Madhya Pradesh backtracks a day later, says no proposal to ban hijab
The MADHYA Pradesh government Wednesday said no proposal is being considered to ban hijab in educational institutions of the state, a day after School Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar stated that hijab is not a part of uniform and that a state uniform code will be implemented in the next academic session.
On Wednesday, Parmar also issued a statement, saying that his remarks were “wrongly interpreted”.
State Home Minister Narottam Mishra clarified that there was no proposal under consideration regarding hijab ban in Madhya Pradesh. “There is no controversy over hijab in Madhya Pradesh. So there should be no confusion in this regard,” Mishra told reporters. When asked about the Karnataka protests, he said the matter was related to that state and is pending before the High Court there.
Senior BJP leader Uma Bharati, meanwhile, tweeted, “The Karnataka hijab row has taken a political and communal turn. In a bid to stop this, leaders of opposition must stop their comments on the issue whereas the state government should soon reach a solution while considering the independence of educational institutes and rights of common citizens.”
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya also tweeted on the issue: “The attempt being made to spread religious hysteria in Karnataka schools by insisting on wearing hijab is inappropriate. A school has its own dress code and it should be strictly followed.”
Meanwhile, Parmar issued a video statement, saying his remarks about the school uniform was related to “uniformity, discipline and identity of schools”.
“Some people wrongly interpreted my remarks and presented it with a wrong reference. I am denying it. We are not going to implement a new uniform code. There is no work underway in this direction. Present arrangement in schools regarding the uniform will continue,” he said.
