Amid the ongoing Karnataka hijab row, Manchester United star Paul Pogba on Thursday shared a 45-second video on Instagram. The video titled "Hindutva mob continue to harass Muslim girls wearing hijab in India" is reportedly from Sagar in Karnataka's Shivamogga district when protests and counter-protests over wearing hijab on college campuses turned violent.
Meanwhile, several Twitter users called out the "hypocrisy" and "double standards" of the French footballer as the hijab is banned in his home country. For the unversed, France in 2011 became the first European country to introduce a ban on wearing burqas covering face in public. The French parliament had unanimously voted for imposing a blanket ban on the religious veil. The then President Nicolas Sarkozy had said that full-face veils they were “not welcome” in France. The act, “Law of 2010-1192: Act prohibiting concealment of the face in public space”, bans wearing of face-covering headgear, including masks, helmets, balaclavas, niqābs and other veils covering the face in public places. People who breach the ban can reportedly be fined €150 (Rs 12,816), and anyone who forces a woman to cover her face can be fined €30,000 (Rs 25,63,350).
"Why hasn’t Pogba spoken against the French Government? He had no reason to speak on the Hijab protests that have been happening in India when his own country hasn’t exactly been pristine," said a Twitter user. "There's no way Paul Pogba is getting support for that video... Hijab is banned in France too. Hypocrisy and double standards at its peak," wrote another user.
Check out the reactions below:
