It’s been a month since government-run colleges in Karnataka started imposing a hijab ban under the guise of a uniform dress code. At least 10 colleges have reportedly banned entry of hijab-wearing Muslim students inside classrooms. But over the last three weeks, Muslim students mobilised to demand their right to study while wearing articles of their faith.“I had no idea my life would change overnight.”
After Muskan went viral, the state’s chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai quickly shut down all high schools and colleges. And a ban on public gathering – popularly known as Section 144 – within a 200-metre radius of schools and colleges has been imposed until February 22. Although unfazed, Muskan said that her parents are worried about her physical safety, but are also supporting her. Hussain Khan, Muskan’s father, told VICE World News that they won’t silently accept the ban. “I’m proud of my daughter,” said Khan, who owns a gym in Mandya. “She’s inspired us all.” In Hindu-majority India, it is common for Muslims, who make up 14.2 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population, to wear articles of their faith. Across the world, the hijab has been a subject of controversy, such as in France, where a ban on hijab has been triggering controversies – most recently when the ban reached into sports – or in Sri Lanka, where a hijab ban proposal has triggered fears of further Muslim persecution.“That moment, when I took Allah’s name loudly, he gave me so much strength that the whole world heard.”
Karnataka’s religious tensions go back decades. Local media often report on “endless cycles of violence” against Muslims, who get attacked for doing business, hanging out or being in a relationship with Hindu women, or simply taking public transport. A similar uniform dress code in a state college in 2012 triggered controversy after the rule banned the hijab, burqa and headscarf – typical clothing items for Muslim women – but allowed the tilak, bindis and bangles – all articles of the Hindu faith.The sheer size of India’s Muslim population – over 200 million – makes the impact of the ban all the more pronounced.
“Various political and religious groups have jumped into the fray. This singling out of Muslim women in hijab is outright discrimination, especially because those who’re doing so are known for wearing their own religion in public life,” added Soman, noting the double standards favouring Hindus. Last month, the state’s chief minister broke COVID-19 restrictions to take part in Hindu rituals with his family. Early this week, Karnataka’s education minister and BJP politician BC Nagesh said in a statement that students are being “instigated” to protest, adding that it was “miscreants” who turned the dress code into an issue of religion. “According to the Karnataka Education Act, Rule number 11, no student can come inside school without uniforms,” his statement said.“What started as a matter of discipline in educational institutions has now exploded into a Hindu-Muslim conflict.”
Soman notes the irony in Hindu supremacist men claiming to want to “save” Muslim women. “In fact, these men who claim they want to save Muslim women from hijab oppress their own Hindu women through open diktats against girls wearing jeans or using a smartphone, or troll women who don’t abide by Hindu traditions, and even forbid them from marrying partners of their choice,” she said.“There are efforts to show that these young Muslim women otherwise don’t wear the hijab, but are doing this all as part of a pre-planned agenda with a higher force behind it.”