KPCC spokesperson: Hijab is a BJP-RSS sponsored issue

NT Correspondent

State Congress spokesperson M Lakshman has alleged that that the hijab row is a conspiracy of the BJP and RSS to make up for the loss of face in the coastal districts after the exclusion of the Narayana Guru tableau from the Republic Day parade in Delhi.

As many as one lakh saffron shawls and 15,000 petas from a garment factory in Peenya industrial estate in Bengaluru reached the coastal areas on February 6 and he would release documents to prove this, said the Congress leader. Speaking to media persons in Mysuru on Wednesday, he said that instead of ordering an inquiry and initiating action against those behind the row, the government is spoiling the future of children by declaring holidays especially when their education has been affected in the past two years due to the pandemic. This is all the more relevant when second PU students are having their practical exams and when their final exams are just 40 days away, he said.

He alleged that, since it is a ‘BJP sponsored controversy’, none of the higher police officers or Home Minister Araga Jnanendra are visiting colleges including the PES College in Mandya where a girl wearing the hijab was targeted, or the college where a saffron flag was hoisted on the national flag poll in Shivamogga. They have failed to protect the basic rights of women, he said.

He added that, it is only 10 percent of students who are from the college concerned and are protesting with saffron shawls while the rest are outsiders. They are forcing students from backward communities and others to join the stir. Some of the college owners with a BJP background are instigating such incidents in colleges in the coastal region. The BJP is also doing this with an eye on the Assembly elections in five states. “ I challenge the BJP to disprove me that the saffronists will not win in any of the five states. Except for UP, the Congress will win in three to four states,” Mr Lakshman claimed.