Hijab row: 'Bikini, ghoonghat or hijab... women's right to decide', says Priyanka Gandhi

Whether it is a bikini, a 'ghoonghat', a pair of jeans or a 'hijab', it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Wednesday amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka.

She asserted that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Incidents of stone pelting and use of force by police were reported on Tuesday as the hijab row in Karnataka escalated and protests by students spread to more colleges prompting the state government to declare a three-day holiday for all educational institutions.

"Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear," Gandhi tweeted.

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"This right is GUARANTEED by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women," she said using the hashtag 'ladkihoonladsaktihoon'.

The hijab controversy first erupted in January at a government PU College in Udupi, where six students who attended classes wearing headscarf were asked to leave the campus. The protests against hijab by rightwing groups have now spread to different parts of the state. Several Hindu students are turning up in saffron shawls.

Such saffron-clad students are also being barred from entering classes.

The row has also taken a political colour as the ruling BJP stood strongly in support of uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of Muslim girls.