Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Friday termed the hijab row as an attempt to "exploit" the people and stressed the need for providing public education to overcome such odds.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a 'Lok Sansad' event organised at the NDMC convention Centre here, Khan described the ongoing 'azaan' controversy in Karnataka as a "non-issue". Some right-wing outfits and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have called for stopping the use of loudspeakers from mosques saying they cause disturbance for people living in surrounding areas."Is this an issue? Talking about it is helping them. Do you want to help them," Khan said when asked about opposition of 'azaan' by some in Karnataka.
The Kerala Governor said that if provided proper education, people can take care of themselves."All these efforts are to exploit the people. If you educate people properly, they will take care of themselves," he said.
Khan said obstacles keep coming up but India is destined to go way forward. The programme was also attended by KN Govindacharya, patron of Lok Sansad, Swami Chidanand of Parmarth Niketan, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Rashtriya Imam Sangh chief Imam Umer Ahmad Iliyasi, Maualana Kalbe Rushaid, Rajendra Singh, socialist Raghu Thakur among others.
Sisodia said education has become the priority of the people but it is not a national, administrative, political priority as yet.
He said there was a need to draw a bottom line of the quality of education being provided by the educational institutions in the country. "India cannot progress from the stage of a developing nation to developed one unless there is a benchmark of education quality being provided to the children," he said.
The 'Lok Sansad' was held to review the present and future of India in its 75th year of independence by bringing together people from different walks of life for an open, non-political dialogue, said Ravi Shankar Tiwari, co-convener of the programme.