‘Bikini’ Trends After Priyanka Gandhi Comments

The issue of Hijab has now snowballed into a major controversy and Karnataka has shut high schools and colleges after protests by students escalated into violence.

The state’s high court is set to continue hearing a petition that argues for the Muslim women on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke up in support of college students in the state who have been banned from wearing the hijab in classrooms.

Priyanka tweeted that the choice of clothes should be individual and that this right is protected by the Constitution. “Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans, or a hijab, it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear. This right is GUARANTEED by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women,” Ms Gandhi Vadra tweeted with the hashtag #ladkihoonladsaktihoon.

Last week Rahul Gandhi also spoke out in support of students’ right to wear the hijab in classes. “By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate,” he tweeted.

What Is Hijab Row?

A few Muslim girl students of Karnataka’s PU College in Udupi alleged on Saturday, January 1, 2022, that they were denied entry into the classroom for wearing hijab. Allegedly, principal Rudra Gowda did not allow them to wear hijab in the classrooms. Gowda said the rule was being followed to ensure uniformity in classrooms.

Saffron Shawl Controversy:

On January 3, a section of college students in Karnataka’s Koppa district wore saffron scarves protesting against allowing Muslim women to wear hijab inside the classroom. The students of the government-run college in Balagadi village claimed that if hijab was allowed inside, then saffron scarves could be sported too.

Protests By Students:

A meeting was conducted on 19 January between students, parents, government officials and the school management of PU College in Udupi. The aim was to solve the issue of the Hijab row. Since no conclusion was reached, the five girls began protesting outside the school. They held placards as a sign of protest against the decision not to allow them to attend classes while wearing hijabs. Meanwhile, several protests against college students’ right to wear a hijab in classrooms have erupted in several towns in Karnataka’s Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Mandya districts over the past weeks.

Viral Video:

Yesterday, disturbing footage emerged of a girl being heckled by a mob of men in Mandya waving saffron scarves and shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The girl fought back, responding with shouts of ‘Allah hu Akbar’. The young girl said “I was not worried. When I entered the college they were not allowing me just because I was wearing the burqa. They are ruining our education.” Later in two towns in the Davengere district, hijab-wearing protesters and saffron shawls supporters threw stones at each other.