Bengaluru,  Congress MLA B.Z. Zameer Ahmad Khan, who stoked controversy by stating that without hijab Muslim women 'will get raped in India', while reacting on the hijab row, after being slammed from all corners, regretted his statements on Tuesday.

Khan stated, "I get anxious and scared to see increasing atrocities and rape on women in our country. Because of this state of our society, I said that at least with burqa-hijab we may be able to prevent rapes. It was not intended to hurt or disrespect anyone. I regret if it has hurt anyone."

"My opinion is that education is the only thing that protects women. If, for religious reasons, not wearing hijab prevents them to access education, I would want them to first get educated at least by wearing it. They will then be able to protect themselves through education," he further stated.

"There is no strong weapon than education. Hence I humbly request both the government and the people not to deny them education just because they want to wear hijab," he maintained.

Earlier, State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar had condemned the previous statement and said his comments are not endorsed by the Congress party. He had also demanded that MLA Khan should apologise and take back his statement.

Khan, a Siddaramaiah camp loyalist, outrightly refused to apologise and said that he has said nothing that he should apologize for.

He equated hijab to helmet (headgear) and explained that how helmet gives security to a motorist, hijab also ensures safety of women and it helps them to conceal their beauty and prevents setting of evil eyes on them.