SOLAPUR, India — A hijab-wearing Muslim woman will one day become India’s prime minister, the chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and member of parliament Asaduddin Owaisi said Friday, drawing sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Hyderabad lawmaker said the ruling BJP is oppressing Muslims and that the Hindu nationalist party is preventing Muslim women from wearing the hijab.
Campaigning in a Muslim-majority area of Solapur in Maharashtra, Owaisi said: “This is not Pakistan. There is no place for hatred here.” He said he hoped the BJP’s politics of hatred would not last long.
Owaisi said the current BJP government does not allow Muslim women to wear the hijab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks about women’s empowerment, promotes the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign and banned triple talaq, yet opposes protecting the dignity of Muslim women, he said.
“The very hijab that the BJP hates — a woman wearing that hijab will one day be the country’s prime minister,” Owaisi said. “India’s constitution permits it. The constitution drafted by Babasaheb (Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar) allows a woman in a hijab to become a mayor, chief minister or prime minister. My hope is that one day a hijab-clad woman will become the country’s prime minister. That day will come.”
The BJP has taken a cautious stance on Owaisi’s remarks. A section of the party said he was making the comment only to draw votes, while others described it as the seed of “Ghazwa-e-Hind.”
Source: The Times of India
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report