'If Muskan is under threat, then...': Asaduddin Owaisi on hijab row, Z+ security

"Agar Muskan ko khatra hai, to Asad ko bhi khatra hai (If Muskan is in danger, then Asad is also under threat)," Owaisi said commenting on the hijab row, his security, as he was addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said he has denied Z plus security offered by the home ministry because if Muslim girls like Muskan are under threat in this country, then Asaduddin Owaisi is also in danger. "You are asking me to take Z category security because my life apparently has threats. But I told in Parliament that Asaduddin Owaisi does not need Z category security. Do something so that everyone is secure. And what is the point of giving Owaisi security if a girl like Muskan gets heckled? Agar Muskan ko khatra hai to Asad ko bhi khatra hai (If Muskan is in danger, then Asad is also under threat)," Owaisi said addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradesh. Owasi's car was fired on during his campaigning in Uttar Pradesh following which Owaisi was accorded Z+ security by the home ministry which he has declined.

Asaduddin Owaisi referred to Muskan, the burqa-clad girl who was heckled in a Karnataka college, as he talked about his security. (ANI)

Hijab row: Student moves Supreme Court challenging high court's 'restrain' order

Amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, the video of a burqa-clad college student confronting a group of boys in front of a college has gone viral. The girl has been identified as Bibi Muskan Khan, a second-year B.Com student of a college in Mandya. In the viral video, Muskan was seen shouting Allah-hu- Akbar with her hand raised in the air, while the boys coming out of the college were chanting Jai Shri Ram. Muskan later told she came to the college to submit her assignment and was confronted by a group of boys, mostly outsiders, chanting Jai Shri Ram.  The incident took place on Tuesday when clashes took place at several campuses of Karnataka over the rights of Muslim women to wear hijab inside the classroom. 

Muskan also said that a hijab is allowed inside the classrooms of her college, while the burqa is not allowed. There was no controversy in her college earlier, she said.

Soon after the incident, Owaisi got in touch with Muskan and spoke to her and her family members. "Spoke to Muskan and her family on call. Prayed for her to remain steadfast in her commitment to education while also exercising her freedom of religion and choice. I conveyed that her act of fearlessness has become a source of courage for us all," Owaisi earlier tweeted.

"Also appreciated her parents for her unapologetic upbringing. Coincidentally, I had the honour of meeting her father at a function during my campaign in 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections for JD(S)," Owaisi had said.