Many Shia and Sunni women hold a protest in the outskirts of Srinagar against a ban imposing on the wearing of the traditional headscarf, or hijab, by Muslim girls in different schools of Karnataka.
About a hundred veiled women took to the streets in the southern area of Srinagar district. They raised slogans, “Modi Teri Tana Shahi Nahi Chalegi,” stating that no one has the authority to intervene in another’s personal or religious issues.
Last month, the issue grabbed headlines when a government-run school in Karnataka’s Udupi district barred students wearing hijabs from entering classrooms, triggering protests outside the school gate.
Some Muslim women wear a hijab a headscarf in public. The hijab represents modesty and privacy for many of these women.
In certain circumstances, a woman will wear the hijab when around males who are not members of her family. For other Muslims, it’s equally important to wear a hijab in the presence of non-Muslims, including women. Still, other practising Muslims choose not to wear a hijab at all. The word hijab is Persian, from the Arabic ḥajaba, or “veil.”
“The hijab ban is the latest example of Indian authorities increasingly seeking to marginalize Muslims, exposing them to heightened violence. At the national and state levels, BJP governments have adopted a slew of laws and policies that systematically discriminate against religious minorities and vulnerable communities, especially Muslims,” said one of the student protester to HRW, who wished to remain anonymous