Condemning the hijab row in Karnataka, human rights advocate Malala Yousafzai urged Indian leaders to “stop the marginalisation of Muslim women”. Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Malala said refusing to let girls go to schools in their hijabs is ‘horrifying’.
She tweeted: “Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women.”
Her statement comes amid protests and incidents of violence in Karnataka over the recent hijab ban in colleges. Protests erupted at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi after a large group of students wearing saffron stoles and headgears raised slogans in the college campus as hijab-clad Muslim girls were staging a protest demanding justice. As protests intensified in many parts of the states, the Karnataka government ordered closure of all high schools and colleges in the state for three days.
“College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab”.
— Malala (@Malala) February 8, 2022
Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women. https://t.co/UGfuLWAR8I
The Karnataka High Court is hearing the matter on a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka government order dated February 5, which prohibited any cloth other than the prescribed uniform.
