Hijab row in India: Malala urges leaders to stop marginalizing Muslim women

Nobel laureate and education rights activist Malala Yousafzai, while speaking about the ongoing hijab row in India, stated on Saturday that the “objectification of women — for wearing less or more — persists.”

Malala, took to her Twitter and talked about the hijab controversy raging in India’s state Karnataka where Muslim students wearing the hijab are being barred from entering college premises.

Malala stated: “Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying.”

The activist spoke against the decision and urged Indian leaders to stop the “marginalisation of Muslim women”.

“College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab”.

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

— Malala (@Malala) February 8, 2022

Earlier today, a video of of a girl being heckled by over 100 male students wearing saffron scarves has made rounds on social media.

The video caused a stir among people in which a girl named Muskan, wearing hijab, could be seen getting accosted by a “saffron-scarf clad mob” chanting “Jai Shri Ram” (victory to lord Rama) when she entered her college.

In response, the girl chanted “Allah Hu Akbar” (Allah is great) and turned her back towards the mob.

Speaking to local media, the girl said: “They asked me to take my burqa off and were not letting me in. As soon as I entered the college, the group started chanting Jai Shri Ram.”

The girl stated that the mob included outsiders and boys from her college, however, the college staff supported her. “I was scared when the mob surrounded me,” she added.

It is pertinent to note that the protests have intensified since the hijab row in Karnataka. A few days ago, a college in Udupi locked hijabi students outside the college.