|HT|
Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra on Friday suspected there “might be some communication” from India that has prompted praise from Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al Zawahiri for a girl who had confronted a mob over hijab controversy earlier this year. Noting Al-Qaeda’s absence in India, the minister said that the terrorist organisation released the video from somewhere else and the security agencies are looking into their “links in our country,” if any. “Al-Qaeda video (on hijab row) has already been released. They don't have their presence in our country. They have released (the video) from somewhere. Regarding their links in our country, we have to see what's the situation,” Jnanendra said.
“There might be some communication from here. Towards this, IB and our team from Karnataka looking into it. A thorough investigation will be done from all angles. We have instructed Police officials too,” he added. The ministry, however, insisted that he doesn’t suggest that “everyone joined hands”.
The controversy over the hijab has been brewing for months after an education institution denied entry to hijab-clad Muslim girl students. This soon snowballed into a statewide row as more colleges announced a ban on the hijab, leading to protests and counterprotests. Hindu groups mobilised boys wearing saffron shawls to oppose the entry of girl students in hijab in schools and colleges. Muskan Khan, a college student, shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ to counter a group of boys who were heckling her by chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ during hijab row. This was praised by the Al-Qaeda chief in a taped video.
The state government then issues a controversial order banning Muslim girl students from entering educational institutions with headscarf. The Karnataka high court, later, in a landmark verdict, ruled that hijab is not an essential part of Islam, underlining the ban on the use of the head scarf by Muslim girls and women in educational institutions.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)