Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Feb 15: Former minister and Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan has apologised for his controversial remarks that Hijab offers protection against rape, and said that he did not intend to hurt anyone by his statement.
On Monday, Zameer, in an indirect reference, had said that rapes in India were increasing because of not following the burqa system. He also had said that burqas and Hijabs work to conceal and protect the beauty of women. This had given rise to controversy and many had criticized Zameer, besides seeking an apology from him. As a result, Zameer, by way of seven serial tweets, tendered an apology.
In his tweets, Zameer said that he gets 'anxious' and 'scared' over the atrocities and rapes happening in the country against the girls. He said he meant that at least wearing of Hijabs or burqas might work to minimise these things. He added that his statement was not aimed at hurting anyone's minds or to show disrespect.
"I get anxious & scared to see increasing atrocities & rape on Women in our Country. Because of this state of our society, I said that at least with burqa-hijab we may be able to prevent rapes. It was not intended to hurt or disrespect anyone. I regret it if it has hurt anyone (sic)," he tweeted.
"I beleive our ancestors had mandated wearing burqa-hijab as religious practice in order to protect women. My statement was based on this belief & there was no other reason," he added.
He also backtracked on his earlier statement and said that clothes are not the reason for rapes, and that the mindset of men needs to change. "Clothes are definitely not the reason for rape. There are incidents of rape irrespective of what clothes women wear. The actual reason is the rapist mindset of few men. It is the men who should change their mindset."
Zameer opined that education is the strongest weapon that protects girls and therefore requested the government and the society not to deny education because of the Hijab controversy.
"My opinion is that education is the only thing that protects women. If, for religious reasons, not wearing Hijab prevents them to access education, I would want them to first get educated at least by wearing it. They will then be able protect themselves through education," he said.
"There is no strong weapon than education. Hence I humbly request both the government & the people to not deny them the education just because they want to wear Hijab," he added.
He urged that Hijab be treated on par with other religious symbols. "Wearing turban by Sikhs, having hair tail by brahmins, having bindi,kumkum by hindus, headscarf of nuns, all these are fundamental rights, but why people not able to understand Headcovering is also a fundamental practice of islam and its right to practice (sic)."
When his attention was earlier drawn towards demand by leaders for an apology, speaking at Hubballi, he had asserted that he will continue to speak about Hijab and that he has not said anything for which he has to apologize. KPCC president, D K Shivakumar, had said that the party does not agree with what Zameer has said about the Hijab controversy and that a show cause notice will be served to him, asking him to withdraw the statement and tender an apology.