Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over hijab row

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan on Wednesday summoned the Indian charge d'affaires in Islamabad to convey its "deep concern" and "condemnation" after Muslim girls were barred from classes in some Indian colleges for wearing hijab.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, the Indian envoy was urged to convey to his government Pakistan's "extreme concern" over the anti-hijab campaign.

The hijab row started when female Muslim students were barred last month from attending their classes at a government college in the Udupi district of the southwestern Karnataka province as they were wearing hijab.

The ongoing anti-hijab campaign, the statement said, is part of a "larger exclusionist and majoritarian agenda aimed at dehumanizing and demonizing Muslim women."

It added: "The Indian diplomat was further conveyed Pakistan's deep concern that religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatization and discrimination against Muslims continue unabated even after almost two years of the horrific Delhi riots which claimed the lives of 50 innocent Muslims in February 2020."

Islamabad urged New Delhi to fulfill its responsibility to hold the perpetrators of harassment against women in Karnataka accountable and take adequate measures to ensure safety, security and well-being of Muslim women.

It also called for "immediate action against perpetrators and abettors of anti-Muslim violence" in Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Gurugram, and Uttarakhand and bring justice to the victims of Delhi riots.

Pakistan further called upon the international community, including the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, especially their human rights machinery, to take cognizance of the "worrying level of Islamophobia in India and prevail upon Indian authorities to prevent systematic human rights violations against minorities in the country."