Was she provoked to say 'Allah-hu-Akbar': Karnataka minister on viral video on hijab row

Karnataka education minister BC Nagesh said students did not want to gherao the burqa-clad girl whose video has gone viral on social media amid the ongoing hijab row.

Karnataka primary and secondary education minister BC Nagesh on Wednesday commented on the viral video of a burqa-clad student confronting a group of men harassing her at the PES College in Karnataka's Mandya district and asked whether the girl was provoked to chant 'Allah-hu-Akbar'. "The students did not want to gherao the girl who was coming outside the college in Mandya. No other student was around her when she shouted Allah-hu-Akbar. Was she provoked? Can't encourage Allah-hu-Akbar or Jai Shri Ram on the campus," the minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The video of a burqa-clad student confronting a group of boys has gone viral on social media. 

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After the video went viral, the girl was identified as Muskan, a second-year BCom student of the college who came to the college to submit an assignment. She told that after the video went viral, her parents were worried about her. She also clarified that her college allows students to wear burqa outside the class; and inside the class, wearing hijab is allowed. Those who heckled her were from outside, Muskan said.

The hijab row has snowballed into a major controversy leading to unrest in colleges on Tuesday, following which chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has ordered the closure of schools and colleges in the state for three days, starting from Wednesday. As the government is waiting for the directions of the Karnataka high court, the hand of the Social Democratic Party of India behind the unrest is being suspected by the government.

Earlier, the minister said the Campus Front of India is behind the hijab conflict and the investigation is going on. "Congress leaders are adding fuel to the fire in connection with the Hijab issue. If they continue to do so in future, people in Karnataka will throw them in the Arabian Sea," Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra said.