Actor Swara Bhasker on Monday took to Twitter to draw a parallel between a tale from Mahabharata and the public humiliation of Muslim girls in hijab outside their schools in the BJP-ruled Karnataka.
Swara wrote in Hindi, “In Mahabharata, Draupadi’s clothes were forcibly taken off.. and the responsible, powerful, law-makers sitting in the assembly kept watching.. just remembered today.”
महाभारत में द्रौपदी के जबरन कपड़े उतारे गए थे.. और सभा में बैठे ज़िम्मेदार, शक्तिशाली, क़ानून बनाने वाले देखते रहे.. ऐसे ही आज याद आया।
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) February 14, 2022
Though she did not make any direct reference to the hijab ban in Karnataka, it was evident that the famous actor was drawing an ironic comparison between the Mahabharata episode and the current goings-on under the BJP rule.
13 students from Shivamogga govt school boycott classes/exams & decide to go back home after they were refused entry into campus wearing #Hijab . 10th std pre board exams going on today #Hijabrow #KarnatakaHijabRow pic.twitter.com/NmLcIRETTh
— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) February 14, 2022
This was after a video shared by several users on social media showed a woman teacher blocking the entry of Muslim students in hijab. This was just days after the Karnataka High Court ordered that students could not wear their religious dress while entering schools. The controversial order by the Karnataka High Court had evoked angry reactions from netizens.
This incident happened at govt Sardar high school, #Belagavi city #Karnataka as reported by @shreyas_ToI wherein #Hijabi students were asked to remove hijab infront of school gate. https://t.co/Jr9ztBVcch pic.twitter.com/6Grio4Gvce
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) February 14, 2022
The Karnataka High Court, which is hearing the matter, has adjourned the matter until tomorrow when the hearing will resume at 2.30 PM.
Last week, a video of a Muslim girl shouting Allahu Akbar to counter the Islamophobia of Hindu boys chanting Jai Shri Ram had triggered global outrage.