A recent incident of what students are referring to as “internal Islamophobia” in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) a number of Muslim female students have alleged discrimination by the administration based on their attire.
A video clip from a mess in AMU, shows a warden saying that she would “remove the burqas from the faces of the girls and feed them (food) through their nose” is doing rounds on the internet.
According to sources from AMU, niqab-clad girls had reportedly asked the warden to let them take their food in their rooms as they couldn’t abide by their niqab if they would eat in the mess given that there were male residents serving food. The warden allegedly replied in an offensive tone.
In AMU, a ‘Hall’ represents a collection of hostels in a single-walled territory. There are around 16-20 halls and each hall has one or more hostels. Each hall has a provost and each hostel has a warden. The recent incident happened in Abdullah hall, which is a hall with six girls’ hostels and according to students, none of them have female staff members.
A student from AMU told Siasat.com, “They don’t allow us to take food to the rooms even in our own plates. There are girls who observe complete purda (Islamic covering from head to toe) and it is not possible for them to eat in front of male staff members.” The student who chose to remain unnamed added that this has been happening for the last two months despite several complaints.
Another student told Siasat.com that the administration misbehaved with her several times, and had made Islamophobic and sexist remarks against her. She reportedly went to meet officials to file a complaint and was yet again allegedly greeted with misbehaviour and Islamophobic remarks.
She further stated that the Abdullah Hall administration has the most “misogynist, Islamophobic and ill-mannered” woman as a warden she has ever seen in her life. “Every issue of the hostel, be it allotment, food, hygiene or anything is countered by an Islamophobic remark on burqa, purdah and namaz.”
Another source said that illegal students are allegedly residing in another hostel and that is being used as an excuse for the warden’s “misbehaviour” in this case.
The student said that it started when a few students, in charge of food, accused others of stealing from the mess and had the administration call for male students from the main campus. The male students have reportedly not been sent back since then.
Students are taken aback by the alleged stance of the administration given that AMU is a minority institution.
The teacher shouting in the video is reportedly the warden of Mumtaz Jahan hostel.
“Whatever she said was very offensive to us, and now those students are being called again and again to the provost’s office. They are being unnecessarily dragged into fake issues and are being falsely maligned. A warden of another hostel called my friend scary as she was wearing a jilbab(a type of fashionable burqa) yesterday,” the student who chose to remain unnamed stated.
After the warden denied to talk to this reporter, Siasat.com reached out to the provost of the
Siasat.com reached out to Ghazala Naheed from the department of Zoology, Women’s college, and the provost of Abdullah hall to ask about the incident. Commenting on the incident, she said “Facts are being distorted and presented. No such incident has happened. We have a very favourable and friendly environment. We can’t allow students to take food to their rooms as it is unhygienic and leftover food will lead to the spreading of diseases in hostel rooms.”
She said that it is a policy that students cannot take food to their hostel rooms and they cannot change the rules in any case. Ghazala Naheed denied that the warden made any sort of offensive remarks against the students.
