Scores of women on Tuesday asserted their right to wear the hijab and staged a peaceful protest. They sought to send a message to the authorities that women should not be forced to choose between the hijab and education as both are important.
The women, who were wearing burqas and also donning the hijab, cut across age groups and came out onto the streets days after students and staff of schools and colleges in Karnataka were reportedly instructed to remove the hijab. The Karnataka High Court had restrained students, irrespective of religion, from wearing saffron shawls, scarfs, hijab, religious flags and similar articles within classrooms till further orders are passed.
Scores of women and girls converged near the Hockey Ground in Shantinagar near Masab Tank and carried placards that underscored the importance of both wearing the hijab and the quest for education.
“Our hijab is as important as education. We need both!!” one such sign read. “Hijab is freedom not oppression” another read. A third read, “Yes, I am Muslim and hijab is my identity”, while another stated that “Hijab of a Muslimah (Muslim woman) is a symbol of modesty. Meanwhile, a fourth highlighted that wearing the hijab is a matter of choice and a right. “Hijab my faith my pride my choice my right,” the sign read.
The women said that they were unhappy with the Karnataka government’s approach in connection with the hijab. They asserted that they were protesting not at the behest of anybody, except themselves, and that they intended to send a message about the importance of hijab for Muslim women to the public in general and law makers. They also said that wearing the hijab is a Constitutional right as is the right to education and that no hurdles should be placed in the way of women to pursue this.
“Wearing a hijab is our right. It is our hope that by means of this peaceful protest, our stand about the hijab will be known to the Parliament. It is inexplicable how the government has taken this stand about the hijab. We do not know what their intention is. But we are here to protect our rights. This is a completely peaceful protest,” a protester said.
