Bommai targets Siddaramaiah: Government is raising hijab issue to hide its failures

Bengaluru: As the hijab controversy escalates in Karnataka, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accused current CM Siddaramaiah of hiding his government’s failures as well as raising the issue only for political gains. He told reporters here on Saturday that hijab is not banned in the entire state but it is not allowed where there is a dress code. Muslim women are allowed to wear hijab everywhere. He asked, “When there is no ban on Hijab then where is the question of removing the ban.” “As per the comprehensive education policy, the school uniform policy came into existence but it was implemented by the previous government. Siddaramaiah had talked about withdrawal of the hijab ban order when the matter was still pending in the Supreme Court. The issue, Bommai said, has been raised only for political gains, which will be condemned in the strongest terms. Giving rise to several discussions, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in a public meeting that his government will lift the ban on hijab imposed by the previous BJP government in the state. The Chief Minister said, “We are thinking of withdrawing the decision (of hijab ban). We will discuss it. I have said this in response to a question. “We haven’t done that yet.” CM Siddaramaiah said in his speech that politics should not be done on what people like to wear and eat. “There was drought in the state and women did not get protection. The government became so bankrupt that it stopped making children clean toilets. To hide all these failures, Congress leaders are making such statements to mislead people.” They did the same when crores of rupees were found in an IT raid on a contractor. The present government was not interested in development at all. The government has a sinister plan to create a rift among children,” he said. Bommai said that the hijab issue is being discussed at the international level and women in Iran and Iraq have started a struggle against the hijab, demanding freedom. When the matter was in the cognizance of the apex court, then what was the need for the Chief Minister to give a statement on this controversy? He said, “I am confident that the court will take cognizance of this.”