Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national general secretary of OBC Morcha, Yashpal A Suvarna, comfortably won the Udupi seat with a margin of 32,776 votes defeating Congress’s Prasadraj Kanchan in the Karnataka Assembly elections. The counting for the Karnatala elections took place on Saturday, May 13.
Yashpal Suvarna had received ‘sar tan se juda’ (beheading)’ threats on Instagram during the hijab row in the state in June 2022. He is also the vice president of the government’s Pre-University College Development Committee.
When he was named as a candidate for BJP from Udupi, Yashpal accused PFI of causing hijab controversy. He said PFI did not want the girls to study. He further added, “Udupi is a peace-loving and happy place. PFI, KFD (Karnataka Forum for Dignity), and Campus Front of India (CFI) created the issue because they did not want girl children to be educated. These anti-national, anti-social elements did not want poor Hindu students to receive a good education. They wanted to divert the attention of the economically poor students at government PU college and kindled the hijab issue.”
Further, he said, “People from across the world are looking to Narendra Modi as a leader, and we are proud to have him as our leader. We will show people how we will deliver as Modi has. I want to tell the people that our region is not just about being a Hindutva laboratory, but a laboratory of development and nationalism as well.”
Speaking on the hijab issue, he said, “The issue was fake. There is a difference between issues created, and issues started. The hijab issue was created. If people were affected, why are Muslim families sending their daughters to college even today? That means 90 percent of Muslim girls are against hijab, against their system, and want to be free birds, lead a normal life, and not be shackled by a hijab.”
Yashpal had expressed his dismay over the six girls approaching court over the hijab issue. He had said, “The six girls who call themselves victims are so young they do not know the law of the land. They do not have voting rights, yet they are going to the courts to file a petition. This shows there is a strong force instigating them, which I call the ‘anti-social activity associations.”
Three-term MLA Raghupati Bhat made way for Yashpal Suvarna as the candidate in Udupi.
Threats to Yashpal Suvarna
During the hijab row, an Instagram post went viral in which beheading calls were made against Yashpal. He had said at the time that receiving such messages and calls through social media was very common in public life and refused to take them seriously. He said, “When we work for the nation, anti-national organisations or traitors issue such threats from abroad. I will not take it seriously. It is a part of life. We are doing our work within the limits of the Constitution. An Instagram post about me and Pramod Muthalik does not make any difference. We will not take back our steps.”
“I am not bothered about the Instagram post. However, I want to know who are the local people behind the issue. We will find them,” Yashpal Suvarna further stated.
Karnataka Hijab row
Last year the Karnataka high court upheld a government order banning religious attire such as hijab or burqa in educational institutions and asked students to follow the dress code of educational institutions. Many Muslim students had taken to the streets to protest against the decision, with many wearing hijab and skull caps to classes while many even boycotting exams after being urged to adhere to the court ruling.
The Karnataka Hijab Row in Karnataka gained momentum in the first week of January 2022 after eight Muslim girls were denied entry to classes in a Udupi college because they were wearing hijabs. The college authorities had informed that the hijab was not a part of the uniform dress code mandated for the students.
The Muslim girls, adamant about wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court seeking permission to attend classes with hijab. They stated that wearing the hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Articles 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and an ‘integral practice of Islam’.
Tensions also prevailed at educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote, and other parts, as stones-pelting and violence were reported from various parts of the state.
As reported earlier, the students had begun to wear hijab to schools and colleges after they had met the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student branch of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI), in October 2021. The students confessed that they had spoken with the CFI.
