Amid Karnataka Hijab Row, Letter Of Solidarity Issued For Muslim Women

New Delhi, Feb 10: As the controversy drags on in Karnataka over exclusion of Hijab wearing muslim school girls, people from different walks of life, across the country, have come together to condemn the targeting of the women from the minority religion.

In the open letter, which has been signed by over 1850 people, democratic groups, collectives, academicians, lawyers and individuals, supporting the choice and decision of young women to choose their choice of attire. The collective statement further states that, 'making hijabi women sit in separate classrooms or move from colleges of their choice to Muslim-run colleges is nothing but apartheid.

"(We) believe that the Constitution mandates schools and colleges to nurture plurality, not uniformity. Uniforms in such institutions are meant to minimise the differences between students of different and unequal economic classes. They are not intended to impose cultural uniformity on a plural country," the statement mentions.

The letter was endorsed by over 130 groups across 15 states including All India Democratic Women's Association, All India Progressive Women's Association, National Federation of Indian Women, Bebaak Collective, Saheli Women's Resource Centre, Dalit Women's Collective, National Federation of Dalit Women, Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression, among other groups.

Some of the signatories include activist Kavita Krishnan, Mariam Dhawale, political leader Annie Raja, activist Aruna Roy, Radhika Vemula, mother of Rohith Vemula, Manuja Pradeep, Safoora Zargar, Hasina Khan, Ajita Rao, Khalida Parveen, Uma Chakravarti, Sujatha Surepally, Vrinda Grover, Virginia Saldanha, Satnam Kaur and Sadhna Arya, Chayanika Shah, Poushali Basak, Utsa Patnaik, JNU professor Nivedita Menon, Susie Tharu, Prabhat Patnaik, Radhika Singha, Amrita Chachhi among others.

The statement mentions, "Rulebooks in at least one of the Udupi colleges allowed Muslim women to wear hijabs to college in Udupi as long as they matched the colour of the uniform. It is not hijabs that provoked the ongoing educational disruptions. It is Hindu-supremacist outfit which disrupted harmony by staging demonstrations with saffron stoles to demand a ban on hijabs. Banning both saffron stoles and hijabs is not a fair or just solution because unlike hijabs worn by some Muslim women, the only purpose of the saffron stoles in this instance were to achieve a ban on the hijab and intimidate Muslim women.

The collective has also condemned Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra's decision to order an investigation into the phone records of hijab-wearing Muslim women, to "probe their links" with "terrorism groups". The letter further mentions that the collective demands stern action against the organisations and individuals who heckled a Muslim woman in Mandya.