Hijab Ban: A Class Of 30, Sitting In A Row, Is Now Divided Over Religion

I first met her at a college interview. With a hijab, she was chirpy and spoke like we had known each other for ages. We sat next to each other, waiting for our turn to be interviewed. However, it was not a silent wait as we told each other about our backgrounds and shared the nervousness of being seated in the waiting room.

We got into the same course and were close friends set for a lifetime. She asked questions and discussed social and political issues with enthusiasm you’d find in newsrooms in the classroom. Outside the class, she treated us to our favourite kebabs.

Let’s call her Shehnaz for now. We had a group of friends who laughed till our tummies hurt. She was one of the first students from our batch to bag a corporate job while the rest of us were stepping into the job market.

Shehnaz is a successful young woman, married and independent. Fast forward to seven years. Today, the only change is that she doesn’t wear her hijab anymore.

Ask her why and she says, “I never wore a hijab to impress anyone and never took it off to impress anyone. In my family, nobody wears it. My family never asked me why I wore it and never asked when I took it off. It was always my choice.”

So powerful, isn’t it?

Shehnaz accomplished feats and travelled a bit, with her hijab and without it. But, a personal matter, her hijab was never a concern for any of us. Because doesn’t friendship depend on your personality rather than the religion you follow?

I have no opinion on whether the hijab is regressive. But when a woman dons it by choice, why is society so worked up? And if you claim to ‘free’ your Muslim sisters, aren’t you siding with the patriarchal custodians of religion by denying education to the girls in hijab?

Now, I know what you might be thinking. A uniform in school should not include religious symbols. But the ex-education minister of Karnataka, Mr M Raghupathy, who oversaw the time when uniforms were introduced in schools, says, “Headscarf was allowed when uniforms were first introduced.”

So why is it an issue now? Get rid of all religious symbols, then. In this age of education and career-building, should hijab be an issue? We are letting the seeds of hatred and bigotry seep deep into the next generation’s mindset by making it us vs them. Don’t believe me?

Look at visuals of students walking around in saffron shawls. Aren’t the girls in hijab their classmates? Visualise a class of 30 students – all seated in rows with nothing to divide them. But, yes, communal hatred will create a rift among them. Again, we are setting our clocks back to the stone age.

Oh, wait, people from the stone age never fought over religion or caste.

India went through a deadly COVID-19 second wave last year, and it should have brought us together as one nation. But our society still seeks to stay divided and fall prey to the whims of the political class. We have significant challenges, but we still focus on petty politics and religion.

Also, why are women always told what to wear? I’d need another 1000 words to venture into this. So, I’ll keep it aside for now.

And to the girl who shouted, “Allahu Akbar!”– keep up the fight!