The hijab controversy has prompted protests in India. For students, it has been difficult to sit in a classroom among those who chanted anti-hijab shouts.
That’s what Saima, whose real name has been altered at her request, is trying to figure out as per her interview with BBC.
The 20-year-old Muslim woman belongs to a group of hijab-clad Muslim women who looked at hundreds of Hindu students demonstrating against Islamic headscarves last week.
Jai Shri Ram, or “Victory to Lord Ram,” is a prominent Hindu right-wing cry and the colour saffron is linked with the extremist group. Protesters included many students from Saima’s Muslim-majority class, she said.
In India, the issue of the hijab has sparked a passionate discussion. An uprising began with the exclusion of six students from classes at a government institution in Karnataka’s Udupi county last month.
Right-wing groups on both sides made aggressive remarks about the matter, which rapidly evolved into a controversial one. The state administration closed all high schools and universities in the state out of fear of violence.
The high court in Karnataka is now deliberating on whether Muslim girls and women in the state can wear the headscarf at school and college.
Students on both sides of the political divide are preparing to return to school on Wednesday and are having difficulty communicating with one another.
Saima expresses concern that the situation would engender animosity among the students. Because of religious differences and right-wing activism, students will assume that those of the opposite religions are opposed to them.
One demonstrator was Aakanksha Hanchinamath, a student at Saima’s college.
Ms Hanchinamath explained that the demonstration was the product of a “collective decision” among Hindu students. As she explained it, “We wanted to show them what will happen if you bring religion into it.”
Student organisations in this region of Karnataka, including the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) student branch and the Popular Front of India’s Campus Front of India (CFI) student wing, have long been involved in radicalisation. This time, the CFI lent its support to the Udupi Muslin girls protests, whereas the BJP’s student wing led marches with students sporting saffron shawls.
“Why should we and our females observe passively if sectarian organisations like the CFI encourage Muslim students?” stated Raghupathi Bhat, a BJP MP from Udupi.
Hindu and Muslim right-wing extremist organisations in Karnataka’s divided coastal area, where the hijab has long been a point of contention, have protested the veil before. However, a civil society body that analyses communal disturbances in the state claims that in the past, such conflicts were promptly addressed.
A similar demonstration in Mangalore, India, 15 years ago resulted in a “middle ground” between college administration and students in just five days, according to the protester.
“There have been sporadic incidences of challenging the hijab and skull caps at educational institutions, but they never flared up like this,” said Prof. Phaniraj K, an expert of communal violence.
However, growing polarization has resulted in diverse hijab policies among institutions. Saima attends a private institution that allows students to wear the hijab in class.
Annual regulation revisions are prevalent at publicly funded universities. The Development Committee, which is chaired by a local politician, makes the last call on school uniforms. Mr Bhat, a BJP MP, was in charge of the first demonstrations at the Udupi institution. Despite the efforts of him, the parents of the protesting girls, and the college officials, they still could not come to a solution.
Udupi college student Rashmita Shetty said it horrified her and her Muslim classmates to see how the situation had deteriorated recently. There were no counter-protests by Hindu students at her campus, which has many Muslim students. She asserts that things have changed. “A girl’s hijab wasn’t even on our radar. When it became too hot, they’d take it off. I’ve never had a problem with it, ” she added.
It is worrisome the way Muslim women are being denied their rights at such a young age and are now being viewed in a new light. One BJP representative encouraged Muslim students to travel to Pakistan to wear a hijab, another remarked that the hijab had to be resisted in universities so that Karnataka does not become a “Taliban state”. So, the hijab issue got exacerbated by the offensive statements made by political figures.
Ms Hanchinamath, a BJP protester, says she never considered religion, but she will not back down now that she has. She stated that the Muslim students believe we are against them, but all we are asking for is uniformity and order, she adds.
“I know it will alter things among us,” she says.
In contrast, Ms. Shetty maintains that her Muslim friends’ insistence on wearing headscarves is legitimate. “The fact that I didn’t chant slogans with Muslim females still irks me. But how am I supposed to accomplish it in this environment? It’s such a conundrum,” she adds. Shetty stated that “to show my support to my friends, I’ve chosen to remain silent.”
