Kozhikode beach in Kerala where hundreds marched protesting the hijab ban in Karnataka’s schools
Photo Maktoobmedia
Johannesburg – “An injury to one is an injury to all,” says the #HandsOffHijab protest banner, calling all South Africans to stand in solidarity in protesting the hijab ban in India.
Salaamedia’s Julie Alli spoke with Founder and Chairman of South African Kashmiri Actions Group, Salman Khan about the planned protest on February 25 at the Indian Consulate in Parktown. The protest has been organised by the Congress of Muslim Ummah.
Khan says the atrocities taking place in illegally occupied Kashmir went unnoticed for so long and now “it has spilled into the schools” in India.
“I’m sure you have seen the horrific poster being put onto the BJP website which said, ‘putting all the Muslims to hang onto the gallows’ and that shows you the mentality of the BJP that they want to have an exclusive setup in India where the Muslims cannot exist at all and that says loud and clear what is the going ahead of it.”
The BJP has been the ruling political party in India since 2014.
Lobbyists in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) have been “quite vociferous to stop this protest”, explains Khan. The protest will take place as has many around the world, in New York, Paris, Milan and Venezuela.
Khan appeals to religious bodies such as the MJC and Jamiatul Ulama to take action and “issue a very stern warning”.
“They should be writing a letter of demand and concern to the Indian High Commission, an open letter to our south African government that what’s happening is wrong.”
The #HandsOffHijab protest will take place on Friday, February 25 at the Indian Consulate, 1 Eton Road, Parktown from 13h30 to 14h30.
