The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has once again attempted to meddle in India’s internal affairs by peddling misinformation about the ongoing Hijab controversy created by burqa clad women in Karnataka.
On Wednesday, Pakistan summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed the government’s “grave concern” over the ongoing Hijab protests by a section of Muslim students in Karnataka.
The Muslim students, backed by the PFI and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, are protesting against the uniform rules enforced by the Karnataka government and have disobeyed the existing rules and regulations by wearing the Islamic attire Burqa inside the classroom.
In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has now issued a statement claiming that they have conveyed Pakistan’s “deep concern” over alleged religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatisation and discrimination against Muslims in India.
“The Indian government must hold the perpetrators of harassment against women in Karnataka to account and take adequate measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Muslim women,” the statement said.
As reported by Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the Foreign Office alleged that the ‘anti-hijab campaign’ is spearheaded by the RSS-BJP and aims at dehumanising Muslims. It also whipped up the February 2020 riots in Delhi and Haridwar Dharma Sansad, to portray Indian Muslims as victims in India under the BJP. These are also the talking points raised by Congress and its loyalists to target the Modi government.
Pakistan amplifies Congress propaganda on the burqa row, peddles misinformation
The statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry comes a day after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had waded into the matter to claim that India’s actions of depriving Muslim girls of education were a grave violation of fundamental human rights.
Qureshi had tweeted, “Depriving Muslim girls of education is a grave violation of fundamental human rights. To deny anyone this fundamental right & terrorise them for wearing a hijab is absolutely oppressive. The world must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims.”
Depriving Muslim girls of an education is a grave violation of fundamental human rights. To deny anyone this fundamental right & terrorise them for wearing a hijab is absolutely oppressive. World must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) February 9, 2022
Shah Mahmood Qureshi had peddled an absolute lie saying that Muslim girls in India are being denied their right to education. The same lie was earlier peddled by Pakistan origin Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai too.
Qureshi picked up the misinformation spread by Priyanka Gandhi and attempted to create disharmony among Indians.
Priyanka Gandhi had earlier conflated the Karnataka hijab row with women’s rights issues, falsely insinuating that the hijab-clad girls are being denied their “constitutional rights”. The reality is that the college administration in Udupi has been trying for weeks to convince the girls to follow the uniform dress code and start attending classes.
The girls started wearing hijab and then burqa to college since December 2021 after having being consulted by students wing of Islamist group, PFI, Campus Front of India, in October 2021.
Surprisingly, Pakistan has put out the same misinformation on the ongoing Hijab controversy just as the Congress party. It seems like Pakistan has promptly picked up the Congress party’s propaganda over the Karnataka hijab row.
Similarly, two days back, a Pakistani journalist was seen propagating similar lies on communal lines based on misinformation peddled by Congress leader DK Shivakumar.
DK Shivakumar had alleged in his tweet that a boy removed India’s national flag from a flag post and replaced it with a saffron flag. Pakistani handles picked it up soon. However, the claim was a false one. The flag pole was empty, and there was no tricolour on it.
What Congress does, Pakistan follows
Earlier, several times in the past, Pakistan has amplified Congress propaganda. In October 2021, Dr Omar Ali, a Pakistani origin blogger, revealed that Pakistan actually takes clues from the “liberal” Indian establishment to attack India and create anti-India, anti-Hindu narratives.
Recently, after Rahul Gandhi raised the so-called Hindu vs Hindutva narrative, Pakistan has also toed a similar line. So much that Pakistan PM Imran Khan spoke a similar language at the UNGA last year. “The hate-filled ‘Hindutva’ ideology, propagated by the fascist RSS-BJP regime, has unleashed a reign of fear and violence against India’s 200 million-strong Muslim community,” Imran Khan had said.
Unsurprisingly, Pakistan peddles the same Hinduphobic agenda just as Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi.
Not just this, on matters of abrogation of Article 370, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the NRC and many other causes, Imran Khan has often taken inspiration from Rahul Gandhi.
