On Saturday (February 12), the police detained 9 members of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Surat in Gujarat for organising a ‘rally’, without permission, in support of ‘Hijab in schools’ of Karnataka.
As per reports, the Surat police arrested AIMIM Women wing president (Surat unit) Najma Pathan, city unit chief Wasim Qureshi, and 7 others in connection to the Hijab Solidarity march. Although Najma Pathan had sought police permission to conduct the rally in the Athwalines area of Surat, she was denied permission by the cops.
However, on Saturday, a social media post had gone viral that urged AIMIM members and supporters to congregate near the Gandhi statue in Surat. Despite no permission, Pathan and her supporters initiated the protest march from the Mughlisara area to the Gandhi Statue in Chowk Bazar area. She was eventually detained along with Wasim Qureshi. The others were detained near IP Mission school.
While speaking about the matter, Joint Police Commissioner (Surat) Sharad Singhal informed, “We had denied permission to take out the rally keeping in mind the law and order situation. The detainees were released from the police station in the evening.”
The Ahmedabad unit of AIMIM had called for a signature campaign on February 12. Astodia Darwaja was declared as the venue of the protest. However, even before the event could kickstart, the police arrested AIMIM Gujarat general Secretary Shamshad Pathan from his home.
Reportedly, 288 AIMIM members were detained by the police in Ahmedabad. In his defence, Pathan claimed, “Our Constitution gives every individual the freedom to wear clothes of their choice.” The AIMIM Gujarat General Secretary said that 100 party workers were arrested in Khadia. He added that AIMIM workers were also held up in Gomtipur, Danilimda, Rakhial, and Bapunagar.
According to AIMIM Surat vice-president Sohel Wadiwala, the party leaders were detained by cops while they were on their way to inform people about cancellation of rally. “We had posted in different social media groups that the rally was cancelled. However, those who did not read it started assembling near the IP Mission School for the rally. Our leaders Wasim Qureshi and Najma Pathan were on their way to IP Mission School to intimate people about the cancellation of the rally when the police detained them mid-way,” he said.
It must be mentioned that AIMIM had made inroads in Gujarat by winning 7 seats in the Godhra Municipality Council. After joining hands with 17 Independent candidates, the party was able to snatch power from BJP in the municipality. The Vidhan Sabha polls in the Western State is scheduled to take place in December this year.
Recently, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had claimed that a girl wearing Hijab will rise up to become the Prime minister of India one day. He was speaking at a public rally, an excerpt of which has been shared by him on his official Twitter account. AIMIM is also contesting elections in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and has made the ongoing Hijab row, a central point in his election campaign.