Bengaluru: State President of the Jamaat-i-Islami Hind (JIH) Dr. Muhammad Saad Belgami, has urged the Karnataka Government to resolve issues that “infringe upon the Constitutional rights of Muslims in the State.”
Speaking to mediapersons Belgami on Monday January 24 he said that, the “right to choice of dress, practise of one’s religious belief is a fundamental and constitutionally guaranteed right, which cannot be denied to any person,” referring to the ongoing controversy over the wearing of hijab by some Muslim students at the Girls’ Government PU College, Udupi.
“Hijab is a traditional form of modest clothing worn by Muslims and other religious groups under various names. It has never been a hindrance to one’s sense of identity or progress. It is deplorable to deny the same to girl students in Udupi, denying them dignity and the right to an education as a result,” he remarked.
“It is a devotional Yoga practise involving prostration to the sun and chanting of hymns,” Belgami said in response to the Centre’s instructions on Surya Namaskar for Republic Day celebrations. Muslims have been told not to conduct Namaz at the exact hour of sunrise or sunset to avoid any doubt of resemblance to sun worship. The government should not enforce one community’s religious practises,” he added.
JIH has also criticised violent incidents in Nargund and elsewhere, urging the authorities to stop fringe elements from “politicising and disrupting communal harmony in the State.”
