senior Rajasthan Cabinet minister Kirori Lal Meena, today said that hijab should not only be banned in government schools but also in private schools and madrasas.

He said the insistence on wearing the hijab to school was wrong and that he would bring the issue of wearing hijab in schools to the notice of Chief Minister as the BJP legislator has rightly raised the issue which should be debated and discussed.

He was speaking to reporters today in regard to the protest of the Muslim girl students in Jaipur against BJP legislator, Balmukund Acharay, who enquired about two dress codes in the school.

Regarding the dress code in school, Meena said the dress code in schools should be complied with otherwise there would not be any discipline in schools. He said if no dress code is followed, then even policemen can turn up in dhotis someday. He also said hijabs have been banned in many countries.

Talking about the fundamentalist attitude of Muslims coupled with Congress’s appeasement policy for Muslims, he said both the factors have made the community remain backwards. He said education and progressive thinking amongst the Muslims are lacking. And hence they indulge more in crime.

Today Muslim girl students from the Gangapol Government Girls Senior Secondary School staged a protest outside a police station demanding an apology from Hawa Mahal legislator Acharya Balmukund who objected to their wearing hijab and burqa to school.

Students in Walled City’s Subhash Chowk, gheraoed the police station with placards like Hijab : My identity and Hijab ko mitawaane wale mitti me mil jayenge, demanded that they be allowed to wear the hijab and burqa. They also demanded an FIR against Balmukund Acharya and an apology from him.

Balmukund claimed in a video that he had gone to the school on annual function and merely asked the principal about the school's dress code, on seeing young Muslim girls wearing hijab and burqa and not the school dress. He says he asked the principal if there were two types of dress code in the school, one for the Muslims and one for the Hindus. And the principal in her turn had said there was only a single dress code in the school but the girls did not obey all the rules. He said he did not indulge in any kind of sloganeering as was being alleged by the students. He said if there was no discipline in the school, then girls could come in any dress like lehenga-chunni and make up their own rules. He emphasised that this dress code in schools is something to be debated.

The girls created a traffic jam in the area and even blocked the road to Amer Fort. Congress legislator from Adarsh Nagar Rafiq Khan tried to intermediate and diffuse the situation. He even tried to raise the issue in Vidhan Sabha but was not allowed by the Speaker.

First time MLA Balmukund Acharya has been courting controversies ever since he won the Hawa Mahal seat. He has been visiting non-vegetarian and meat selling vendors in the area and threatening them with consequences if they lacked the required licenses and also for selling them in the open on roads.

Karnataka has seen the hijab issue raging in schools and colleges in the last two years.