Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu refues to add fuel to the fire on the hijab ban in Karnataka. In the video that now surfaced on Twitter, Kaur, responding to a question, said that women were being targeted in the hijab issue.
”Hijab mein bhi aap ladki ko hee target karthe ho, usko jeene do woh jaise jeena chahthi hai. Usko udne do. Woh Uske parr hai. Aap mat kaaton, kaatne hai tho apne aap ke kaato. (You target women, even over the hijab issue. Let her live as she wants to live her life. Let her fly. Do not cut her wings. If you want to cut wings, cut yours instead),” she said while responding to a question at a press conference.
Harnaaz who was initially hesitant to answer the question turned towards the moderator of the show, who then requested media persons to avoid political issues and rather focus on Harnaaz’s journey.
When the reporter did not budge, she was forced to answer the question.
Her answer was followed by applause from the audience. She further requested the media persons to ask questions regarding her journey as a Miss Universe contestant to winning the title.
The Hijab ban:
The hijab row erupted in January after female Muslim students were denied entry into classes wearing hijabs at a pre-university government college in Karnataka’s Udupi.
The reason offered by the administration was that the students who donned hijabs were violating the dress code of their institute. The students on their end stated that the hijab was an integral part of their religion and as such affirmed their right to practice their faith.
The hijab row soon made its way into other parts of northern Karnataka where right-wing students as well as, Muslim women (supported by Ambedkarite and Muslim student activists) protested against and in favour of the hijab respectively.
The state was forced to form a committee to decide over the issue and prohibited students from wearing any religious garment, including the hijab until a decision was reached.
However, a number of protests by saffron-clad students and Muslims around the state forced the state to shut down schools and colleges for a few days.
This was followed by a writ petition filed in the Karnataka high court by the students, asking the court to intervene in the matter.
The Karnataka high court judge dismissed the batch of petitions by the six Muslim girl students from
The high court pronounced its judgment on the row upholding the hijab ban of the Bharatiya Janata party-led government and said that wearing of hijab is not an essential religious practice, following which protests broke out in various parts of Karnataka.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Veena Nair | 
