A year on, Karnataka hijab ban costs Muslim girls access to education, peace of mind

For 19-year-old Aasma K (name changed on request) from Karnataka’s Udupi district, the last year has been an arduous one since the southern state banned Muslim girls from wearing hijabs (headscarves) in educational institutions.

While the ban kicked in February 2022, Aasma told The Federal she has been wearing hijab since she was 11. “The piece of cloth (hijab) has become a part of me. It is my identity. Even my two elder sisters wear hijabs. Nobody has forced us to wear hijab, it is our personal choice.” After a pause, the second-year pre-university student adds, “However, I have been forced to remove my hijab. A price I paid to continue my education.”

While at home and outside, Aasma wears a hijab daily, but she removes it to attend college. Aasma’s college administration, she says, is strictly adhering to the ban, even though the same college allowed her to wear the headscarf along with the college uniform till the piece of cloth became a political tool.

Several of Aasma’s hijab-wearing friends have left the college. Some of them have joined Muslim-run or private institutions where hijab is not banned. But her father can’t afford her education in those institutions as the fee is higher than her government-run college. Aasma says, “The ban is an attack on my right to choice guaranteed by the Constitution.” She adds that the worst part is that a few of her friends have stopped attending college and are staying at home —bringing an end to their education midway.

The state government’s order has not only denied young Muslim girls their right to education but also attacked their right to choice, dignity and mental peace. According to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka, around 1,000 Muslim girls have left pre-university colleges since the ban came into force in February 2022 after the Karnataka High Court passed an interim order prohibiting religious attire in educational institutions.

The case went to the Supreme Court in October last year and the apex court gave a split verdict. Thereafter, the matter was referred to the Chief Justice of India. The whole issue created a lot of furore and was widely covered by the international media as hijab-wearing girls were seen waiting outside their classrooms after being denied entry by the authorities. As the girls demanded their rights to enter classrooms and continue with their studies, a parallel campaign of students, supported by Hindutva outfits, demonised the girls by calling them “terrorists” and making sure that they leave their education.

Like in most issues, once the initial hullabaloo around the controversy gathered dust, nobody cared to know what happened to the girls — whose only demand was their right to education while wearing a headscarf.

A report — Closing the Gates to Education (Violations of rights of Muslim women students in Karnataka) — compiled by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka that was released on January 9, 2023 — shows the cost of the hijab ban. The exhaustive study carried out over a period of eight months brings into light how political machinery, Hindutva groups, the media, police and educational and administrative authorities worked in tandem to deny the girls their basic right to education. Since the hijab furore started, many girls have left schools and colleges, some have stopped wearing hijab to get entry into classrooms, and some have shifted to private institutions.

Amid all this, now they live in the fear of being attacked in the future. The girls from five districts of Karnataka — Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga and Raichur — who were interviewed by PUCL-Karnataka for the survey — showed tell-tale signs of anxiety and depression and were in dire need of counselling and support.

Shaima Amatullah, a research scholar from Bengaluru, during the release of the PUCL-Karnataka report, said the ban on wearing hijab is denying women and girls their agency. “Hijab has never caused problems. We live in a diverse, plural and secular country. Despite differences in food, clothing and religious beliefs, we have all lived together. The ban on wearing hijab is a systematic effort to deny girls their education. From the lynching of people (mostly Muslims on suspicion of killing cows) to the hijab ban, it’s all a part of the larger conspiracy of the Hindutva brigade. The debate on hijab versus education is a false equivalence. It is about inclusive and accommodative education which many countries have adopted and the outcomes are better,” adds Amatullah, who herself wears a hijab.

Child rights activist Nagasimha G Rao from Bengaluru tells The Federal that in the whole controversy the government never had any discussion with the Muslim girls. “The government should have consulted the hijab-wearing girls before taking the controversial decision. The government unilaterally took the decision affecting the education and careers of thousands of Muslim students.”

Poorna Ravishankar, a member of the PUCL-Karnataka team, says the state machinery is throwing students out of educational institutions. “The rights of Muslim girls are violated at many levels. They are denied their right to education, privacy, dignity and autonomy. The state went against the girls and the Muslim community by banning the hijab.”

Amatullah adds that even without the ban, burkha and hijab-wearing women and girls have faced harassment in public spaces. “I know of several cases where lewd comments were passed on women and girls for wearing hijabs. In many instances, hijabs of women and girls were pulled off in full public view.”

Aishwarya Ravikumar, another member of the PUCL-Karnataka team, says “The ban on hijab is a part of the larger scheme of saffronisation of education which is underway in Karnataka.” Talking about the role of the administration, police and the media, Ravikumar adds that none came to the rescue of the girls which made the matter worse. “The presence of police personnel on campuses caused a lot of agony to the girls. The media at that time acted as vigilantes and they put cameras on girls without ever taking their permission.”

In fact, it was in a college of Udupi — the native place of Aasma — where the hijab row first started in December 2021. The sudden restriction on the hijab inside the classrooms led to a protest by six students as they sat outside the classroom for days demanding to be allowed to wear the hijab and attend classes. Recalling those days, Aasma says things are quieter now, but “fear is omnipresent for us (Muslim girls)”. Political observers say the hijab row has further polarised Karnataka where the state assembly elections are due in the next few months.