Hijab Row Is Now Taking A Toll On Muslim Girls' Education
While
Hijab Has Become An Identity Issue For Both Right Wing Hindus And Muslims
Main
Points:
1. Hijab is banned
in many Muslim majority countries.
2. Growing
trend of Hijab among college students is a recent phenomenon
3. Election
politics has also fuelled the Hijab controversy.
----
By
New Age Islam Edit Desk
19 February
2022
India's hijab row (Photo: Twitter)
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Hijab was
until now a social controversy but now with the intervention of the judiciary
it has become a law and order problem as FIRs were registered against girls
defying Hijab ban. Both the right wings of Hindus and Muslims have fuelled the
controversy which is taking an uglier turn by the day.
Hijab was
not in vogue among college going Muslim girls earlier. Hijab has gained has
gained popularity among Muslim girls because of the growing religiosity among
Muslims. This religiosity rose among Muslims after Babri mosque demolition and
also after the Gujarat riots.
The trend
of sporting a beard also rose among the Muslim youth during the last twenty
years. Recent surveys have shown that more Muslims go to mosques for five time
prayers.
However,
Hijab has not been an identity issue in many Muslim majority countries. Hijab
is banned in some countries while it is mandatory in some other. In Saudi
Arabia the present government has left Hijab and Abaya to the discretion of
women. It is not mandatory.
In India while
Hijab has become an identity issue for Muslims, it is seen as a discriminatory
practice by the right wing Hindus.
The Hijab
row has become a matter of prestige for both communities and it is taking a
toll on the education of Muslim girls. That the Islamic Shariah is not harsh on
the question of Hijab is evident from the fact that in some Muslim majority
countries it is either banned or not mandatory. But many extremist Ulema have
over the years circulated their personal interpretation of Hijab which requires
some of all the ages to cover their full body out side of their home. This
interpretation is not supported by the Quran. That some girls skipped their
exams preferring Hijab over exams, a Muslim lecturer resigned her job when she
was asked to remove her Hijab at the gate of the college.
Mr Ram
Puniyani has tried to understand the issue both from historical and multi-cultural
points of view.
-----
In
India's Hijab Row, Muslim Girls' Education Trapped Between Extremists Of Both
Religions
By
Ram Puniyani
Feb 15,
2022
The raging
controversy around the hijab is taking disturbing proportions. In Udupi,
Karnataka, Muslim girls alleged that they were denied entry into the classroom
if they wear hijab. Then we saw the gates of the institute being shut on the
hijab-wearing girls. Also, we witnessed the despicable act of the vigilantes
wearing saffron turban and shawls obstructing the lone girl Muskan and
aggressively shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. She in turn resorted to ‘Allahu Akbar’
and went on to submit her assignment. The Muslim girls approached the Karnataka
High Court, which has put a stop on saffron shawls and hijab in the schools in
its interim order.
(File Photo)
-----
In
response, many women rights groups and other rights groups have upheld the
right of girls to wear hijab and harshly condemned the acts of the rightwing.
Protest is on in support of the Muslim girls wearing hijab. This has also
rekindled the communal atmosphere and given a handle to divisive forces. Social
media is now full of derogatory comments against hijab-wearing girls/women.
This whole
episode on one hand shows the forces behind aggressive vigilante groups making
merry as their agenda is getting a boost. This has shown the extent to which
they can go to browbeat the Muslim community. In a way those who have floated
apps like Sully Deals and Bulli bai, those who are silent supporters of the
sayings of the Dharam Sansads must be having a good laugh as the process of
polarization is getting a boost from this episode. The statement of RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat that he does not approve of what was said at the Dharam Sansad is
a mere eyewash. Indresh Kumar of RSS, who is guiding the Rashtriya Muslim
Manch, criticized Muskan, saying that she has done it deliberately to disturb
peace in the region.
