On hijab row, Gadkari says 'small incidents' not good, we're all one family
Amid the raging row over wearing hijab (head scarf) to college, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sought to douse the fires by saying the controversy caused by “small incidents” was “not good for the society” and that we are all one family.
Amid the raging row over wearing hijab (head scarf) to college, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari sought to douse the fires by saying the controversy caused by “small incidents” was “not good for the society” and that we are all one family.
In an interview with the news channel CNN-News18, Gadkari suggested that we should respect all religions and people of different creed and sex.
“Some people go to mosque, some go to temple, some to gurdwara. I always remember the song in the RSS —‘Sanskruti sab ki ek chirantana, purakhe jiske Hindu hain, virat sagar samaj apna, hum sab iske bindu hain’. We are all part and parcel of one society, one family and we should respect every religion and make religious harmony in the society,” said the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways.
He said the BJP encompassed a ‘bhartiya’ (Indian) thinking where people want India to become a “super-economic” power.
“These small incidents are not good for the society. We have to think with a wider interest on how we are going to run this society and make this country great,” he said.
“I always tell people that a person is not great because of his caste, creed or sex. He is great because of his qualities, we have to support good qualities in the society,” he said.
Also read: Apex court may hear plea on hijab row only after K’taka HC’s judgment
A controversy had erupted after some Muslim girls in a college in Udupi in Karnataka were disallowed from attending classes while wearing hijab (head scarf). The row had blown over as youths from Hindutva started wearing saffron scarves and shouted slogans against the Muslim girls. The row had spread to a number of other colleges.
The BJP, whose opposition to wearing hijab is well known, has sought to accuse the Congress for stoking the controversy.
Apparently referring to the hijab row, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh accused the opposition parties of finding new ways to “trick Muslim sisters” so they are behind.
Some in the BJP believe that the controversy could hurt the party’s prospects in the ongoing assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, which has a significant population of Muslims.
The Karnataka High Court is hearing case on the matter.
