New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has accused Indian National Congress (INC) for stoking Hijab row. Sirsa posted a series of tweets to question the role of Advocate Devadatt Kamat and Advocate Ravi Kumar, former Advocate General in erstwhile Congress Government in Karnataka. Sirsa posted a letter that was issued by the All-India Congress Committee appointing Devadatt Kamat as Chairman of its Legal Coordination Committee for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Sirsa who is also the former president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) lashed out at the purported comments of Congress leaders Devadatt Kamat and Ravi Kumar Verma, “If Hijab can be banned then Sikhs Kada and turban must be banned too”.
“Hijab controversy has started now in Karnataka, though it was accepted by the Muslims to not wear in the school,” he added.
1.“Let’s understand how @INCIndia is trying to provoke Sikhs & create communal disharmony through #Hijabrow. Glaring facts: 1. Sr Adv Devadatt Kamat who appeared in Karanataka HC to support Hijab appointed as Chairman of Congress legal coordination committee for UP election (thread)”, Sirsa tweeted. He also appended a copy of the letter issued by the INC in this regard.
Let’s understand how @INCIndia is trying to provoke Sikhs & create communal disharmony through #HijabRow
Glaring Facts –
1. Sr Adv Devadatt Kamat, who appeared in Karnataka HC to support Hijab appointed as chairman of Congress legal coordination committee for UP election
(Thread) pic.twitter.com/3sxGX4nz8V— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) February 17, 2022
2. Adv Ravi Kumar Verma, petitioner’s lawyer who presented whataboutery on Turban, is @INCIndia beneficiary & was appointed Adv General by state Cong Govt
3. @sunilkjakhar, Sr @INCPunjab Leader did a Press Conf & linked Hijab with Turban directly & tried to involve SGPC#HijabRow pic.twitter.com/HPQm2ivMF4— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) February 17, 2022
4. @INCIndian involved their favourite celebrities who equalled Hijab and Turban @sonamkapoor. Congress GAME PLAN to alienate Sikhs from Indian mainstream is clear. #HijabRow”, Sirsa said in his 4th tweet targeting Congress.
Sirsa shared the picture of Sonam Kapoor’s Instagram post, “Dastar or “Dast-e-Yar” means “the hand of God”. It is not a choice but a blessing of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji & an integral part of Sikhs’ identity. Comparing Dastar & Hijab is unjustified & unwanted in this context.”
4. @INCIndia involved their favourite celebrities who equalled Hijab and Turban. @sonamakapoor
Congress GAME PLAN to alienate Sikhs from Indian mainstream is clear. #HijabRow @ANI pic.twitter.com/ZkC0cRfTQc
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) February 17, 2022
In his next tweet Sirsa asked Bollywood actress not to indulge in twisting facts. “You make a choice @sonamakapoor. Don’t indulge in a veiled attack! Turban is inseparable for a Sikh and will always be! Sikhs’ fight against tyranny is going on since the 17th century and will continue.”
Ever since Turbans, that’s intrinsic to Sikh religion, was brought up to justify Hijab, Sirsa has been in the forefront to debunk any such claim. He had taken on Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in this context. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yusufzai had posted a tweet on the hijab controversy in Karnataka, “Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”
Responding to Malala’s unwanted interference in India’s internal matter, the BJP leader had tweeted, “Strange! @Malala never spoke on other significant issues like forced conversion of minor Hindu Sikh girls in Pakistan but today she is tweeting without verifying facts!!”
Earlier in the day, Union Minister Prahalad Singh Patel castigated Congress led Rajasthan Government for allowing a public rally in a stadium in Kota. Patel alleged that Congress government was calling for ‘trouble’ by allowing National Investigation Agency (NIA) designated fundamentalist organisation to hold rallies. “Since India’s independence, the act of terrorism is widely reported in states ruled by the Congress party”, Patel alleged.