At Modi's Event On Women's Day, 2 Women Sarpanch Asked To Remove Hijab, Another Sarpanch Stopped From Meeting PM

An event attended by Narendra Modi here saw a woman sarpanch from UP throwing security personnel into a tizzy when she rushed toward the Prime Minister and an altercation between police and two Muslim women village heads from Kerala on the issue of removing their veil.

According to police, the woman sarpanch from Uttar Pradesh wanted to hand over a memorandum to the PM against the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in UP over the plight of her village.

The PM was in the city to address the Swachh Shakti 2017 programme organised at Mahatma Mandir on the occasion of International Women's Day.

During the function, the woman sarpanch from UP, identified as Shalini Singh, tried to rush towards Modi after breaking the security cover near the main dais, moments before Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan started her speech, police said.

However, she was immediately whisked away by women police personnel and taken outside the hall.

Later, talking to reporters Shalini Singh said she was here to make a representation to the PM about her village.

Gandhinagar Police said Singh represents Thora village of Gautam Buddha Nagar district in UP and came here on invitation.

"She actually wanted to give a memorandum to the PM against the Akhilesh Yadav-led UP government for not showing any interest in improving the condition of Thora village. Since she did not know about security protocols, she tried to meet PM after he arrived on the dais," Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police Virendrasingh Yadav said.

Inspector General of Gandhinagar Range R B Brahmbhatt said the woman was very "upset" with the attitude of UP government.

"She told us that



despite having a population of 12,000, her village lacks all kind of basic amenities, such as drinking water and schools. Since her intention was only to meet the PM about it, we have not taken any action against her," Brahmbhatt said.

Meanwhile, two women sarpanch from Kerala allegedly refused to attend the PM's function after they were stopped by police and asked to remove 'hijab' (veil) for security check.

However, when the women insisted on not being frisked, they were allowed inside the hall with "full respect", police said.

According to Brahmbhatt, the controversy was uncalled for as none of them were forced to do anything against the rules.

"As part of the standard security protocol to be followed during the PM's visit, police made a separate enclosure near the entrance to frisk the women invitees and there were only women police officers to check the guests.

"For security reasons, we have to frisk every guest. However, two women refused to let the women officers frisk them. We just asked them to let them see if there was anything hidden in their clothes and hijab," Brahmbhatt said.

"Even if they were asked to remove the hijab temporarily, there were only women officers inside the enclosure, which was fully covered. Later, when these women insisted not to be frisked, we let them in with full respect. This whole controversy was uncalled for," he said.

In a televised audio byte given to some new channels in Kerala, Muppanad Panchayat president, Shaharbhan, alleged that the security personnel first prevented her and two other women from attending the function as they were wearing black 'hijabs', part of their religious veil.