Two days after the Karnataka HC upheld that hijab is not an essential practice in Islam, an Islamist organisation named Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TMTJ) issued death threats to the judges during an event conducted in Madurai on Thursday (March 17).
In a video shared by Indu Makkal Katchi, TMTJ leader Covai R. Rahmatullah announced that if judges get killed over the hijab case verdict, then, they will themselves be responsible for their death.
The Islamist insinuated that the Judiciary has sold itself to the BJP and that the court’s decision is invalid and illegal. Rahmatullah alleged that the Karnataka High Court pronounced the verdict on the behest of Amit Shah.
An open murder threat to the judges…
— Indu Makkal Katchi (Offl) 🇮🇳 (@Indumakalktchi) March 18, 2022
But DMK and @tnpoliceoffl are u still going to sit and watch this drama…. pic.twitter.com/VwHzk3rfJ2
While casting aspersion on the intent of the High Court, the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath leader said that judges should be ashamed of themselves for their ‘biased’ judgment. He claimed that court verdicts must be based on the constitution and not on the personal beliefs of the judges.
A Twitter user named Vishwatma (@HLKodo) pointed out how young children were made to give death threats and raise violent slogans.
Now little kids are made to give death threats, Madurai, TN. pic.twitter.com/mrKhPoIpJ7
— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 (@HLKodo) March 17, 2022
A longer version of the contentious video was posted on Youtube by a channel named ‘Online Dhava 24X7’. At about 17 minutes and 40 seconds into the video, Covai R. Rahmatullah is heard saying that while sadhus could roam naked in India, Muslim girls were being prevented from wearing modest clothing like the hijab.
A little later in the video, he warned, “If you attack on Muslims, we will get on the ground.” The TMTJ Islamist said, “We are not afraid of Modi, yogi and Amit shah. We are only afraid of Allah. Don’t make us lose patience. If we lose patience, then, you won’t exist.”
Hijab row and the verdict of the Karnataka High Court
Last month, some Muslim students from a PU College in Udupi filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court to allow them to attend classes wearing Hijab. They were denied entry into classes after the college management made it clear that the hijab is not part of the uniform. Since then, the ‘students’ launched protests while being dressed in burqas.
The Muslim students had started wearing hijab and burqa to their school, college in defiance of the uniform rules since December 2021 after coming in touch with the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in October 2021. The students had admitted being in consultation with the CFI.
Subsequently, the lawyers representing the Muslim students had cited Sharia in the secular court to make a point on hijab, claiming that it is an essential religious practice and is mandatory for Muslim women.
Karnataka HC upholds hijab ban in educational institutes
However, on Tuesday (March 15), the Karnataka High Court held that Hijab is not an essential practice in Islam and that uniform is a reasonable restriction on the Right to Religion. The court further stated in the order that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of February 5, 2022.
Following the verdict, liberals and Islamists took to Twitter to cast aspersions on the independence of the Judiciary.
