A hijab-clad girl was verbally assaulted and hooted at by a crowd of Hindutva supporters in India’s Karnataka state on Tuesday as she replied by yelling back “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).
Muskan Khan parked her scooter in the parking of her college in Mandya and was later assailed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) crowd who yelled at her and attempted to encircle her. Undaunted, she kept heading towards her college building in a video that immediately went viral on social media.
The young Indian Muslim student #Muskan who stood her ground against the jeers, taunts and screams of saffron-clad students in #Karnataka India for wearing her hijab, has taken over social media as a symbol of resistance, spurring countless videos, portraits and images. pic.twitter.com/sjJXFgPErn
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) February 9, 2022
“Since I began studying [here], I’ve always worn the burqa and hijab. When I entered class, I removed the burqa… [the] principal has said nothing. Outsiders began this,” she told NDTV.
‘Shameful’: Indian journalists, stars, issue criticism
The harassment of Muskan garnered the ire of various Bollywood celebrities, media people, academics, and politicians, who criticised the Modi administration for dragging the nation to that level.
Hindu Right Wing mob vs Hijab wearing Muslim students in India – A divide country and a ruined generation! pic.twitter.com/MskW3vo7Kl
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) February 9, 2022
A new video from Ktaka shows a young student in a hijab being chased by Jai Shri Ram slogan shouting men. This is what bigotry does to a nation: divides us on dress, food and religion. When we should be worried about jobs for young, we focus on their dress! Shameful. #HijabRow
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) February 8, 2022
“As usual, it takes a gang of males to intimidate a lady. Such fearful, sad excuses for human beings. Brandishing their shawls like weapons, hiding their fragility with violence. Hatred has ensnared a large portion of a generation that has no direction”, says Indian director Pooja Bhatt.
Vaibhav Vishal, an Indian novelist, criticised the state of affairs in the nation.
In the month after the pupils of a state-run school in Karnataka’s Udupi district began their protest against being prevented from attending classes while wearing the hijab, their campaign has been successful. As the word spread, students started protesting outside the school’s entrance while reading aloud from their textbooks.
Schools around the country began implementing bans on the hijab out of fear of RSS members, who were also chanting pro-Hindutva chants to exacerbate the situation.
The governmental apparatus seemed impotent in the crowd’s face. To the contrary, governing party officials made remarks defending the hijab ban that emboldened RSS members to instigate unrest.
An attempt by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to maintain control of the situation ended in his decision to order a three-day shutdown of all state schools and colleges because of an uptick in violence sparked by female students wearing hijabs on college campuses.
Girls wearing saffron-coloured saffron scarves protested against their hijab-wearing counterparts in certain locations and defended the prohibition.
Outrage continues after a college in India’s Karnataka state barred hijab-wearing Muslim students from classrooms 👇 pic.twitter.com/mgEQkx7ZDZ
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 9, 2022
The matter has yet to be resolved despite several discussions between staff, government officials, and the protesting students.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ [email protected]
