By
Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
21 January
2022
Quran And
Hadis Mandate The Veiling Of Women, Linking It To Women’s Modesty
Main
Points:
1. The debarred
Muslim girls continue to sit outside the classes as a mark of protest.
2. This demand
is not coming from all Muslim girls but only from a tiny minority bringing out
the contested nature of the veil within Muslim society.
3. If the veil
is banned, what about Hindu religious symbols? Why such secularizing zeal is
seen with regard to symbols of Islamic faith only?
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Students in Government PU Women
College for Girls in Udupi sitting outside their classroom. | @SalmanNizami_via
Twitter
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Trouble is
brewing in a government college in Udupi, Karnataka over the issue of
headscarf. A few Muslim students of the college decided to don the veil arguing
that it was a manifestation of their Islamic faith and that such an expression
of religiosity was protected by the Indian constitution. The college
authorities, on the other hand, have a different set of understanding. They have
debarred these students from attending classes. The college argues that the
veil is against the ‘dress code’ of the institution. As an institution which
can frame laws for the benefit of the students, they are well within their
rights to debar these students from attending classes.
But there
are other parties to this polarized debate within the college campus. It was
the Hindu right wing affiliated student body which at first objected to the
usage of the veil in classrooms. Of late, Karnataka has been in the news for
all the wrong reasons including passage of laws which explicitly target
religious minorities like Muslims and Christians. The ruling BJP government has
got bad press for wanton attacks in the state which targeted churches and other
places of worship of the minority community. Hindu right-wing forces have
become emboldened after the ruling dispensation came to power in the state.
This seems to have been playing its part in the college too as the veil was
certainly not an issue before the Hindu right wing student body protested
against it.
The impasse
has not been broken till now. Girls with veils continue to sit outside the
classes as a mark of protest while the college seems to be determined on its
position. But why has the veil become so important that Muslim girls are
willing to forgo their education for this piece of head covering? Should
education become the casualty over the question of religious identity of
Muslims?
It is
important to understand what the veil stands for. One of the many arguments
that one comes across is that veils are a matter of choice. This argument lacks
merit for the simple reason that in Islam it is not a question of choice but of
an express commandment. The Quran and Hadis mandate the veiling of women,
linking it to women’s modesty. So, these girls in Udupi are basically following
what the religious scriptures demand of them.
The other
argument is that the law of the land does upholds right to religious belief and
practice as akin to a fundamental right and therefore these girls should be
allowed to wear what is deemed as an Islamic outfit. Certainly, the Indian
courts have upheld the right to religion but have time and again pointed out
that they will only protect the ‘essential attributes of religion’. Now it is debatable
whether veils pass this test of essential feature in the court of law. There is
certainly no consensus within the Muslim community whether veils are an
essential feature of Islam. Some Muslims regard it as obligatory while others
think that it can be dispensed with in contemporary times.
Six Muslim girls were barred from
attending class because of wearing a hijab. Credit: Twitter/Salman Nizami
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Even within
the college in question, there is no consensus within Muslim students. There
are around 70 Muslim students in the college but the veil is an issue only for
12 students. Clearly then, not all Muslim students are in favour of the veil.
The very fact that majority of Muslim girls in the college do not identify
Islam with the veil brings out the contested nature of this head covering
within Muslim society. At one level therefore, this is not a question of
Islamic faith versus the college administration but of a few Muslims students
insisting that their expression of Islamic religiosity be considered as the
standard norm.
Moreover,
there are different kinds of face coverings which Muslim women wear depending
on religious interpretation and the culture in which they are located. Thus,
the Afghan face covering completely invisibilizes women making direct
communication impossible. Within a classroom situation, it will be exceedingly
difficult for any teacher to understand the facial expression of students with
Afghan veils. This breakdown of dialogic communication will in turn lead to
very poor pedagogic results. The girls in Karnataka, however, are not donning
the full-face veil. One can see their faces and hence effective pedagogy is not
being hampered. So, for the college, the only reason for barring these students
is because of their religious attire.
India is a land of immense religious diversity. Religion seeps into educational spaces even without people expressly acknowledging it. There are a number of government schools, for example, in which one would find a temple dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Clearly it is a Hindu symbol but then most schools, parents and teachers do not have any problem with it. One can see religious symbols in colleges and universities too. The headgear of the Sikhs is a religious symbol but there is no debate whether it should be worn within spaces of higher education. There are married Hindu women who access colleges and universities wearing their mangalsutra. Should they be similarly asked to take it off before entering their classrooms? Why is it that this secularizing zeal is witnessed only with regard to Muslim religious symbols?
Isn’t this illegal & unconstitutional? Doesn’t the constitution grant all Indian citizens the fundamental right to practice our religion?!? Should not the govt. college in #udupi follow the laws that govern the country ?!? This is illegal isn’t it? @DgpKarnataka @HMOKarnataka https://t.co/9qkBfK3QXs
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) January 15, 2022
Despite the rising Islamophobia, it needs to be underlined that in this case, Muslim girls have got their priorities wrong. Muslims are one of the recognized educational backward minorities in the country. When it comes to the education of Muslim women, the data is simply underwhelming. Girls like the ones in Udupi, who are fortunate enough to get to college, should think of those millions of their co-religionists who never get such a chance due to a number of circumstances. Should they be agitating for the right to wear the veil or should they be focusing on their studies and becoming role models for Muslim girls all over the country.
Ideally one
should not have to choose between the two but just in case one has to, what
choice should one make? Making the veil as the first choice is an insult to all
those Muslim girls who are forced to reside in their homes because Muslim men
think that they should not step out. Making the veil the first choice is an
insult to millions of Muslim women worldwide who are fighting against this
censorship on their body and mobility. This insistence that they will enter the
college classroom with their veils comes from a position of privilege.
It is
equally important to understand that those supporting these college students
belong to organizations that are Islamists in their agenda. The first organization
to come in support was the Campus Front of India which is a student wing of the
Popular Front of India (PFI). The PFI is not exactly known for upholding values
of secularism and democracy as it has been named in a number of violent attacks
including the one on a college teacher in Kerala for allegedly blaspheming
Prophet Muhammad. The second organization in support is the Fraternity
Movement, a student and youth collective having close ties with the Welfare
Party of India, which is a political platform floated by the Indian Jamat e
Islami. For both organizations, the careers of these students come secondary;
what is more important is the battle of positioning in which they want to foist
Islamic symbolism in the public sphere.
Amidst the
intransigence of the college administration and political Islam, one can only
hope that the education of Muslim girls does not become a casualty.
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A
regular columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher
on Islam and Muslims in South Asia.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/karnataka-veil-muslims-veil-education/d/126200
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