Hijab row a bid by BJP to divert attention: Siddaramaiah

The ruling party in the state is resorting to diversionary tactics by raking up hijab controversy. The BJP has no pro-welfare measures to show and every time an election nears, they rake up such issues, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah charged on Thursday.

Women, Dalits, farmers, labourers and minorities are suffering after the Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Centre. Modi government has not taken any pro-people measures after coming to power. Similar is the situation in Karnataka. With no development works to show, they are creating a distraction by raking up the hijab issue, he alleged.

“Muslim women have been wearing hijab until now. Suddenly it’s been turned into an issue to garner voters. When we were going to school, we have never seen anyone coming to school wearing saffron stole. Now, the Sangh Parivar is buying stoles, distributing it to students and forcing them to wear it,” he alleged, urging for action to be initiated against them.

Also read: Hijab row: Why it pays to keep the youth fixated on religious identities

Taking an indirect dig at Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa, he further charged that BJP leaders were talking about hoisting the Bhagwa flag on Red Fort. “Such people are unfit for public life. Do they even have respect for the country?” he sought to know.

‘DKS a habitual liar’

Meanwhile, BJP state president Nalin Kateel alleged that the Congress was misleading the public in the hijab controversy. “D K Shivakumar is misleading the people of the state. This is part of the Congress toolkit. The hijab row exposes Congress mentality to show the nation in poor light globally,” Kateel alleged.

Calling Shivakumar a habitual liar, Kateel said the Congress leader’s claims that the saffron flag was hoisted by removing the national flag in a college in Shivamogga, was entirely false. “Congress has been sparking communal tensions for 70 years now,” he said.