Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has asserted his stand on the ongoing Karnataka hijab row. In an interview with India Today TV on 17th February 2022, he said, “No woman wears hijab by choice. Yes, everyone has the freedom to wear as per his choice, but the places having uniform dress codes must abide by the discipline.”
The Karnataka hijab row had an impact on the Uttar Pradesh election campaigns when AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had said that a day will come when a hijab-wearing lady will lead this country. Replying to this jibe, Yogi Adityanath had recently said in an interview that those who dream of Gajwa-e-Hind must understand that it will never happen till the doomsday and India will follow the constitution, not the sharia law.
In the latest interview with India Today TV, Yogi Adityanath was asked about this. In response to the question, he said “No woman wears hijab by choice. Did the women accept the custom of triple talaq by choice? At least ask those girls about the pains they are going through. I had organized a get-together of the victims of the triple talaq. I had met with them. I have seen the tears in the eyes of those women and their parents and siblings.”
He further said “When those women were sharing their painful experience from the dais, their parents and siblings and other relatives sitting in front were shading tears. There was a woman from Jaunpur. She was a victim of the triple talaq. She had come there to thank the government. She thanked PM Modi for setting the women free from this bad custom of the triple talaq. Later, when I asked if anyone else wants to share his or her thoughts, two more girls shared their experience. These girls were younger sisters of that victim woman and they had not married looking at the hardships faced by their elder sister in her married life. Does any daughter support this bad tradition of the triple talaq?”
#Exclusive | “No girl wears a Hijab by choice. Muslim women didn’t want triple talaq as well, I have seen their pain”: Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister#UttarPradeshElections | @anjanaomkashyap pic.twitter.com/E5OoLBPZnd
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) February 17, 2022
Putting forth his view on the current hijab row, Yogi Adityanath further said, “Personal choices of attire can be limited up to their homes, personal works in public places, like while going into market places, etc. I wear this attire in my residence as well as in my workplace, but I don’t force it on my officials. I never ask my office staff to wear this. Should I ask everyone in my office to wear Bhagwa? Do I ask every member of my party to do so? I can’t ask them to do so. Everyone must have the freedom to wear as per their choice. And if it is an institute, it must have its own discipline to abide by. If a policeman argues that I belong to a certain caste or religion and therefore why must I wear the uniform; your forces are finished.”
When asked about the Gajwa-e-Hind remark, Yogi Adityanath said “We are not afraid. Because everyone in the state knows very well that any rioter will think ten times before committing such a crime as he knows for sure, what consequences he would face in case he attempts any riotous crime. Posters will be displayed on every circle on the road. On the third day, notice for seizure will be out. Everything earned and accumulated by his ancestors will be seized for once and all.”
He further added, “The government will then teach the rioter very well how a riot is executed. People in the state know that this is possible only in the double-engine government. Now the question remains, what do you tell to those who dream of a Talibani rule here, those who make riots a normal in the state, those who keep half of the population deprived of their basic rights? There can be only one answer to such people that their dream of Gajwa-e-Hind will not realize till doomsday. India will follow the constitution and not the sharia law.”
