Karnataka primary and secondary education minister BC Nagesh on Wednesday commented on the viral video of a burqa-clad student confronting a group of men harassing her at the PES College in Karnataka’s Mandya district and asked whether the girl was provoked to chant ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’.
“The students did not want to gherao the girl who was coming outside the college in Mandya. No other student was around her when she shouted Allah-hu-Akbar. Was she provoked? Can’t encourage Allah-hu-Akbar or Jai Shri Ram on the campus,”
“They did not want to gherao the girl. but when she was shouting… when she was shouting Allah-hu-Akbar, there was not a single student around her. Why she provoked saying Allah-hu-Akbar in a college campus? Can’t encourage “Allah-hu-Akbar’ or ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on campus,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh said.
“No one can take law and order into their hands. The government will not spare any miscreant,” the minister said.
After the video went viral, the girl was identified as Muskan, a second-year BCom student of the college who came to the college to submit an assignment. She told that after the video went viral, her parents were worried about her.
Videos of the confrontation at the Mandya pre-University college, were widely shared yesterday amid the escalating row over the use of hijab in educational institutions.
In the videos, the young woman, identified later as Muskan, is seen parking her scooter and heading for classes when a group of men shout “Jai Shri Ram” and advance towards her, brandishing saffron scarves.
Without breaking her stride, she responds with “Allah-hu-Akbar!” raising her arm in the air. As the men rush towards her and follow her, she keeps walking, shouting “Allah-hu-Akbar!”
Within minutes, college officials approach her and escort her away.
Muskan later told NDTV, “When I entered the college they were not allowing me just because I was wearing the burqa… They started shouting Jai Shri Ram. So I started screaming Allah hu Akbar”.
“The principal and lecturers supported me and protected me,” she added.
