The unit of Bhartiya Janata Party in Karnataka unit of the BJP committed a breach on Tuesday by sharing on social media the personal details of students who filed petitions against the hijab ban in educational institutions, which are currently being heard by the High Court. However, the tweet was deleted within after it was hugely criticized as some of the petitioners were minors.
The Saffron party posted the screenshot of personal details of the students, along with a caption reading: “Five of the students involved in #HijabRow are minors. Don’t CONgress leaders Sonia, Rahul & Priyanka have any guilt for using minor girls to stay relevant in politics? How low will they stoop to win elections? Is this what “Ladki hoo lad sakti hoon” means, @priyankagandhi?”
In a Kannada tweet, Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel noted that four of the petitioners with respect to the Hijab row were minors. “What does it mean when these minors link hijab row to elections in five states. Doesn’t it mean that these students are dolls dancing on someone else’s tunes?” He had tweeted.
Reacting immediately to the incident, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi called the tweet “insensitive” and sought action in regards to the matter, tagging the police, Twitter and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The Shiv Sena MP, who is also part of the Parliamentary Commission of Women Empowerment demanded that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights take up the issue immediately.
She said in another tweet, “This is a criminal act to share names and addresses of minors. This is unacceptable.”
The hijab row in Karnataka started in January when a few girl students at a Pre University College in Udupi refused to remove their headscarves in class despite being asked by teachers to do so. Tou counter protest, students in other institutions started coming to school in saffron scarves and the issue got intensified.
Currently, Karnataka High Court is hearing the matter.
After almost a week of closure, the Pre-University Colleges will open on Wednesdays, along with other colleges of higher studies.
