By Mariam Bint Salman Sayyed
India has a very rich history and heritage when it comes to diversity, from the Aryans crossing over to the Himalayas and then, to the Dravidians. Moreover, its varying religious groups coexisted together for thousands of years!
Up until the last decade, after the demolition of the Babri Mosque resulted in riots, India did not witness any major confrontations between Hindus and Muslims. However, in the last few years, there has been an extreme rise in Islamophobia, leading to the current debate on the hijab ban.
Take, for example, The Citizenship Amendment Act of India 2019. The revised and edited version of this 1955 Act permits Indian citizenship eligibility to illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians coming in from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan on or before Dec. 31st, 2014. The world, thanks to major media sources, now knows this Act as “The Anti-Muslim Act.”
I remember growing up attending college with no problem regarding my hijab. However, in the past month, Karnataka, which has a population of about 7.9 million Muslims, imposed the hijab ban. We were all shocked by this and this led to nationwide protests.
“The Current Karnataka Hijab Row” came after a college claimed to ban the open display of all religious symbols, but authorities are ignoring the Sikh headgear, the Christian crucifix and the Hindu sindoor. Instead, they are focusing on the Muslim hijab, whereby they shamelessly force Muslim girls and women in hijab, both students and teachers, to take off their hijabs before entering. Even the Constitution of India (Article 25 & 26) gives every citizen the right to practice their religion freely. Therefore, to change the rules, one must also change the laws.
Furthermore, there are open racial slurs and invitations for mob lynchings, even by current politicians of the Right Wing Organizations of India. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials are turning a blind eye.
Anti-Nationals and “Muslim Sympathisers” in government, choose to remain silent out of fear of losing majority votes; after all, democracy is about how the majority rules, right?! Moreover, 90% of all the Major Mainstream Media are peddling the government narrative and propagating Islamophobia, blatantly and with no accountability whatsoever.
However, there are the few social activists and journalists who are raising their voices, but are hounded by central agencies or an army of Online Islamophobic trolls, as a result. Therefore, we have various international media and human rights organizations, publishing reports on the state of the minorities affairs.
We cry and our hearts bleed for our sisters who are forced to remove their hijabs to get an education and to make a living for their families.
Today, in India, I wonder if I will be able to practice the steadfastness of Khadijah (رضي الله عنه) or the hope and resilience of Hajar (رضي الله عنه). I just pray that Allah chooses what is best for us so that I can raise daughters in this India I no longer recognize…this “New India.”
About the Author
Mariam Bint Salman Sayed is the World Hijab Day Organization Ambassador in India. She resides in Mumbai and is actively following the hijab ban threats under the Indian government. She is an entrepreneur and a student of political science and Islamic Theology. Fitness is her passion just as much as educating others on the true Islam.