After Karnataka, Hijab conflict begins in India’s Uttar Pradesh

The dispute concerning the banning of the hijab has reached India’s large and populous state, Uttar Pradesh. A group of young men distributed a memorandum to college officials on Monday.

They insisted that the administration of Dharma Samaj College implement a complete ban on the hijab in its premises. The college is located in the Aligarh district.

The College Chief Proctor, Mukesh Bharadwaj, while talking to Reuters said, “Two years ago the same issue was raised and it has been raised again. We do not allow any type of religious uniform and we have a civil code of uniform for everyone.”

He further added, “There is a changing room for girls and they can change their dress there before attending class.”

He said, “We are investigating the matter.”

The tension arose when the Indian state, Karnataka, banned religious clothes in government schools and colleges in February amid a controversy over the hijab and saffron scarves.

Various incidents have been reported in the state when hijab-clad students were denied entry to college campuses over a fear of clashes with people belonging to the Hindutva ideology.

Recently, the Muskan Khan incident has grabbed attention from all over the world. Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai spoke out regarding the incident as well as various Pakistan government ministers.

Scholar and Professor Noam Chomsky also condemned the growing hatred against Islam and compared the brutal situation of IoK to Israeli forces occupying Palestine and blamed Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist regime for it.