Qadri says his ‘letter on Hijab Day’ being misinterpreted for ‘point-scoring’

ISLAMABAD, Feb 17 : Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Minister Pir Noor ul Haq Qadri Thursday said some politicians were misinterpreting his letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan for marking Hijab Day on March 8, just for ‘point-scoring’.

Such elements had in fact resorted to negative propaganda for political mileage without even going through the contents of the letter, he added in a statement. The minister said the Muslim girls in India were psychologically and physically being tortured due to wearing Hijab, and in order to express solidarity with them he had proposed marking the International Women’s Day as Hijab Day.

He said he had urged the human and women rights organizations working in Pakistan to raise their voice against the burgeoning extremism and Islamophobia in various states of India.

He had also asked the civil societies to highlight the women issues like their right in property, education, job opportunities, domestic violence and harassment etc.

The women rights, Qadri said, were equally protected in Islam and the Constitution, but no one would be allowed to spread obscenity in their wake. The contents of his letter in fact reflected the overall thinking of Pakistani society vis a vis the Islamic values, he concluded.