The Karnataka hijab controversy has taken an ugly turn, and the gravity of this issue can be understood from the fact that the single bench of the Karnataka High Court has referred the matter to the larger bench. The way two sides are up in arms against each other, it appears that this issue has the potential to turn into the second Shah Bano case in India. However, the hijab case has posed a serious threat to the credibility of liberal and secular credentials of Indian intellectuals, thanks to their slippery stand on this issue. This can be easily seen during social media debates.
I critically analyse the argument and counterarguments which have been given against each other.
The origin of the hijab controversy
As per reports, the controversy began when a few Muslim girls came to the Women’s Government Pre-University College in Udupi, wearing hijab. They defended the move by saying that “there are a lot of teachers who are male in this college and there are a lot of people from the outside who come into the campus for programmes”. These girls also defended their move by saying that Hindu girls wear bindi and other symbols.
Gradually, this controversy spread in other colleges as well, due to the direct involvement of Hindu Right-wing organisations and the indirect involvement of Muslim Right-wing organisations. The controversy has resulted in polarisation of opinion.
Right to choice vs radicalisation
Our liberal and secular intellectuals have been defending the right of Muslim girls to wear hijab in school in the name of the right to choice and freedom of religion. However, while defending this social practice, what has been ignored is the conditioning which leads to the making of choice. Before endorsing the demand for hijab, it has been completely ignored how family, society, and locality play their role in the making of that particular choice.
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Also Read
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From Udupi in Karnataka to Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry: Timeline of how hijab row snowballed
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The defenders of the right to choice further ignore the fact that there has been a global movement for promoting hijab, which can be easily found on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, etc. Even 1 February has been adopted as World Hijab Day. The propagation of hijab is also getting done through the mode of denigration of dress of other communities and by passing inappropriate and humiliating comments on girls and models who wear other dresses. The very way of promotion of hijab is deeply problematic, and it is nothing but an attempt to radicalise the Muslim community.
It is an open secret how religious organisations operate in South Asia. The role of Hindu Right-wing organisations is getting widely discussed, but the similar role of Muslim organisations does not catch adequate attention. How Muslim organisations are radicalising Muslim students in the name of religion, or how they are exerting social pressure on parents and guardians to force their children/dependents to make a particular decision is completely missing in the right to choice/religious freedom debate.
Don’t compare hijab with ghoonghat
Responding to this controversy, Indian intellectuals are quick to club hijab with ghoonghat. It is an open secret that hijab is a surging social practice, whereas ghoonghat is a declining social practice. So, invoking ghoonghat to defend hijab is nothing but an attempt to softly justify hijab. In addition to this, hardly any girl has been reported to be going to school in ghoonghat! In addition to this, when the Congress government in Rajasthan launched a scheme to eliminate the ghoonghat system, it was widely welcomed, and hardly any section opposed the policy. But ironically the same party is defending hijab today.
Half-hearted criticism of Islamic fundamentalism
It has been alleged that liberal and secular intellectuals in India offer half-hearted criticism of Islamic fundamentalism. When it comes to Islamic fundamentalism at the global level, the theory of American conspiracy or colonialism is invoked, and at the domestic level, majoritarian communalism is blamed. The fact is minority communalism not only feeds majority communalism, but also accelerates the latter’s growth. This can be understood with the example of the Shah Bano case which seemed to have played a significant role in the rise of the BJP in India.
Another approach is to see minority communalism as weak since minorities are less in number. However, the correct approach would be to look at communalism with its end objective. The end objective of any religious communalism is to destroy secular, democratic institutions and replace them with a theological social order. Hence, our liberal/secular intellectuals have been trapped in embracing the idea of one communalism while opposing the other. And this explains why the kind of secularism being pursued in India only leads to further communalisation of politics and society.
The author is PhD Scholar of politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Views expressed are personal.
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February 11, 2022 at 06:33PM
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