BJP Karnataka Tweets Details of Minors Petitioning Against Hijab Ban, Faces Ire

The tweets were taken down by Twitter after many flagged them for revealing private details of the girls.

The official Twitter account of BJP Karnataka on Tuesday, 15 February, came under the fire after it shared personal details of minor girls, including their house addresses, in a tweet about the ongoing hijab row in the state.

(Photo: The Quint)

The official Twitter account of BJP Karnataka on Tuesday, 15 February, came under fire after it shared personal details of minor girls, including their house addresses, in a tweet about the ongoing hijab row in the state.

Sharing an image of the plea of the the six student petitioners in the hijab case that is currently being heard in the Karnataka High Court, the BJP's state unit took a jibe against the Congress party.

“Five of the students involved in #HijabRow are minors. Don't CONgress leaders Sonia, Rahul & Priyanka have any guilt for using minor girls to stay relevant in politics? How low will they stoop to win elections? Is this what "ladki hoo lad sakti hoon" means, @priyankagandhi? (sic),” the tweet stated.

The picture in the tweet contained information such as the petitioners' names, addresses, and their parents’ names.

After many flagged the tweet for revealing private information of the girls, the BJP Karnataka’s tweet in Kannada was taken down by Twitter for violating rules, as per The News Minute. The same tweet in English was also subsequently deleted, though it is not known if Twitter took it down.

The tweet of the state BJP president Nalinkumar Kateel, who had also shared the document, was also deleted.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi Urges NCPCR, Police To Take Action

Several Twitterati called out the BJP for doxxing (publishing private or identifying information) and revealing the identities of the minor students.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi urged Karnataka Police, Twitter, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to take action against the tweet.

"Shameless @BJP4Karnataka tweets the addresses of the minor girls in order to attack the opposition. Do you’ll realise how insensitive, sick and pathetic this is? I request @DgpKarnataka and @TwitterIndia to take action and take down the tweet. Also seek Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's intervention," she tweeted.

Meanwhile, schools and colleges have reopened in Karnataka following a brief closure by the state government, after the controversy over stopping Muslim girl students from wearing hijabs escalated over the last few weeks. The high court is considering the matter, and will resume its hearing on Wednesday.