Congress using ‘hijab’ issue for vote-bank politics: Prathap Simha

Mysore/Mysuru: Former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha launched a blistering attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, alleging that the Congress Government in Karnataka had failed to deliver meaningful development in the last three years.

Reacting to the State Government’s decision to permit ‘hijabs’ in schools, Prathap Simha claimed that no Muslim leaders had sought such permission and accused the Government of allowing ‘hijabs’ purely for political appeasement by sidelining the school uniform code.

“The Congress agenda is not to win Muslim affection but to provoke Hindus,” he alleged, adding that even Muslim girls themselves may not know whether they want ‘hijabs’ or not.

The former MP declared that neither ‘hijabs’ nor ‘saffron shawls’ should be permitted in schools and only the school uniforms should be allowed.

He ridiculed the Government’s stance, saying, “Who are you to grant permission for what we wear inside our clothes, whether it is the sacred thread (Janivara), the shivadara or the rudraksha? You have no authority to decide such matters.”

Accusing Siddaramaiah of running a “Taliban-style Government” and trying to become Karnataka’s ‘Khameini,’ Simha alleged that such leaders were bent on destroying Sanatana Dharma. He urged Hindus to stop fighting among castes and unite.

Simha further said that people would “perform the last rites of Congress” after two more years, indicating that the party would be voted out of power.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to conserve diesel and petrol amid global conflicts, Simha criticised Siddaramaiah for questioning Modi’s remarks. Sarcastically calling the Chief Minister the “world’s greatest economist,” Simha said that the State Government had pushed even unborn children into debt.

“In reality, Siddaramaiah understands neither economics nor mathematics,” Prathap Simha said, adding that economists had supported Modi’s advice, while only those ignorant of economics had opposed it. “Siddaramaiah has no locus standi to lecture Modi,” he said.