Manchester United superstar Paul Pogba has waded into an Indian state’s Hijab row as the French footballer shared a video story about the controversy on Thursday.
The 2018 World Cup winner with the France football team took on to Instagram to extend his solidarity with Muslim students of Southern state Karnataka who are protesting against the repressive administration move to ban the headscarf in classroom.
One of the most influential footballers of the era, Pogba shared a video alleging the ‘Hindutva mob of harassing Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India’ on Instagram stories.
The former Juventus playmaker, who has over 51 million followers on Instagram, shared a video of the ongoing Hijab issue that created a tense situation across many schools in Karnataka.
The affected students had filed petitions in the Karnataka High Court objecting the ban of hijabs in colleges. A three-judge bench in the Karnataka High Court hearing pleas on the hijab row, on Thursday directed the government to reopen schools in the state.
Єι∂ Мυвαяαк вяσтнєяѕ αи∂ ѕιѕтєяѕ ❤️🤲🏾 pic.twitter.com/tvpyz67V0U
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) July 20, 2021
Amid tensions and even violence over the matter, the state government on Tuesday announced a three-day holiday for all schools and colleges in the state from Wednesday.
The intervention of the popular Muslim footballer draws international attention to the ongoing issue.
It was only a couple of years ago that German star Mesut Ozil came under fire for raising awareness about Chinese government oppression of Uighur Muslims. It was a kind of triggering point for the player’s exile from the mainstream European football.
Pogba’s solidarity has invited the wrath of a section of India’s right wing netizens as the playmaker and his club Man United has a huge fan base in the country. The player has got the support of the fans as well after his position in the ongoing controversy.
French Footballer Paul Pogba shares post supporting girls on Hijab row
Right Wing trolls pic.twitter.com/wWX1x22I6D
— Mr.Fixit (@yippeekiyay_dk) February 10, 2022
Manchester United player Paul Pogba has posted his support for protesting Muslim students in Karnakata on Instagram pic.twitter.com/Gfij5rY5xX
— Joe Wallen (@joerwallen) February 10, 2022
Before Sanghis accuse Paul Pogba of being paid to tweet against Hindutva like Rihanna, just a kind reminder that Pogba earns over 2 crore weekly & has a net worth of almost 1000 crores. He's worth more than any of those Indian cricketers who were actually forced to tweet for Modi
— Sankul Sonawane (@Sankul333) February 10, 2022