A report published in Pakistan leading publication, Dawn News, in 2014 shows Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who for the partition of the country along communal lines 75 years ago

Pakistan’s Dawn News report published in 2014 shows Jinnah with members of the women’s wing of the All India Muslim Students Federation (also called ‘Muslim Women’s Guards), notably, none sporting a hijab.

A dispute over restrictions on wearing hijab by female students in Karnataka’s Udupi, snowballed into a controversy across India and even drew reactions from the West and also its neighbour Pakistan.

Pakistan had summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed the government’s grave concern on the ban on Muslim girl students from wearing hijab in Karnataka.

The Foreign Office of Pakistan said in a statement last week that the Indian diplomat was conveyed Pakistan’s "deep concern" over alleged religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, stigmatisation and discrimination against Muslims in India. It was emphasised that the Indian government must hold the perpetrators of harassment against women in Karnataka to account and take adequate measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Muslim women, the statement read.

It's time Pakistan should look into the pages of its history.

However, something that we came across and is worth mentioning is that the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who is blamed for the partition of the country along communal lines 75 years ago, sitting with the members of the women’s wing of the All India Muslim Students Federation (also called ‘Muslim Women’s Guards), notably, none sporting a hijab.

The Dawn story -Various shades of green: An ideological history of the Muslim League - proves that hijab, as suggested by a few and Pakistan, was not mandatory for girls even in the Islamic nation. Clearly, Pakistan did not look back into its own history before meddling into India's internal affairs over a matter of hijab.

As per Dawn report, hundreds of members of the student-wing of the AIML (the All India Muslim Students Federation) travelled across the country and explained the AIML’s struggle as a fight against feudalism, economic exploitation and corruption. This, visibly proved that hijab was not mandatory in Pakistan for girls, who were vying for equality at all levels and shunned the regressive mindset.

The hijab protests began on February 4 at the Government Girls PU college in Udupi district in southern Karnataka state when some students alleged that they had been barred from attending classes wearing hijab (a headscarf worn by Muslim women).