Imagine living as a Muslim in India, and sticking to your belief that ‘there is no God but Allah and Muhammad (PBUH) is His messenger.’ Things might turn against you overnight. For instance, the demolition of homes of Muslims was a custom in the occupied territories of Palestine, not in India. Now in India, which claims to be a secular state and the largest democratic country, UP CM Yogi Adityanath seems inspired by Israeli brutalities and feels not ashamed of demolishing homes of the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh – homes that people could make possible for themselves after immense hardships. As a famous poet rightly says, ‘Log toot jaatay hain ek ghar bananay mein, tum taras nahi khatay bastiyan jalanay mein,’ (people break to build a house, [and] you have no pity in burning settlements).
Though such unjust treatment against non-Hindus are part of a routine in India, a closer look should be taken at the famous judgement of the Karnataka High Court on banning hijab in classrooms.
According to India Today, on 1 January, Muslim girl students were denied entry into the classrooms for wearing hijab, in a state-run college in Udupi, Karnataka, India. Two days later, a group of male students wearing saffron scarves (as Hinduism and Buddhism associate saffron with the pious renunciation of the material life) protested against allowing Muslim girls wearing hijab inside classrooms in Karnataka`s Koppa district.
On January 26, the Karnataka Government set up an expert committee to resolve the issue. On January 31, a Muslim girl student wrote a petition in Karnataka High Court that wearing hijab is a fundamental right. On February 2, students at Sir MV Government College, Bhadravati, Karnataka, staged a protest against students who wore hijab in classrooms.
According to Aljazeera, in early February, college officials of Pre-University College (PU College) in Udupi, Karnataka, posted a notice outside the college gate declaring the prohibition of hijab in classrooms and considering it a violation of the college uniform code. This is a common claim which is defended by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Last but not least, the BJP`s zeal to achieve its version of Hindutva goals is a threat to the region, not only to the Muslims of India. Therefore, it is the need of the hour for the champions of human rights and the UN Human Rights Council to ask New Delhi to follow the UN Charter and its own constitution, before it’s too late.
This ban was followed by an escalation of tensions after activists and students, who were allegedly backed by Hindu nationalist groups, started to wear saffron color scarves, calling for a hijab ban in Karnataka, a state where Muslims form 12 percent of the population.
Amid such tensions and protests in the PU College, a Muslim girl student in hijab, who had come to submit her assignment, chanted Allah O Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) multiple times among Hindutva protesters in reply to `Jai Shri Ram` (Glory to Lord Ram), what the protesters were chanting. Though that girl was widely appreciated, the discussions could be different if she was not protected by the staff then. She could have become a victim to abuse and met a different fate if she had not been given protection.
To the surprise of many, the Karnataka High Court`s judgement declared hijab non-essential in Islam. The three-judge bench remarked that ‘allowing Muslim women to wear hijab in their classrooms would hinder their emancipation and go against the constitutional spirit of “positive secularism” They also maintained that hijab is not an obligatory religious practice [in Islam].
While what the Holy Qur`an, the holy scripture of Islam, states, contradicts these views. It asks males and females both to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. It also asks females to cover their heads in Surah An-Nur, Ayat 31.
Secondly, constitutionally, India is a democracy and a secular state. And in democracies, everyone has the right to wear anything of his or her choice. As also confirmed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion…, and to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance’.
Wearing clothes of one’s own choice is one’s right to freedom of expression. Therefore, any liberal, who is not liberal by fashion or compulsion, will surely support this right. Moreover, the freedom to practice religion is a fundamental right of every human being, particularly in democracies.
Thirdly, 2017`s Puttaswamy Judgement (India), in which a bench of nine judges unanimously affirmed the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution of India, states that the right to privacy is integral to freedoms guaranteed across fundamental rights. The judgement also holds that the right to privacy is an intrinsic aspect of dignity, autonomy, and liberty. Where privacy is defined as ‘a concomitant of an individual’s right to exercise control over his own personality and [privacy] finds its origin in the notion that certain natural or inherent rights are inseparable from the human personality.’ The Karnataka High Court`s judgement contradicts this.
Furthermore, Article 25(1) of the Indian Constitution states, “All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.” Article 15 of the Indian Constitution states, “The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.” However, the ban on wearing hijab in classrooms is a sheer discrimination on the grounds of religion.
In the promised `New World Order` or in other words, `Liberal World Order`, liberty is a paramount right of every individual. Muslim girls ande women are wearing hijab since the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had conveyed the mentioned verses of the Holy Qur`an to them. It has been over 14 centuries so far. Now, linking this religious obligation with the uniform of schools, colleges, or other educational institutes, and calling it something against the uniform code, does not make any logical sense.It is ironic. Sikhs wearing turbans while Muslims keeping beards might be the next on this list. They might be asked to give up these practices in the name of institutional decorum or so.
It seems that India is no more being run on secular principles, but on Hindutva narratives. In this regard, Jayanth Deshmukh rightly argues in his recently published paper, `Terrorizing Muslims: Communal Violence and Emergence of Hindutva in India` that since the 1980s, India has seen an increase in right-wing militant Hindu extremism. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)[‘s long-term political and ideological goal is to establish a Hindu Rashtra by spreading Hindutva. To attain this purpose, proponents of Hindutva radicalize youth and children with conservative and fictitious notions which lead to Islamophobia. Governments have been either complicit or negligent while dealing with Muslim riot victims, he adds.
Furthermore, a burqa ban has been an issue in France and Sri Lanka, among a few other countries. Whereas the case of hijab ban in India is unique as India is home to over 10 percent of the world`s Muslim population. Over 200 million Muslims live there and such intolerance will surely have consequences. Religious intolerance in a country like India where the total population is over 1.3 billion will have far-reaching impacts.
New Delhi already has much to defend, considering atrocities in the occupied valley of Kashmir, killing of Muslims in Gujarat, demolition of Babri Masjid, and now the Hijab ban, being a few among many such happenings. Therefore, it is worth pondering the shaky grounds of democracy in India, where diversity and secularism are under threat.
Indian secularism and its claim of being a democracy sounds an illusion today. While what is more important is to talk about a way forward, Indian or non-Indian politicians, observers, analysts, activists, and people from all other spheres of life should keep Hindutva nationalists under pressure whenever such happening takes place, more importantly through pen and camera.
The international community in general and the Muslim world in particular should use their good offices to communicate with Indian authorities, making efforts to ease the atmosphere for Muslims in India. Particularly, if the West can ask China to behave towards its Uighur Muslims, why cannot it ask India to behave well towards its Muslim population?
Otherwise, things might blow up and the stakeholders will realize that they could have made attempts to stop such happenings before any damage was done, but they did not. As India is home to millions of Muslims, Hindu-Muslim riots may get started there but will not stop there. Secondly, in the case of migrations, the international community will face another challenge of refugees, while millions of refugees are still waiting for their fate to be decided.
Last but not least, the BJP`s zeal to achieve its version of Hindutva goals is a threat to the region, not only to the Muslims of India. Therefore, it is the need of the hour for the champions of human rights and the UN Human Rights Council to ask New Delhi to follow the UN Charter and its own constitution, before it’s too late.
