Bengaluru: Following criticism by his party leaders, former Minister and Karnataka Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan on Monday clarified his remarks on rape amidst the ongoing hijab controversy.
While defending the Muslim girls for their right to wear the veil, Khan on Sunday had attributed the rising rape cases in India to “women not doing 'purdah'." "The concept of hijab is to keep girls, when they grow up, behind a 'purdah' [veil] to hide their beauty. Their beauty should not be visible. I think India has the highest number of rape cases in the world. It is because the women are not doing 'purdah'." he had tweeted.
There was an instant backlash with KPCC President DK Shivkumar condemning Zameer’s remarks and asking him to apologise. "Congress does not agree with this statement and he has been asked to withdraw it," Shivkumar said on Monday morning at Vidhasoudha. On Monday evening, Khan apologised on Twitter.
“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,” Khan wrote in a series of tweets. “I believe our ancestors had mandated wearing burqa-hijab as a religious practice in order to protect women. My statement was based on this belief & there was no other reason,” he added.
Khan said 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,” he said.
“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 to protect themselves through education. 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”.
Read: Why should I apologize, asks Congress MLA who said Hijab protects women from rape
