In India, hijab ban threatens access to education for Muslim girls

For 18-year-old Almas AH, a resident of Udupi in the southern state of Karnataka, faith and education have been the two most important pillars of life. However, for the past few weeks, the young student has been forced to make a choice between the two due to the changing laws of the land. 

In January, some students including Almas approached the Karnataka High Court after multiple educational institutes across the state banned female students from wearing hijab on the college premises, citing it as an aberration from the prescribed uniform.

While hearing the petitions last month, the court held that the hijab does not constitute an essential religious practice in Islam, stating that the petitioners’ pleas against the hijab ban are “devoid of merit.”

“Why would we struggle, protest, and fight so hard if the hijab was not important to us? Along with hijab, they are also denying us the right to education, privacy, and freedom,” Almas, who is studying science at the government-run girl’s college at Udupi, told Devex over a phone call.

The controversy began in December last year when a few hijab-wearing students were barred from a government college in the coastal town of Udupi, sparking similar incidents across the state. In February, the Karnataka government banned the hijab and said that students must adhere to the specified uniform till an expert committee forms a decision on the matter.

In the past, clashes between different communities, including Hindus and Muslims, had not really touched students, Pooja Padki, a Bangalore-based educator said. “It was kept away from them.”

“For so many years, we were fighting to ensure that girls are given the opportunity to go to schools and secure their own rights. Now, when people are finally understanding the importance of education and sending girls to schools, something like this comes up which will hamper the process. This will definitely lead to a long-term detrimental impact on the education of Muslim girls,” Padki added.

According to the 2011 census, the literacy rate for Muslims, who comprise 15.4% of India's population, was a little over 57%. Additionally, the female literacy rate was only about 52%  — one of the lowest in the country.

Experts noted that the verdict comes at a time when the country’s majoritarian forces are turning increasingly hostile toward minorities and people from marginalized backgrounds, and a move to ban the hijab from educational institutes will undo years of progress on the issue.

Offer impunity

Ghazala Jamil, assistant professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, noted that the past decade has seen a steady rise in enrollment numbers of Muslim girl students. The dropout rate too has been lower than in previous years, she said. In 2018, the Indian government stated that the dropout rate for Muslim girls had been reduced to 40% from an earlier 70%.

However, sounding a note of caution, Jamil said, “This judgment will offer impunity to the communally bigoted minds who want to target Muslim women and obstruct their access to public educational institutes in different parts of the country — especially where the BJP [Bharatiya Janata party] governments are in power. Muslim community might be forced to look for and create other alternatives for Muslim girls' education including the private sector and minority institutes.”

Academic scholars and educators warned that the high court decision may also pave way for segregation as students from Muslim backgrounds may now opt for institutes allowing them to adhere to their chosen dress code comprising the hijab. Instead of encouraging an understanding and acceptance of different backgrounds and cultures, educational spaces will be at the risk of becoming homogenous institutes.

In addition to the concerns over shrinking religious freedom, parents of Muslim girls are also worried about the repeated instances of threats and violence on campus in the aftermath of the hijab ban controversy. A video of a young Muslim girl being heckled by a right-wing mob had gone viral in February, adding to the existing fear of Muslim parents.

“Since 2014, there have been consistent attacks on Muslims across the country with multiple restrictions on how we practice our faith, what we eat, and now what we wear ... We are worried about sending our children back to the same campus where they might now be attacked,” said Mohammad Saliq, a parent whose daughter is a college student.

The parent added that some young women may feel more comfortable in dressing modestly and that should not be seen as a sign of oppression. “Women all over the world are fighting to wear what they want and live their lives. If a young Muslim girl wants to dress in a modest manner and cover her head, why is that a matter of concern for our courts and ministers? What has that got to do with education?” Saliq added.

“This is an agenda to deprive Muslim girls of education,” said Masood Manna, a state committee member of the Campus Front of India, a student organization built for social change. The students’ outfit has been leading the protests in support of hijab across Karnataka.

“What could have been solved within the four walls of colleges has now reached the Supreme Court,” he said. Manna also objected to the court’s decision to decide which are the essential practices of Islam. “The High Court should not intervene in religious matters. The Quran is the biggest proof that Hijab is obligatory. But that is not the argument here. The entire issue was that our fundamental right of practicing our religion the way we see it fit was being affected,” he added.

Professor Jamil also pointed out that schools and colleges are places for the overall development of children and young adults. If these spaces are turned into arenas of a political slugfest, it will affect the education of all — especially women from marginalized backgrounds, she said.

“If we are opposing a judgment that decides on our lives, we cannot be shamed and labeled as terrorists by member of the Legislative Assembly. We are the victims here and they cannot call us culprits just because we are Muslim girls … This is complete injustice,” Almas said.