What you wear is your responsibility, your decision: Rahul Gandhi on Hijab

What a woman wants to wear, is on her. If she wants to wear a hijab or something else, she should be allowed, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on hijab during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. 

In a video shared on YouTube, the Congress leader interacted with female students at Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh Muslim University. He was asked about his views on hijab and whether he thinks that a woman wearing hijab does not feel free. 

“What you wear is your responsibility, your decision, I don't think anybody else should be deciding it,” Rahul Gandhi added.

Recently, in Rajasthan, a row erupted over government school students wearing hijab. State's School Education Minister, Madan Dilawar, warned of strict action wherever the dress code was not being followed. Jawaharsingh Bedham, Minister of State for Home, said that students should not come to school in “oot-patang (absurd) attire.”

Prior to that, BJP MLAs Hawa Mahal and Balmukund Acharya had objected to girls wearing the hijab at a government school, prompting Cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena to say he would talk to the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal Sharma, about enforcing a ban on head covering in all government and private schools in the state.

The hijab controversy in Karnataka first surfaced in January 2022. Six students of the Government Pre-University (PU) College in Karnataka's Udupi accused the administration of not allowing them to enter the University premises while wearing the hijab.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan on Sunday evening, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stressing the need to fight against economic and social injustices.

At an event in Dholpur to welcome the yatra into the state, Gandhi said the word 'nyay' had been added to the Bharat Jodo Yatra because of various injustices taking place in the country.

"We wanted to put this before the country that only two-to-three percent of people are making a profit in the country, and the common people are not getting any benefit of progress," he said.

The yatra entered Rajasthan from Uttar Pradesh. From Rajasthan, it will proceed to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and then Maharashtra.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra commenced on January 14, 2024, from Manipur's Thoubal and is scheduled to conclude on March 20, 2024, in Mumbai.