Much has been said and written about the controversy of girl students wearing hijab in schools and colleges and its religious, ideological, and political meanings. Since this is a contentious issue, it’s best left to the court to decide whether girls should be allowed into class with hijab, whether the hijab is part of the basic tenets of Islam and a ban on hijab is a violation of the fundamental right of Muslim women or not. While the Karnataka High Court’s verdict in the hijab case is due in the coming days, it is important to see the hijab row in the larger context of education, employment, and empowerment of Muslim women. It is also equally important to think of what a legal ban on wearing hijab would mean to a woman’s rights and her freedom to make choices.
While to the liberals, the hijab controversy is one more attempt by the Hindutva forces to impose their majoritarian agenda on the minorities, particularly the Muslims, the voices of sanity in the liberal camp are in support of hijab because they believe it is part of the Muslim women’s constitutional right to freedom of religion, right to education and right to freedom of choice, among others. Then there are contradictory voices in the Muslim community. Some say the hijab is obligatory in Islam and wearing it is their fundamental right, while others say wearing hijab is their personal choice. There are also progressive and reform-minded voices within the Muslim community that believe that hijab is a symbol of age-old patriarchy.
These progressive voices are of the view that the Holy Quran asks Muslims to dress ‘modestly’ and ‘decently’. But the words ‘modesty’ and ‘decency’ have been misinterpreted by the conservative clerics. There are several interpretations of the Quran and it is difficult to arrive at exact meanings of ‘modesty’ and ‘decency’. But many believe that hijab is an integral part of Islamic custom and stress on it as a mark of modesty. As hijab is identified as a mark of Muslim identity and belief, just as the turban is for a Sikh male and sacred ash or tilak on the forehead for the Hindus, secularism demands that restrictions on symbols of religious identity are justified if they apply to all religions to maintain neutrality.
Over the last few decades, more and more Muslim girls and women have adapted to traditional clothing, even in places where earlier there was no tradition of wearing the hijab. But it is also true that during this period of increasing traditional clothing, more and more Muslim girls have taken to education and specialized professional courses that include medicine, engineering, IT, management, and more. Not all of them wear hijab but many do out of personal choice, religious obligation, or family pressure. But the important thing is that the primary focus of these girls is education, employment, and empowerment.
The question is whether hijab should come in the way of education for girls. In fact, it is unfortunate to see that in a country that suffers from an extremely low rate of education, particularly girl education, and where there is a massive gender gap, the uniform that girls wear should get any kind of priority. The push needed to the education of girls can’t be stressed more, given their educational backwardness and the discrimination they face vis-à-vis boys. Given that women are constantly struggling and battling at various levels to step out of their homes to get an education and become financially independent, the focus should clearly be on educating as many girls as possible with an environment that is conducive to their sense of safety and security.
Legal experts are of the view that forcing girls to choose education over comfort and faith not only violates their Right to Education but also their Right to Personal Liberty. It is important to remember that what the girl chooses to wear is a very personal choice that cannot be interfered with under the pretext of reform. After all, a reform that forces a girl to dress in a particular manner is also a kind of oppression. Hijab is just an accessory to cover the head, it does not impede women’s education, employment, and empowerment.
Data suggests that literacy and educational backwardness among Muslim women is more than for most other religious communities. It is the same case with Muslim women in higher education and professional courses, as compared to their population. But what is heartening is that more and more Muslim girls are keen to attend school and college and their numbers are also improving in the workplace. However, the ratio for Muslim women in the working-age who are working or willing to work is likely to be lower than the figure for all women, which is 20 percent as compared to 75 percent for men. Therefore, women of all communities, Muslim in particular, need to be encouraged to acquire education and to step out to work for a living.
Hijab can be called regressive if it is forced on someone but not when someone wants to wear it out of choice. In the legal battle to nullify the practice of Triple talaq, the petitioners were Muslim women and it would be wrong to underestimate their sense of justice and resolve to fight against gender discrimination and male dominance. A legal ban on hijab would not only put the Right to Education on the backburner, but it would also be a violation of Article 14, Article 21, and Article 25 of the Constitution. It will also be an assault on equality, religious freedom, pluralism, and diversity. More important, it will be a setback for Muslim women’s education and empowerment.
(The writer is an independent Mumbai-based senior journalist)
