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The state of Karnataka has been under fire recently for banning Hijabs in schools and colleges. There have been gatherings of aggressive men donning saffron scarves harassing Hijabi women and not letting them enter their educational institutions, thereby violating three fundamental rights for Muslim women: the Right to Equality before the Law (Article 14), the Right to Freedom to Practice Religion (Article 25) and the Right to Education (Article 21A).
The Hijab ban also violates the provision of Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code, which states that “Section 509 IPC provides that whoever, intends to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished.”
This planned attack on Hijabis and the identity of Muslim identity comes at a crucial time during the ongoing elections in many states, including the very important Uttar Pradesh. It is aligning with the RSS’ agenda of Hindutva and the Hindu Rashtra by implementing a uniform civil code, abrogating Article 370 in Kashmir, imposing the citizenship amendment act, propagating and organizing hate crimes against Muslim communities, and so on.
The demand to ban Hijab was raised by Hindutva forces within the premises of government-run educational institutes in various BJP-ruled states. It resulted in shutting down and vandalizing educational institutes across states.
Inspired by the events in Karnataka, a few schools in South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad in the state of West Bengal refused to let Hijab-clad women into school premises. Thus, schools and colleges became complicit in institutionalizing Islamophobia by forcing Muslim women to choose between their religion and the right to education. The institutionalization of Islamophobia was complete when the Karnataka high court banned the Hijab on the pretext of maintaining law and order even before coming to a decision.
The goal is to deny Muslim women the agency to make decisions for themselves and to further marginalize them in a country that already has poor access to education for women. It is a step towards realizing an apartheid state where minority citizens are disenfranchised from their fundamental rights by saffronizing educational institutions.
Moreover, BJP Karnataka’s Twitter handle struck below the belt by tweeting the personal details of innocent minor Muslim girls who just wanted to study while wearing what they wanted to. It must be emphasized here that none of the clothing was immodest, and wanting to study is not an unjustifiable demand. This is a gross violation of women’s privacy and only the latest in a string of attacks to harass and break down the spirit of girls. There is no other evidence that needs to emerge to show that this isn’t about a Hijab anymore, it’s about doing everything possible to harass a community, constantly.
“Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao’’ stops when a woman wears a Hijab.
The day people learn that policing what women wear is none of their business is the day we win. Someday it’s a Hijab that stops a girl from getting something as basic as an education, which is her fundamental right, and on other days it’s a pair of jeans.
The issue here isn’t uniforms. The issue has never been uniforms. The problem is that the ruling power in the country is so driven by hatred and prejudice that extremists like these men find the audacity to harass women in broad daylight. The problem is that they find the courage to openly show their Islamophobia, their casteism, their prejudice, and their misogyny.
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