Sabahat Khan, a hijab-clad woman from Aurangabad, has been elected the student union president of Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom.
Khan’s presidency comes at a time when India is engulfed in a series of pro-hijab protests post the Karnataka high court verdict which deemed hijab to not be “an essential practice of Islam.”
“People saw me as a person and my potential to represent them as a student leader, not my attire. And that’s most important,” Sabahat was quoted saying by the Indian Express.
Currently, Khan is pursuing her post-graduation in public health. She won the election at Sheffield with 2,500 votes out of a total of 6,900 votes.
Khan also said that she would do everything in her control to “empower all those who wear hijab.” She was quoted saying, “No stereotyping has stopped me and it should not stop anybody. There is a lot more to me than what I wear.”
Sabahat pursued her BSc from Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and her work as an international students’ officer (ISO) during the COVID-19 pandemic helped her connect with international students from all backgrounds.
“Irrespective of gender, ethnicity and religion, everybody deserves the same treatment,” concluded Sabahat.
Recently, another hijabi woman, Bushra Mateen became the first student of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) to win 16 gold medals.
