India will run by Constitution, not Shariat: Yogi Adityanath on Karnataka hijab row

Lucknow, Feb 14: Amid Hijab controversy, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath asserted that the system won't run as per Shariat.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Yogi said "The Prime Minister scrapped the triple talaq law to free our (Muslim) daughters; to give them rights and the respect she's entitled to. To ensure respect to that daughter, we say that the system will be run on the Constitution of India and not Shariat."

"We can't impose our personal religious beliefs and choices on the country and its institutions. Can I ask all employees in UP to wear 'bhagwa' saffron? Dress code must be enforced in schools." "When the country runs according to the Constitution, women will get their due respect, security, and independence," he added.

Adityanath's statement comes a day after AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said a girl wearing Hijab will become the prime minister of the country one day.

"If a girl decides to wear Hijab and asks her parents to do so and when her parents allow her to wear it, who can stop her from wearing it? We will see it, Inshaallah. Owaisi is heard saying in a 43-second video of his address in an election rally.

"The girls will wear hijab, will wear Niqab and go to colleges and become doctors, collectors, SDMs and businessmen," Owaisi was heard saying in the video, shared on his Twitter handle.

"You all keep in mind, perhaps when I am not alive, a girl wearing a hijab will become the prime minister of this country one day," he added.

The hijab row started in Karnataka in December-end when a few students of a government pre-university college in Udupi, attending classes in headscarves, were asked to leave the campus.

The matter then spread to different parts of the state, with youngsters, backed by right-wing outfits, responding by wearing saffron scarves.

With the protests taking a violent turn at some places earlier this week, the state government on Tuesday declared a three-day holiday for the institutions.