Owaisi denounces Allahabad HC ruling on hijab as ‘attack on Islam’

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi described the Allahabad High Court’s recent ruling denying a Muslim student permission to wear the hijab in school as an “attack on Islam”.

Mr. Owaisi, Hyderabad parliamentarian, was speaking at a public meeting on the eve of Milad-un-Nabi late on Tuesday (August 26, 2026) night, where he asked, “Who are you to decide essentiality in Islam?”. The court’s position was against Articles 25 and 19 of the Constitution. “This decision is wrong and is an attack on Islam,” he said.

Underscoring the Sabarimala reference, he pointed out that the Supreme Court had reserved the order. Mr. Owaisi questioned whether a court should determine which practices are “essential” to a faith.

The AIMIM president touched upon the Uniform Civil Code, saying attempts to impose uniformity on religious communities should not be confused with equality. “Remember that uniformity is not equality,” he said, referring to the implementation of UCC measures in Uttarakhand and Gujarat, and the UCC legislation in Assam. He questioned why provisions based on Hindu personal laws, including those relating to marriage, succession and divorce, should be imposed on Muslims.

Wading into the controversy over Vande Mataram, he invoked the history of the song to question the insistence of certain groups of a full rendition of the song. He said that Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose were of the view recitation should be of only the first two stanzas of the song.

Mr. Owaisi used the history to pose a series of questions: was Prime Minister Narendra Modi “wiser than Mahatma Gandhi”, a greater patriot than Subhas Chandra Bose, or intellectually superior to Rabindranath Tagore? By taking a contrarian view, the BJP and Prime Minister Modi had “insulted” Gandhi, Tagore and Bose, he said.

“The country belongs to everyone,” he said. “Some worship it, some like me, will be buried in it, and love it. And yet you are telling me to turn it into a God. How can I do that?” he asked.

Mr. Owaisi also hit at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s recent remarks about Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Pakistan. He questioned Mr. Adityanath’s understanding of Jauhar’s political career and pointed out that he was a “highly educated” political leader who was associated with both the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress and was a prominent figure in the Khilafat and anti-colonial movements.

He drew a comparison with RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar, noting that Hedgewar too was imprisoned after making speeches in support of the Khilafat movement.

The AIMIM chief also referred to Maulana Mohammed Ali Jauhar’s appearance at the First Round Table Conference in London , where he said he would not return to a country that remained enslaved and said he would rather be buried abroad if India was not granted freedom.

Mr. Owaisi criticised the RSS over its historical position on the Constitution. He referred to the Organiser editorial of November 30, 1949, published days after the Constitution was adopted. The publication “wrote a complaint” against the Constitution. He also referred to VD Savarkar’s favourable assessment of the Manusmriti and contrasted this with the sacrifices of freedom fighters such as Maulana Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, whom he said endured imprisonment rather than seek concessions from the British.

Speaking about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), he said that those who did not find their names should not worry, but fill and submit a Form 6. He said that the doors of party headquarters in Darussalaam would always be open to assist electors with notices and other SIR related queries.