Outrage after hijab-wearing woman heckled by Hindu mob in India

A videotape posted on Twitter showing a hijab- wearing Muslim pupil being taunted by a Hindu far-right mob at a council in Karnataka state has caused outrage amid enhancing demurrers over ban on Islamic headscarves in the southern state.

Muskan Khan was girdled by men wearing saffron scarves as she arrived at her council in Mandya, the viral videotape showed, as she brazened the protesters, numerous of whom, she said , were outlanders.

The ban on Islamic headscarves has outraged Muslim scholars who say it’s an attack on their faith elevated in India’s temporal constitution, while Hindu right- sect groups have tried to help Muslim women from entering educational institutions causing collaborative pressure.

“ I was just there to submit an assignment; that’s why I entered the council. They weren't allowing me to go outside just because I was ( wearing) the burqa,” Khan latterly told India’s NDTV news channel.
“ After that, they started crying the watchword‘Jai Shri Ram’. (Hail Lord Ram). Also I started to scream‘Allah Akbar’ (God is great),” she said, adding that she'd keep fighting for her right to wear the hijab.

“ Ten percent (of the protesters) were from the council but (the rest of them) were outlanders,” Khan said.


Fears among Muslims

The Karnataka government run by the right- sect Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday blazoned shutting down of educational institutions for three days.

The standoff in Karnataka state – home to India’s IT mecca of Bengaluru, has galvanised fears among the nonage community about what they say is adding persecution under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Fresh demonstrations on Tuesday saw police fire gash gas to disperse a crowd at one government- run lot, while a heavy police presence was seen at seminaries in near municipalities.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from Modi’s BJP appealed for calm after publicizing all high seminaries in the state would be closed for three days.
“ I appeal to all the scholars, preceptors and operation of seminaries and sodalities … to maintain peace and harmony,” he said.

Scholars at a government- run high academy were told not to wear hijabs last month. Since also Hindu far-right groups have tried to help hijab- wearing Muslim women from entering educational institutions in the state.

The government of Karnataka, where 12 percent of the population is Muslim, said in an order on February 5 that all seminaries should follow dress canons set by operation.