NEW DELHI : In a major cause of concern, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has appealed to the Muslims residing in India to raise their voice on the hijab controversy that recently rocked Karnataka.
In a video message, the global terrorist heaped praise on college student Muskan Khan who had taken on a group of students who had raised objections to her visiting the educational institution in a burqa.
She had vociferously raised “Allahu Akbar” slogans while responding to the “Jai Shri Ram” chants of the students. The Qaeda leader recited a poem to praise Muskan and attacked countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh for banning hijab.
In the video titled ‘The Noble Woman of India’, Zawahiri said that he decide dto write the poem as he was very impressed with “a sister” (Muskan) and by her raising “cries of Takbeer”.
Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was seen in a new video following rumors that he had died. The video of Zawahiri was verified by SITE Intelligence Group.
The Karnataka High Court upheld the ban on wearing hijabs in school and college classrooms and dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls studying in pre-university colleges in Udupi distitct of Karnataka seeking the right to wear hijabs in classrooms.
The court in its judgement had stated that hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam.
Expressing unhappiness over the HC judgement, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) moved the Supreme Court challenging the order.
Meanwhile, at a time when the hijab row seemed to be settling down in Karnataka, the ‘halal’ row has erupted across the state.
After Muslim traders observed a bandh protesting against the Karnataka High Court verdict on the hijab, several Hindu organistations and BJP leaders like CT Ravi advocated for banning of halal meat.
