Karnataka hijab ban: Rahul Yatra in state, SC split verdict comes to Congress’s rescue

Last time, both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were vocal on the issue. This time, as the Bharat Jodo Yatra traverses through Karnataka, the split decision in the top court allowed the party to sidestep it.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', in Chitradurga district, Karnataka. (PTI)

At a time when Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is making its way through Karnataka and the state unit is gearing up for next year’s Assembly elections, the Supreme Court’s split verdict in the hijab ban case has saved the Congress from taking a definitive stand on the divisive issue.

The Congress had been treading cautiously on the issue given its potential to polarise the electorate and cause a backlash. While some of the party’s leaders in Karnataka, especially former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have taken a clear stand on the matter, saying that preventing Muslim students in headscarves from entering colleges was an attempt to rob the girls of their fundamental right to education, the central leadership has been careful and taken a nuanced position.

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Soon after the split verdict and the decision to place the case before Chief Justice of India U U Lalit for appropriate directions, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who is in charge of communications, tweeted, “The Supreme Court’s split verdict in the hijab case means that the matter will continue to attract that court’s attention. Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will continue to demand accountability (hisab) from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising economic inequality, social polarisation and political dictatorship.”

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Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke on the issue in the past but maintained a silence this time. A section of the party, meanwhile, argued that wearing or not wearing a hijab was a matter of choice. In the past, Priyanka too had leaned on the side of choice when weighing in on the debate. “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” as “this right is guaranteed by the Indian constitution”, Priyanka said on Twitter in February, before adding, “Stop harassing women.”

Rahul, on the other hand, tweeted about the controversy on February 5, the day Saraswati Puja was celebrated, saying, “By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India. Ma Saraswati gives knowledge to all. She doesn’t differentiate. #SaraswatiPuja.”

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His tweet on the day of Saraswati Puja was seen as carefully crafted to reflect the anxiety in the Congress about a possible backlash.

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