WASHINGTON (TSAT) - The US government top envoy for religious freedom decried over the Indian Karantaka government  decision to banned Muslim girls from education because of wearing Hijab.

In a short statement on social media, the US Amb. at Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain said the Hijab bans in educational institutions violate religious freedom.

“Religious freedom includes the ability to choose one's religious attire. The Indian state of Karnataka should not determine permissibility of religious clothing. Hijab bans in schools violate religious freedom and stigmatize and marginalize women and girls,” the US envoy tweeted.

Hussain who was appointed by Biden administration on key position, as he earlier served as the President special envoy for the OIC.

The Indian government anger by the the US criticism and said such comments are “not welcome”.

"A matter regarding dress code in some educational institutions in the State of Karnataka is under judicial examination by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka,” said Spokesperson Shri Arindam Bagchi.

However motivated comments on our internal issues from US and other countries are not welcomed, he added.

Currently, the Indian Hindu nationalist BJP led government is facing tough criticism across the world after its Karnataka nationalist state government imposed ban on Muslim minorities girls from wearing Hijab or headscarf in the education institutions.

The move called by the Muslims in India is part of the right wing prime minister Modi’s ongoing discrimination policies against minorities in the country. 

Modi’s government already introduced Citizenship Amendment Act, a law to stateless million of Muslims in the country.

The government last year filed criminal complaints under sedition laws against those Muslims who lodged protest against the anti-Muslim legislation in the country.

In August 2019, the Modi’s government revoked the special status of the  Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority region in the country, and divided into two union territory.

The government also imposed months long curfew in the region as the local Muslim protesting against the act because the region is disputed under the UN Security Council resolutions. 

According to human rights organizations, Indian government put millions Kashmiri in open prison for several months and arrested thousand who were protesting against the government decision. 

During last 30 years, the Indian security forces killed nearly 100,000 innocent people in Kashmir who resisting the Indian occupation and want unification with Pakistan. 

On Jan. 13, the Human Rights Watch in its latest report said that Indian authorities intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and other critics of the government using politically motivated prosecutions in 2021.

In its annual report, HRW said that government under Hindu nationalist BJP leading by Prime Minister Narendra Modi clamping down on dissent and torturing them through draconian counterterrorism law, tax raids, foreign funding regulations, and charges of financial irregularities.

“Attacks against religious minorities were carried out with impunity under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Hindu nationalist government. BJP supporters engaged in mob attacks or threatened violence, while several states adopted laws and policies to target minority communities, particularly Christians, Muslims, Dalits, and Adivasis,” said HRW.

“The Indian authorities have given up any appearance of tolerating dissent and are using the machinery of the state to silence critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “At the same time, the BJP government has created an atmosphere in which minorities feel unsafe, at risk of assault by ruling party supporters.”