Amid the ongoing protests over the hijab ban in Karnataka colleges, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said women had the right to decide what to wear.
In a tweet with the hashtag #ladkihoonladsaktihoon, the party’s campaign theme for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll, Ms. Vadra said the right was guaranteed by the Constitution.
Watch | Karnataka's hijab controversy explained
“Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear. This right is GUARANTEED by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women,” tweeted Ms. Vadra.
Her brother and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi responded to the tweet with a thumbs up.
Earlier, on the occasion of Saraswati Puja, Mr. Gandhi had tweeted, “By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate.”
Congress members have also raised the issue in Parliament and walked out of the Lok Sabha in protest.
Accusing political parties of being behind the protests directly or indirectly, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The hijab issue in Karnataka is being done for the deliberate polarisation of votes and to instigate fights between Hindus and Muslim.”
