Financial fraud accused Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub had recently appeared on BBC World News to talk about the burqa controversy of Karnataka that has been spreading across the country. In the interview, Ayyub not only attempted to spread lies about girls wearing burqa in the educational institute but also called those students chanting Jai Shri Ram as ‘Hindu Terrorists’.
Ayyub ignored schools have a dress code that students need to follow
Ayyub claimed that Article 25 of the constitution gives a right to every citizen to practice their faith. While her statement was correct, it was not the whole truth. Though Article 25 gives a right to everyone to practice their faith, every educational institute has its own rules that include the dress code. Every student is bound to follow the dress code deemed either by the educational institute or by the state’s education department.
When the anchor countered her that she was informed by a BJP spokesperson about the dress code, that means students cannot wear religious symbols in the educational institutes. At that point, Ayyub lied and alleged the girls who were at the centre of the controversy wore a hijab to the school for a long time. She said, “These girls have been wearing hijab for a very long time. It is not for the first time. So why suddenly has this group of young Hindu vigilantes, Hindu terrorists for that matter, who are hoisting the saffron flag in an educational complex in Karnataka?”
She also claimed the youth were stopping the burqa clad girl, now identified as one Muskan Khan, daughter of PFI leader, from entering the school. In fact, the girls started the protests in December 2021 after they were consulted by the Campus Front of India (CFI), the students wing of the PFI in October 2021. The protestors have admitted that the CFI has been guiding them on the protests. PFI is a radical organisation that is banned in several states.
Muslim girls started wearing hijab recently
As a matter of fact, the school in question where the controversy first erupted had made photographs from previous years public in which it was evident the girls were not wearing hijab. It was only in December 2021 when they started coming to the school wearing hijab. Also, it was not male students but the administration that had barred them from wearing hijab in the school.
Another point that has to be noted here is that majority of the Muslim women and girls protesting in Karnataka and otherwise are wearing burqa that is completely different from hijab. While the hijab only covers the head, the burqa covers the woman from head to toe making them completely separated from the other students wearing school dresses.
When the anchor asked Ayyub if the hijab controversy was propaganda by the likes of her, she got baffled and pointed out the appointment of the new Vice-Chancellor of Jawahar Lal University. She alleged the new VC, Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit, targeted Muslim and Christian students on Twitter. On the contrary, Pandit has categorically denied having any Twitter account. The handle that was in question has now been deleted from Twitter.
Ayyub ignored hate crimes against Hindus
Ayyub further alleged Muslims are being lynched, harassed and assaulted on the streets of India daily. She also claimed Muslims are not allowed to offer Namaz in designated areas. What she did not disclose is that the namaz was being offered on government land in sector 40 even though there were a lot of masjids nearby where one could offer namaz.
What Ayyub conveniently ignored is the countless hate crimes against Hindus over petty things like social media posts. Let it be Kishan Bharwad who was killed in Gujarat over a social media post or the recent murder of a young boy named Rupesh Pandey in Jharkhand who was killed for merely being part of Saraswati Visarjan, the likes of Rana Ayyub ignore these cases.
The mismatch in numbers in 4 minutes
Rana Ayyub, at the beginning of the interview, alleged 100 Hindu men hounded one Muslim girl in a hijab. Towards the end of the interview, she changed the number to 200. She said, “This is not the India we once took great pride in. This is the India of right-wing terrorists.”
Rana Ayyub accused of financial fraud in name of COVID donation
The Washington Post columnist is accused of financial fraud in name of COVID donation. Rs 1.77 crore of her assets were recently attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). It was alleged that she collected substantial amount of money through three fundraising campaigns on Ketto. Of that she failed to utilise most of the funds, which was lying unutilised in her personal bank accounts. She has accepted almost all charges but still claims innocence. Her supporters were most upset that despite putting their weight behind to discredit PM CARES fun, Rana went ahead and deposited part of the money there instead.
