Patralekha Chatterjee | The Hijab row: Beyond the hype and hysteria
Deccan ChronicleWhy do people care more about a headscarf worn by a woman than what is going on inside her head? The straight answer — because the controversy over whether colleges in a part of coastal Karnataka are justified or not in banning hijabs or headscarves for female students attending classes is not just about the hijab, worn by many Muslim women in India and around the world. The “hijab row” hit the headlines in December-January when six teenage Muslim girls were denied entry into classes as they were wearing a hijab alongside their uniform at a pre-university women’s college in Udupi district of Karnataka. A recent Karnataka government directive seeks to validate decisions of state educational institutions prohibiting Muslim girl students from wearing the hijab. Last week, the BJP-led state government said: “Clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public law and order should not be worn.” It says the ban on wearing the hijab to classrooms is not a violation of the fundamental right to religious freedom guaranteed by India’s Constitution.