On a day when the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the hijab ban in Karnataka, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Thursday refrained to comment on the decision of the apex court which referred the issue to the larger bench, adding that men have to keep their intentions in check and women should be “freed” from wearing the hijab.
Speaking to ANI, Vij said, “Don’t want to comment on the Supreme Court verdict but I think women were covered up so men don’t develop ill intentions. It means fault lies within men. They should keep their intentions in check.” He further said that today voice has been raised against Hijab all over the world and it should be accepted. “Women in Iran are burning hijab, voices being raised in France. It is voice of the hour Let women roam according to their wish,” he added. Earlier taking to Twitter, the Haryana Home Minister said that the men who could not control their excitement upon seeing women forced women to wear hijab.
“The men who could not control their excitement upon seeing women forced women to wear hijab. The need was to strengthen their mind, but the punishment was given to the women, they were covered from head to toe. This is a grave injustice,” Vij said in a tweet in Hindi.
A two-judge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia pronounced the judgement today. While Justice Hemant Gupta stated that was a “divergence of opinion” as he dismissed the bunch of petitions against the March 15 Karnataka High Court order on the hijab matter, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the appeals and set aside the HC verdict.
“It’s a matter of choice, nothing more nothing less,” Justice Dhulia said while pronouncing the order.
Justice Gupta said, “There is a divergence of opinion. In my order, I have framed 11 questions. First is whether the appeal should be referred to the Constitution Bench.” Advocate Ezaz Maqbool, representing the petitioner said that the matter will be placed before the Chief Justice of India and he will decide whether a new bench will hear the matter or the matter gets referred to a larger bench.