Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai on Wednesday voiced her concern over the harassment of Muslim women in Karnataka, India.
Yousafzai tweeted, "Refusing to let girls go to school wearing hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists - for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women."
At the same time, Congress leader Priyanka and Nobel Laureate Malala also protested against the same incident.
Priyanka Gandi spoke up in support of the college students in Karnataka who have been banned from wearing the hijab in classrooms.
Tweeting from her official Twitter account, she said that the choice of what clothes to wear was theirs alone, and that right has been ensured by the Constitution.
"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. This right is guaranteed by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women", she tweeted.
The hijab protests began last month at the Government Girls PU College in Karnataka's Udupi when six students alleged that they had been barred from classes for insisting on wearing the headscarf.
Right-wing groups in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru objected to Muslim girls wearing the hijab to class.
Soon, the controversy spilt beyond the borders of Karnataka and surfaced in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry.
A minister in Madhya Pradesh ruled in favour of "discipline" and a "uniform dress code".
In Puducherry, the authorities have asked the head of a government school to investigate allegations of a teacher objecting to headscarves in class.
