The hijab issue first surfaced on December 31, 2021, when six hijab-wearing students were not allowed by their college administration in Udupi, Karnataka.
It soon spread like a firestorm engulfing the state, particularly districts such as Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Raichur, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, Bidar, Mandya, and Bagalkot where Muslim students were prevented from entering their classrooms.
What started on December 31 carried on for three months until the Karnataka high court on March 15 gave the verdict upholding the state government’s GO, released on February 2. It allowed restricting the hijab in educational institutions across the state.
It has been five months since the verdict putting a full stop to many Muslim women whose future, at the moment, hangs by a string.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties – Karnataka (PUCL-Karnataka) has come out with a report titled – Impact of Hijab Ban in Karnataka’s Educational Institutions.
The report discusses how the hijab ban has impacted students emotionally, psychologically, and financially. It talks about the humiliation, isolation, and internal struggles.
Impact of court’s verdict on students
Education as humiliation
The high court’s judgment came as a rude shock to Muslim students who were confident that the judiciary would not let them down.
Increased hostility, communal tensions among classmates, constant harassment and humiliation, rigid restrictions, and safety concerns have been their eternal fears.
According to the report, “There is increasing hostility from the college administration in matters such as withholding of certificates and important documents like practical exam records. There are safety issues in classrooms the college administrations refused to take cognizance of. By their actions, the courts and the government have sidelined the students’ educational concerns and brought to the fore the hijab, which, the students feel, after all is a side-issue and a distraction.”
Lack of friendships, ghettoization
Muslim women are forced to make a decision between the hijab and their right to education. Even as many still nurture the dream of making it in the world, the HC verdict is slowly and steadily quashing hopes.
Many friendships were tested. Social interaction is drastically reduced. Female Muslim students were made to sit in a separate classroom, away from their own classmates, thus creating an environment of isolation.
“Being forced by the hijab restriction into studying only in Muslim institutions is leading to a feeling of ghettoization. It also restricts their choices of accessing a wider range of educational opportunities and fields of employment,” the report said.
Psychological concerns
When one is constantly made to feel oppressed about their identity, the mind plays various games which are not pretty. Living in a state of constant fear and isolation, and anguish over what the future beholds are some of the many psychological fears students are facing.
‘Always walk in a group’ and other student testimonials
The team of researchers spoke to many students who had repressive stories to tell.
In Raichur, women students were made to stand outside the whole day as soon as the HC’s interim order came to light. One of the students, who was doing her B.Ed said that she was expected to teach classes till the tenth but soon after the judgement, the college authorities refused to let her in with her hijab. The B.Ed student lost internal marks leading to a loss of valuable experience and proper evaluation.
Some Muslim students said that they are so scared of being attacked by right-wing organisations, they always travel in groups.
While other options are being considered, for many students the choice is very limited to family income, unavailability of affordable options, and difficulties in pursuing transfer limits. “I am repeating my second year. Private and minority institutions are so costly,” said a student from Hassan district.
Some Muslim students found a way to the classrooms by wearing hoodies, only to face extremely rude and insensitive remarks from their lecturers.
“They reportedly told the students, ‘Tum soch badlogi toh zamaana badlega’, ‘Zamaane ka saath chalo’, ‘Tum bold bano’ and other such variations. This was to suggest that the women, in asserting their right to
wear hijabs were making a regressive choice. Students told the team that some teachers even asked
them, “Show chal raha hai kya” upon seeing them in hoodies,” the report stated.
Another student, who was once her class representative and would barge into the principal’s room for issues concerning her class told, “Nowadays, I’ve fallen silent, and don’t interact with other students. I want to change this college where I don’t feel free.”
Muslim students have also faced the wrath of the media who have literally chased them down to their homes for a byte.
The report mentions a student in Hassan whose video was taken without her consent by a prominent TV reporter.
“A lecturer from the college stood with this journalist who continued asking me, ‘Why are you here?, Where is your ID card?, Where is your uniform!’ They took my video to put on the news channel. I got scared and ran home,” she said.
She later learned that the video had been distributed among her classmates.
In Udupi, one student shared a picture of another without her hijab on social media platforms. “My friend was so upset that she went into depression and was admitted to the hospital,” said one of the students.
Many resonate that this misuse of privacy makes them feel like criminals, often leading to panic attacks.
Conclusions
According to the report, these testimonies indicate that a range of rights, including Right to Education without Discrimination, the Right to Equality, the Right to Dignity, the Right to Privacy, the Right to Expression, the Right to Non-Discrimination and the Freedom from Arbitrary State Action have been comprehensively violated post the HC’s judgment.
There has been a considerable number of drop-outs. The report says that it is important to look with a wider lens on how this has impacted a generation.
“The Quran says clearly, you shouldn’t expose your body to outsiders. We’ve got used to wearing hijab everywhere and always. This is our identity, how can we separate ourselves from it? We keep wondering what wrong we’ve committed. Mentally, I’ve suffered a great deal,” said a student.
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