‘No One Can Pull Away a Woman’s Clothes’: Zubeir Anam Raises Hijab Row in Ward 16

Congress MLA Zubeir Anam Mazumder brought up the recent Cachar College hijab controversy while campaigning for party candidate Nazir Hussain Mazumder in Ward 16 of the Silchar Municipal Corporation on Monday.

Addressing a gathering during the campaign, the MLA said the incident should not be viewed only as a religious issue, but as a matter concerning a woman’s right to her clothing and dignity.

“It was not a hijab issue. It was an issue of taking a woman’s clothes away,” Mazumder said.

He said he would have opposed such an incident irrespective of the woman’s religion.

“If it was a Muslim woman, a Hindu woman or a Christian woman, I would have fought against this issue. No one has the right to pull away the clothes of any woman,” he said.

Referring to the Cachar College controversy, Mazumder claimed that his party’s candidate in the ward had spoken up over the issue while other candidates were not visible during the controversy.

He urged voters to question rival candidates about their position when they campaign in the ward.

“Ask them where they were when this whole ordeal was happening. Congress members and candidates were present and were fighting alongside. Where were you?” he said.

Mazumder also said elections provide voters with an opportunity to raise questions and express their concerns and sentiments before choosing their representatives.

During the same speech, the MLA also targeted AGP candidate Mia Khan, accusing him of spreading a claim that his campaign meeting at Tupkhana had been cancelled.

Mazumder said he received repeated calls from people asking whether he had cancelled the meeting, despite being unaware of any such cancellation. He later claimed that the rumour had originated from Khan.

Questioning Khan’s conduct as a candidate, Mazumder called him a “dui nombori” candidate and said he had never seen such behaviour from a candidate in Assam.

He also mocked Khan’s promise of installing street lights if elected, saying voters could lose even the street lights they currently have if Khan wins.

The Ward 16 campaign comes ahead of the Silchar Municipal Corporation election, with candidates from different parties and alliances stepping up their outreach to voters.