Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel laureate and education rights campaigner, said on Saturday that “objectification of women—for wearing less or more —endurings.”
Malala used Twitter to talk about the hijab issue in India’s state of Karnataka, where Muslim girls who wear the hijab aren’t allowed to go to college.
“Refusing to let girls attend school with their hijabs is awful,” Malala said.
The activist spoke out against the decision and asked Indian politicians to put an end to Muslim women’s “marginalisation.”
In India, a mob shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram” intimidates a Muslim hijabi girl.
“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
A video of a female being heckled by over 100 male students dressed in saffron scarves went viral earlier today on social media.
The video, which showed a girl called Muskan wearing a hijab being assaulted by a “saffron-scarf-clad crowd” yelling “Jai Shri Ram” (victory to Lord Rama) as she entered her college, sparked outrage.
Her answer was to say, “Allah Hu Akbar!” (Allah is great) and turn away from the crowd.
The girl told India Today: “They asked me to remove my burqa and refused to allow me in.” When I entered the campus, the gathering immediately began shouting “Jai Shri Ram.”
The girl said that the crowd comprised outsiders and guys from her institution, but she was backed by the campus personnel. “I was terrified when the throng encircled me,” she said.
The demonstrations have risen in the aftermath of the Karnataka hijab controversy. Recently, a college in Udupi barred hijabi students from entering.