Kamal Haasan, Swara Bhasker and other celebrities react on the hijab ban

Kamal Haasan, Swara Bhasker Picture Courtesy: AFP and Instagram

The ongoing hijab controversy erupted after the Karnataka government on February 5 issued an order mandating a dress code in all schools and colleges, with a ban on clothes that "disturb equality, integrity and public law and order". A few days later, a video of a Muslim student went viral on social media, where she was seen being heckled by men outside a college in Karnataka. Even as the state shut down schools and colleges amid the outcry, violent protests broke out in other parts of the country as well.

The unrest has not only garnered international attention, but has drawn reactions from the Bollywood fraternity too, with several celebrities taking to social media to share their views.

Kamal Haasan, Swara Bhasker, Sonam Kapoor, Neeraj Ghaywan and Richa Chadha are some who spoke on the hijab ban. Haasan tweeted, "What is happening in Karnataka is provoking unrest. A religious poison wall is being erected among the students who are not lying. What is happening in the neighboring state beyond the single wall should not come to Tamil Nadu. It is time for the progressive forces to be more careful."

Commenting on the video of the Muslim student being accosted by a bunch of men wearing saffron shawls, actor Richa Chadha wrote- "Raise your sons better! A bunch of ugly, cowards attacking a lone woman in a pack and feeling proud of it ? WHAT LOSERS! Shameful. They'll be jobless, more frustrated and penniless in a few years. What poor upbringing! No sympathy, no redemption for them. I spit on your kind."

Commenting on the same video, Swara Bhasker said, "Shameful state of affairs.."

Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan said, "Genocide is at the doorstep. It's not just on Muslims (and Dalits) to fend for themselves. Progressive well-meaning Hindus will have to call out the hate within, demand accountability & force action! Your silent disassociation is meaningless."

Talking to ANI, actor-politician Hema Malini said, "Schools are for education and religious matters should not be taken there. Every school has a uniform that should be respected. You can wear whatever you want outside the school."

Taking to her Instagram story, Sonam Kapoor shared a picture of a man in a turban and a woman in a hijab, and questioned why can a turban be a choice, but a hijab can't. Sonam's post comes days after several women in Karnataka were heckled by protestors for wearing a hijab.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Supreme Court declined to urgently hear the appeals against the Karnataka High Court's interim order, banning the hijab and other religious dresses in schools and colleges in the state.

With inputs from ANI

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