Asaduddin Owaisi after SC verdict: "Hijab-Wearing Muslim Will Become PM"
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New Delhi: MP Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party, stated today that wearing a hijab does not render Muslim women less than their peers and that it is their constitutional right to wear whatever they like.
"If you come to Hyderabad, you will see the most notorious drivers are our sisters. Don't even put your vehicle behind them...I ask my driver to be careful. If they ride pillion with them on motorcycles, they'll understand if anyone can force them to do anything," he said while defending their decision to wear the headscarf.
"Do fundamental rights stop at the gate of schools," he added, highlighting the fact that it is legal to wear a hijab in the country.
Speaking to an audience after the Supreme Court's split decision on the hijab ban, Mr Owaisi stated that just because Muslim women cover their heads doesn't mean they also cover their thoughts, NDTV reported.
"They say we are threatening our girls. Who gets scared these days?" the Hyderabad MP said.
The head of AIMIM stated that the controversy surrounding the hijab ban in Karnataka sends a message to students of other faiths that Muslims are less than them.
"When a Hindu, a Sikh, and a Christian student are allowed to enter the classroom with their religious signifiers and a Muslim is stopped, what do they think of the Muslim student? Obviously, they will think Muslims are below us," he said.
He continued by declaring that a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf will someday lead India as prime minister. "I have said this before and will say it again...many people got stomach ache and heartache, couldn't sleep at night, when I said if not in my lifetime then after me, a hijab-wearing Muslim woman will become the Prime Minister of this country," he said.
"This is my dream. What is wrong with it? But you are saying one should not wear a hijab. Then what to wear? A bikini? You have the right to wear that as well. Why do you want my daughters to take off their hijab and me to not keep a beard? Why do you want that Islam and Muslim culture not remain with me," Mr Owaisi said.
He cited Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, one of the Supreme Court justices who heard the appeal of the hijab ban in Karnataka, as saying that if Muslim girls wear the hijab outside of their homes and in public, why shouldn't they do the same inside of classrooms? It is in the girls' best interests to maintain their dignity and privacy.
Mr Owaisi, challenging the BJP and its ideological guru RSS, asserted that their policies are irrelevant and Muslim females will continue to wear the hijab of their own choice.
"India's constitution allows it," he repeated, adding "you wear what you want to, and we will wear what we want".
A split decision was reached by the Supreme Court on Thursday in response to petitions contesting the hijab ban in Karnataka. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the petitions, but Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed them.
"There is a divergence of opinion," said Justice Gupta, who framed and responded to 11 questions in his decision to reject the plea. He said that he approved of the Karnataka High Court's ruling.
The ban on the hijab, a headscarf worn by certain Muslim women, in schools and colleges had been upheld by the Karnataka High Court. The hijab prohibition is still in effect, according to a minister from Karnataka, who stated this yesterday.