It is a woman’s right to decide what she wears, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted on Wednesday as she stood up in support of college students in Karnataka who have been banned from wearing the hijab in classrooms.
Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said: “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,” she tweeted with the hashtag #ladkihoonladsaktihoon, which is the Congress’ war cry for the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh Assembly election that begins on Thursday.
Her remark was approved by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi who responded to his sister’s tweet with a ‘thumbs-up’ emoji.
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. #ladkihoonladsaktihoon
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) February 9, 2022
Rahul Gandhi too had last week spoken out on the issue, saying: “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.”
The hijab controversy first erupted in January at a government PU College in Udupi where six students who attended classes wearing headscarf in violation of the stipulated dress code were asked to leave the campus. The row has spread to different parts of the state with Hindu students too responding by turning up in saffron shawls.
Such saffron-clad students are also being barred from entering classes. The row has also taken a political color as the ruling BJP stood strongly in support of uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of Muslim girls.
Incidents of stone pelting and use of force by police were reported on Tuesday as the hijab row in Karnataka escalated and protests by students spread to more colleges prompting the state government to declare a three-day holiday for all educational institutions.
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