A report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties - Karnataka (PUCL-K) revealed that Muslim girls and women continue to face harassment even a year after the hijab controversy.
Five districts in the state were visited by one of the PUCL-K teams and they interviewed students, teachers, faculty and district authorities. The districts that were visited were Raichur, Udupi, Hassan, Shivamogga and Dakshina Kannada. The report titled Closing the Gates of Education: Violations of Rights of Muslim Women Students mentioned how students have alleged that they continue to face harassment from college administrations, with many compelled to shift from government to minority institutions, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
“Students from marginalised communities, religious minorities and Adivasis have repeatedly shared their experiences of discrimination in classrooms and how it adversely affects their self-confidence and inhibits their aspirations for higher studies and sense of freedom. A divided and discriminatory educational space directly galvanises the establishment of a further divided society,” the report stated.
“I left my college and searched for other colleges that allowed girls to wear hijab. There was free education in government colleges but in my new college, the travel expense is high. I wanted to pursue MSc, which is not possible now. It feels that my dreams are now shattered,” a student who was interviewed said, as reported by The New Indian Express.
What is making Mulsim girls uncomfortable?
“In rural Udupi, a student said that since there was a sudden change in the attitude of their neighbours and friends, many Muslim women sought support from within their community,” the report stated. Several issues on campus such as the presence of police on campuses, and unwarranted confrontations with male students, who had threatened to kill or abuse them on social media, have made girl students studying in these colleges uncomfortable.
The report quoted the students and said, “They said they wanted to punish and kill us. Many students come and pick fights without any reason. We wrote to the principal, requesting intervention, but the principal refused to accept it,” stated The New Indian Express report.
