Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 9: Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Laureate, has spoken out about Muslim students in Karnataka who claim they were denied access to campuses and classrooms because they were wearing the hijab.
“Refusing to allow girls attend to school in their hijabs is horrible,” the girls’ education activist tweeted.
The hijab demonstrations started last month at the Government Girls PU College in Udupi, Karnataka, when six students said they were excluded from lessons because they insisted on wearing the headscarf. In Udupi and Chikkamagaluru, right-wing groups opposed to Muslim girls wearing the headscarf to school.
The debate quickly spread beyond Karnataka’s boundaries, surfacing in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry. Madhya Pradesh’s minister ruled in favour of “discipline” and a “uniform clothing code.” Authorities in Puducherry have asked the head of a government school to look into accusations that a teacher objected to students wearing headscarves in class.
“College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab. Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women,” tweeted Malala.
“College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab”.
Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women. https://t.co/UGfuLWAR8I
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) February 8, 2022
Notably, schools and colleges in Karnataka will be closed for the next three days.; Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai has appeals to the people to maintain peace and harmony. The Karnataka High Court is hearing petitions filed by five women from a government college in Udupi, questioning hijab restrictions. The hearing was started yesterday and will continue today.
