This is how partition started

THE article “Leave our hijab alone” (POST, February 16-20) refers.

Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, should do her research before giving her views.

The hijab issue in Karnataka is not about tolerance or intolerance, freedom of choice or anything she was talking about.

It is about whether a school should impose a common dress code or uniform on all learners.

Six learners, who feel the school has no right to forbid the wearing of hijab, have taken the matter to court.

Justice Krishna Dixit said at the outset: “We will go by reason, by law, not by passion or emotions. We will go by what the constitution says.”

According to the chief minister of Karnataka: “There is a rule in the constitution regarding uniformity in schools and colleges. The rules are also clearly mentioned in the Karnataka Education Act. All these rules are clear as to what's to be followed. We have issued a notification.”

The six girls want a judicial review of the notification.

Ela Gandhi’s comments are as absurd as those of Priyanka Vadra, who likes to call herself Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

She felt the schoolgirls should wear what they liked. On Twitter she proclaimed: “Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear. This right is guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women.”

She does not know the difference between women in general and students. The issue is about hijab, burka in the classroom.

I wish some student takes her at her word and turns up in a bikini. I also wonder what the reaction would be of the “own choice” brigade if a Digambara Jain turns up in his birthday suit?

It is a conspiracy of turning India into another Islamic State, says Salah Choudhury a counter-terrorism expert.

Taslima Nasrin, an author, feels it is about the control of a woman’s body.

In her article, she compared the hijab, burka to the chastity belt of the Middle Ages used in Christian countries. It is certainly, in my opinion, an attempt to “other” themselves, proclaim their difference, pursue their separatism, and emphasise their faith identity. It’s nothing new. That is how partition started.

KAMINI PRAKASH

Riet River