Srinagar, June 08: Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP) president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday condemned the Abaya ban in a Srinagar educational institute.
Mufti was referring to the controversy wherein the girl students of a school in Srinagar alleged that they were told to do away with their Abaya in order to enter the institution.
Referring to the Hijab ban in Karnataka, Mufti said, “BJP wants to bring the same thing to Kashmir. The ban is an attempt to impose Hindutva ideology on the Muslim community in Kashmir.”
“The abaya is significant in the context of how we choose to dress as Kashmiri Muslim Women and it is the right of our daughters to wear it if they so choose,” Mufti said, adding, “The government has no right to interfere in their personal choices.”
She also expressed concern about the “targeting” of religious scholars and leaders in Kashmir. “It is clear that there is a pattern to how they are targeting us on religious matters,” she said. “Many of our religious leaders and scholars are in jails and others are being harassed.”
