'Should Muslim women wear bikinis?' asks AIMIM chief Owaisi on hijab row

Owaisi said that divisive forces were trying to wipe out Islamic culture

A day after the Supreme Court’s split verdict on the hijab row in Karnataka, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned why some forces in India were trying to bring an end to Islamic traditions.

“If not hijab, should we wear a bikini? If you want, you can wear it. Why are you bent on finishing off our religion, culture, and traditions like hijab and beard,” Owaisi said addressing a public meeting near the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, according to a ToI report.

“Banning hijab will send a wrong message to girls from Hindu, Sikh, Christian and other communities that Muslims are lesser citizens compared to them. If freedom of religion and culture is allowed, they will learn each other’s culture and the nation will only get united and stronger,” the 53-year-old MP from Hyderabad said.

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Owaisi went on to say that divisive forces were trying to wipe out Islamic culture, but emphasised that Muslims would not leave India.

“[Muslims] will fight democratically to achieve all rights guaranteed to citizens in the Constitution of India. We will stay in India and also die here. We will not get intimidated by the BJP and the RSS,” Owaisi said.

The AIMIM chief also pointed out that in the SC’s split verdict, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia had observed that asking a girl to remove her hijab at a school gate amounted to a violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to her by the Constitution under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21.