The burqa row in Karnataka has now spread to other states as well. Banners supporting the burqa were raised in the Beed city of Maharashtra on Tuesday 8th February 2022 in the evening. The banners were removed late in the night after the police intervened in this matter. A local student leader of AIMIM was detained by the police for inquiry in this case. He was released after questioning. The banners were removed late in the night.
The banners supporting Hijab were put up in various places in Beed including Bashir Ganj Chowk, Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, Rajuriwes Complex etc. The banners read “Pahle Hijab, fir Kitab” which means Hijab first, then the book, and “Hijab is our right”, and “Har keemati cheez parade me hoti hai” which means “every precious thing is kept covered”. The banners were erected by Farooq Ilukman, a leader of the MIM student front, in support of the hijab after the Karnataka incident.
According to a report by Divya Marathi, at around 7.30 pm on Tuesday 8th February 2022, the police called him for questioning. In answers to the questions, Farooq Ilukman has reportedly said “We follow the sharia. Muslim women have been wearing the burqa for hundreds of years. Sharia law allows Muslim women to do this.”
He further said “This tradition is being thwarted for no reason. The constitution also gives us this right. This case in Karnataka is discriminatory. The banner was erected to reassure Muslim women who were frightened by the Karnataka incident.”
The banners raised in the daytime were removed late in the night in presence of the police force. It is notable that Beed is situated right in the middle of the Marathwada region of Maharashtra which once used to be a part of Nizam territory before getting independence on 17th September 1948. All the eight districts of this region are very sensitive in communal angles and have been a safe home for the sleeper cells of various Islamic terrorist organizations. The Mastermind of 26/11 attacks Abu Jundal alias Jabiuddin Ansari, who instructed the terrorists in Taj while he himself sat in Karachi, hails from the same Beed city.
