Should Hijab Be Allowed Inside Educational Institutions? The Thundering Answer Is A Big No
The debate over allowing hijab inside educational institutions has erupted like a volcano and engulfed the whole of Karnataka in its flames. It has been three weeks since Muslim girl students wearing hijab were barred from attending Government Women’s College in Udupi, Mangalore.
A section of Muslim girls were demanding permission for wearing headscarves to college. At the same time, the state government has cracked the whip making it clear that hijab cannot be allowed while attending classes in educational institutions. Different kinds of reactions have come to this from all over the country.
The boys studying in the college had come to school putting a saffron scarf around their neck as a mark of protest against the hijab.
The issue has transformed into a full blown political battle between the ruling dispensation and the opposition, with the opposition supporting the girl students’ right to wear the hijab inside the classroom. They argue that the hijab in no way interferes with the academic pursuit of the students.
The girls claim that the face is not covered, and only the head is covered. So, the person can be very easily identified and hence, it is not even a security issue. Moreover, preventing the girls from attending classes is also violative of their right to education.
The Karnataka Education Act of 1983 explicitly says that all educational institutions recognized by it and registered under it have to ensure that there is no religious discrimination.
In this case, it means that the girls today get to do what girls previously studying in the same institution have been doing—wearing a hijab. The Kerala High Court upheld the right to wear a hijab in 2016.
Article 25 of the Constitution of India guarantees every person the right to practice, profess and preach his or her religion. The Constitution says that wearing a hijab is a fundamental right, but it is not absolute.
The activists supporting the hijab put forward the argument that hijab is similar to a bindi worn by Hindu women or the turban worn by the Sikhs. They furthermore add that there are well-established traditions among many Hindu communities like the Marwaris, where the women cover their face completely using a “ghoonghat.”
They blame the entire controversy to the increasing religious intolerance and marginalization of the minorities in the country under the present political dispensation. They also allege that the plural space is shrinking, and there is a concerted effort towards othering the Muslim community.
They also cite that in the past, they had no issues with the hijab. Hijab is not an issue for anybody. It is not something that interferes with anybody else in any way.
The Karnataka government has put a ban on female students wearing hijab inside classroom categorically stating that it ruins the dress code of the institution. They also counter the protests by stating that when the students are inside the classroom, there is no need for it.
They can wear whatever they want outside the premises of the institution. There is also the allegation that till December, these very girls were coming to the same school without any hijab. Moreover, the girls were going to an all-girls junior college, and so there is no male presence within the school campus.
Hence, there is no need to put on the hijab inside the classroom. An organization called Campus Front of India, which is an affiliate of Popular Front of India—an Islamist organization spreading Islamic fundamentalism—seems to be behind this newfound Islamism among the girl students.
The protests have turned violent, and the state government had to ban any protest near schools. All educational institutions have been shut for three days. The Karnataka government believes that the hijab disturbs the decorum of the school. They believe that students inside the classroom do not need to wear their religion on their sleeve.
Inside the class, all are equal. They can do whatever they want outside the class. The Muslim girls who were debarred from attending school because of hijab have filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, and the matter has been referred to a 3-judge bench for interpretation. The honourable Court will first examine whether wearing the hijab is an essential part of Islam.
However, a point to be noted in this regard is that the colleges and institutions where these disturbances are taking place have allowed women with hijab for a very long time. The sudden objection to it is attributed to the BJP dispensation in the state.
These institutions have been in existence for the last 25-30 years, and nobody has had issues with girls attending the classes wearing hijab. All of a sudden it has become such a volatile issue. It is clear that the protests are being engineered to create religious polarisation.
This incident cannot be seen in isolation from the rest of the world. Internationally, there have been many movements in many European countries towards banning all forms of face-coverings.
In Switzerland, following a binding referendum, the ‘burqa’ was banned in March 2021. In the Netherlands, following a 14-year debate, face-covering was banned in August 2019. Anyone seen with a face-covering in public has to pay a fine of at least €150.
The The ban covers all forms of face-covering ranging from burqas, veils, full-face helmets to balaclavas. France banned face-coverings in 2011, with the “Law of 2010-1192: Act” prohibiting concealment of the face in public space including masks, helmets, balaclavas, niqābs and other veils covering the face in public places.
Sri Lanka’s cabinet cleared a proposal to ban all forms of face veils in public places “due to national security concerns” in April 2021. Belgium has banned full-face coverings including burqas in public since 2011.
Those who violate the law either face a fine or are sent to jail for seven days. China in an attempt to crackdown on religious extremism, banned burqas, veils and “abnormal” beards in a predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province in 2017.
Denmark banned burqas in August 2018, and it imposes a fine of up to €135 on anybody found geared in violation of the law. Austria passed a law in 2017, known as the Law against Wearing Face Veils, that mandates people to make their face visible from hairline to chin, with a fine of up to €150 for violators.
Bulgaria charges up to €750 on anybody who violates the burqa ban that was in place since 2016. European Union allows employers in Europe to forbid women from wearing headscarves to work.
The above examples clearly suggest that there has been growing Islamism worldwide, and India is no exception to this phenomenon, with a sizable Muslim population. In fact, India is home to one of the largest Muslim populations globally, and hence, the threat of increasing Islamization seems very real.
As far as the issue with Karnataka school is concerned, it should be made amply clear that there is no place for religiosity inside classrooms. The purpose of education is to liberate the mind and induce rational and logical thinking.
The mind should be able to think independently and question every norm and tradition that do not make sense in the 21st century. Hijab is a symbol of obscurantism and will only fuel religious extremism among young Muslims endangering the fragile social harmony in the country. Hijab inside the classroom defeats the very purpose of education, and should be rejected out rightly from every classroom in the country.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
