Congress leader sparks furore over hijab remark

Udupi: A prominent Congress leader in Karnataka has raised a storm over an alleged remark in which he claimed that women who do not wear hijabs get raped. The legislator was responding to a question on the comments made by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who had said that the hijab was not part of Islam and had no connection with women's dress code.

"The meaning of wearing Hijab is that women and children after they grow up, they are kept in Ghose Pardah (Hijab). It is to hide her beauty and offer protection. You may see that Rape rates are the highest in India. The reason is that they (women) are not kept in Gosh Pardah," said Zameer Ahmed Khan, former Congress legislator in Hubballi on Sunday.

"I don't understand why did he (Arif Mohammad Khan) say so. Hijab is Gosh-e-Parda in Islam. Maybe, he doesn't have a woman or a girl in his house. I am not sure. If he had a woman or girl in his house, he would have known," Khan added, claiming that the sole purpose of hijab was to hide beauty and protect the woman wearing it.

The statements by Ahmed Khan come at a time when the hijab row continues to engulf educational institutions in Karnataka and other parts of the country where students have turned on each other trying to assert their religious identity.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had commented during an interview with CNN-News 18 that the wearing of hijab is not compulsory in Islam and that "divisive" mindsets were behind the current controversy to create an issue over girls wearing hijabs in schools and colleges.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court also appealed to the student community and the public at large to maintain peace and tranquillity while hearing various pleas challenging a ban on hijab in the state. The Karnataka High Court on Friday uploaded the interim order passed in the petitions challenging the Hijab ban in colleges in the state. The hearing of the petitions will continue on 14 February.