Anti-Muslim
Sentiments
We also
have seen an atmosphere where the Namaz in public place has been opposed, the
intimidating atmosphere is going to the extent that genocide expert Gregory
Stanton warned that India is on the eighth position in the scale of 10 as for
as genocide is concerned. This particularly in the aftermath of assertive
bringing in of CAA, NRC legislations in the Northeast, whereby the possibility
of disenfranchising the Muslims goes up massively. The targeting of Muslim
youth in the wake of Delhi riots and anti-CAA protests is equally condemnable.
There are
some points on which we have to be cautious. The Hindu right-wing gets its due
provocation from Muslim communalism and extremism. Is there any role of Muslim
communalists in fuelling the hijab row? We need to recall the rise of Campus
Front of India, the student front of Popular Front of India, which was involved
in an attack on Professor Joseph earlier. One will like to understand why the
existing status quo of girls wearing hijab till the school gate and removing
them in the class was disturbed? On one side the slogans are floating that
hijab is our birth right, and the other that country can’t be ruled by Sharia.
Worldwide
many debates have taken place around the hijab. When France banned it in public
places, there were protests but France (then president Nicolas Sarkozy)
persisted in his decision. As far as the latest situation is concerned many
Muslim majority countries have also banned the hijab in public like Kosovo
(since 2008), Azerbaijan (2010), Tunisia 1981 (partially lifted in 2011) and
Turkey. In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has declared that
head cover or Abaya covering full body are not a must for Muslim women. In
Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Maldives and Somalia, it is not mandatory. In
Iran, Afghanistan and Aceh province of Indonesia it is compulsory by law.
India
And Hijab
The Indian
situation has been more complex. While earlier it was prevalent, burqa and
hijab started being more in use particularly after the demolition of the Babri
mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Globally America’s agenda of controlling the
oil wealth of the Gulf region and then bringing forth the propaganda ‘Islamic
terrorism’ not only increased the insecurity of Muslims all over it added to the
already existing insecurity of Muslims in India.
File Photo
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Another
factor adding to the increased use of burqa/hijab was the returnees from the
Gulf when it had mandatory use of these practices. As the insecurity of Muslims
in India increased, these practices went up gradually. Currently, a number of
Muslim parents insist on wearing of hijab/burqa right from an early age for
their daughters. This in turn becomes a sort of cultivated choice for the
girls. They do feel in tune with the opinion of society and stick to it.
It is now a
matter of choice for many and that should be respected. If we see the whole
picture this choice to some extent is constructed. When 5-7 years old girls are
made to adorn these, they will take to it. There are some scholars of Islam who
claim that as per the Quran it is mandatory for Muslim girls to wear it once
they attain puberty. The likes of Asghar Ali Engineer and Zeenat Shaukat Ali
tell us that Burqa and Niqab are not mentioned in Quran. Only
hijab is mentioned (seven times) but its use is for partition, not for piece of
cloth covering the head and neck. Hijab types had been prevalent in many other
communities, Christian nuns, Jews and other societies. In India, ‘Ghunghat’
(sari veil) at one time was very prevalent, but its practice is declining.
Extreme Views
Surely, the
cultural construct of these choices for women is in the backdrop of the
patriarchal control of women’s bodies. On similar lines after the Roop Kanwar
sati (woman jumping into the funeral pyre of husband), the then BJP vice
president Vijaya Raje Scindia had taken a march to Parliament, with the slogan
that "Committing sati is the right of Hindu women"!
In today’s
situation, any further raking up issues like this will weaken the attempts of
Muslim girls to have a good education. The present issue will push them back as
far as their empowerment through education is concerned. The increasing
insecurity is fanning the response of the Muslim community. In turn, the court
ruling will push back the ongoing process whereby Muslim girls are trying to
come up in education. The Hindu right-wing is already very strong, and the
extreme Muslim right-wing is playing the role of provoking and strengthening
the Hindu right-wing. And the victims will be Muslim girls and the Muslim
community at large.
---
Ram Puniyani a former IIT Bombay professor, is
Chairman, Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai. Views are
personal
Source: In
India's Hijab Row, Muslim Girls' Education Trapped Between Extremists Of Both
Religions
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hijab-row-muslim-girls-education/d/126404
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