Hijab bans deepen Hindu-Muslim fault lines in Indian state
Associated Press
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Ayesha Imtiaz, an Indian Muslim student barred from school for wearing hijab sits for an interview with the Associated Press at a cafe in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. Imtiaz, said she wears it as a token of devotion to Islam but acknowledged that opinions vary even among Muslim women. "There are so many of my friends who do not wear hijab inside the classroom," said Imtiaz, 20. "They feel empowered in their own way, and I feel empowered in my own way." (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)An Indian Muslim girl wearing a hijab runs past others wearing burqas during an evening at a beach in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 25, 2022. The hijab is worn by many Muslim women to maintain modesty or as a religious symbol, often seen as not just a bit of clothing but something mandated by their faith. Opponents consider it a symbol of oppression, imposed on women. Hijab supporters deny that and say it has different meanings depending on the individual, including as a proud expression of Muslim identity. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Muslim student Ayesha Anwar, 18, chats with her friends at a cafe in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. The Karnataka state government slapped a statewide ban on the hijab in classes, saying "religious clothing" in government-run schools "disturbs equality, integrity and public law and order." Some students gave in and attended with their heads uncovered. Others refused and have been barred from school for nearly two months students like Anwar, have missed exams and is falling behind her peers. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Indian students in uniform clothing walk inside the campus of a government-run junior college in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. The furor began in January when staffers at the college began refusing admission to girls who showed up in a hijab, saying they were violating the uniform code. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)A Muslim girl wearing a hijab checks photographs taken on her mobile phone at a beach in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 25, 2022. The hijab is worn by many Muslim women to maintain modesty or as a religious symbol, often seen as not just a bit of clothing but something mandated by their faith. Opponents consider it a symbol of oppression, imposed on women. Hijab supporters deny that and say it has different meanings depending on the individual, including as a proud expression of Muslim identity. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Rasheed Ahmad, the head imam of Udupi's grand mosque, teaches the Quran to children in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. The issue has become a flashpoint for the battle over the rights of Muslims, who fear they are being shunted aside in the country as a minority. Ahmad delivered a sermon on a recent Friday before hundreds of worshippers. His voice thundering through loudspeakers mounted on the minarets, he railed against the bans as an attack on Islam. "Hijab is not just our right," he said later in an interview, "but an order from God." (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Indian Muslim student Aliya Assadi, left, holds her mobile phone as she interacts with a friend in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Assadi is one of six students who sued to overturn the state's ban on wearing the hijab in schools, arguing it violates their rights to education and religious freedom. A court on Tuesday, March 15, upheld the ban saying the Muslim headscarf is not an essential religious practice of Islam. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)A girl in uniform walks into the government-run junior college with a Muslim student wearing burqa in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 25, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. The furor began in January when staffers at the college began refusing admission to girls who showed up in a hijab, saying they were violating the uniform code. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Indian Muslim students wearing burqas leave Mahatma Gandhi Memorial college after they were denied entry into the campus in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. The issue has become a flashpoint for the battle over the rights of Muslims, who fear they are being shunted aside in the country as a minority. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)FILE - People hold placards and candles in Bengaluru, India, during a protest against banning Muslim girls from wearing the hijab in educational institutions in southern Karnataka state, Feb. 19, 2022. The furor began in January when staffers at a government-run junior college in Udupi, a coastal city in Karnataka, began refusing admission to girls who showed up in a hijab, saying they were violating the uniform code. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)Indian Muslim student Aliya Assadi dons a niqab, a concealing garment that veils nearly the entire face with just a slit for the eyes, as she arrives at her friend's house in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Assadi is one of countless Muslim students in Karnataka who have found themselves thrust into the center of a stormy debate about banning the hijab in schools and the Islamic head coverings' place in this Hindu-majority but constitutionally secular nation. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Police officers stand guard at a gate of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial college after hijab wearing Muslim girl students were denied entry into the campus in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. To quell tensions the Karnataka state, governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, shut schools and colleges for three days. It then slapped a statewide ban on the hijab in classes, saying "religious clothing" in government-run schools "disturbs equality, integrity and public law and order." (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)Indian Muslim students spend time at a cafe after they were denied entry into their college for wearing the hijab in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. In question is the place of Islamic head coverings in the Hindu-majority but constitutionally secular nation. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)India's Hindu right wing Bajrang Dal activists donning saffron scarves and waving saffron flags demand a probe in the recent killing of one of their associates in Karnataka's Shivamogga district, during a protest rally in Udupi, Karnataka, India, Feb. 23, 2022. Tensions have risen after Muslim students in this southern Indian state found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools, prompting demonstrations by hundreds of Muslim women. That led to counterprotests by Hindu students wearing saffron shawls, a color closely associated with that religion and favored by Hindu nationalists. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)A veiled Indian Muslim student, her hands decorated with henna, talks to her friend as they gather to meet student activists in Kundapur in district Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. In question is the place of Islamic head coverings in the Hindu-majority but constitutionally secular nation. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
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Ayesha Imtiaz, an Indian Muslim student barred from school for wearing hijab sits for an interview with the Associated Press at a cafe in Udupi, Karnataka state, India, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Muslim students in this southern Indian state have found themselves at the center of a debate over hijab bans in schools. Imtiaz, said she wears it as a token of devotion to Islam but acknowledged that opinions vary even among Muslim women. "There are so many of my friends who do not wear hijab inside the classroom," said Imtiaz, 20. "They feel empowered in their own way, and I feel empowered in my own way." (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
