Chirag Paswan backs personal choice in hijab row, urges no interference

Union minister Chirag Paswan said attire was a matter of personal choice and religious tradition, reacting to the Allahabad High Court’s hijab order. He said such matters should not face interference, while Giriraj Singh criticised AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

Patna: Asserting that attire was a matter of personal choice and guided by religious traditions, Union minister Chirag Paswan on Wednesday said there should have been “no interference in such matters”.

The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president was responding to questions about the Allahabad High Court order dismissing a plea by a girl seeking permission to wear a hijab along with her school uniform at her school in Prayagraj.

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“I can understand that Muslims must be feeling aggrieved by the high court order. I would like to tell them that it is a high court judgment which can be reviewed by a higher authority,” said the Hajipur MP.

In its August 21 judgment, the high court observed that “wearing a headscarf is not an essential part of the Islamic faith for a woman to don, in the absence of which, faith would be jeopardised.”

Paswan said, “These are matters in which the best course of action is not to interfere. After all, some wear hijab, some others carry a ‘ghunghat’. We must not comment on people’s attire which is based on personal choice and also guided by religious traditions.”

Apparently referring to a recent altercation between BJP MP Sushmita Dev and CPI(M)’s John Brittas in the Rajya Sabha over a reference to attire, Paswan said, “We saw the unfortunate episode of a furore inside Parliament over wearing a lungi. My party and I never like to indulge in such taunts.”

Meanwhile, Paswan’s Cabinet colleague Giriraj Singh of the BJP refrained from commenting directly on the court order but hit out at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had described the judgment as “an attack on Islam”.

“What does Owaisi think of himself? Is he above the law of the land? If he is of the view that Muslims should be allowed to be governed by the Sharia and not by the Constitution, then he should agree to persons accused of theft getting their limbs chopped off,” said Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.

Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP, has also alleged that the court order was violative of the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution.