A few educational institutions in Hyderabad saw protests by students on Wednesday, February 9, in solidarity with fellow students in Karnataka who are fighting for their right to wear the hijab to schools and colleges. Students of Anwarul Uloom College in Mallepally, which is a Muslim minority college, and the Government Nizamia Tibbi College, a unani medicine college located near Charminar, held protest marches against the hijab ban in educational institutions in Karnataka.
At Anwarul Uloom College, a small group of students led a protest rally holding a banner that read: “Protest Rally in favour of Our Karnataka’s Sister. Hijab is the Constitutional Rights of Muslim Womens. Hijab is our right and no one shall snatch it from us. We Support Hijab (sic).”
A silent protest against the hijab ban was also held at the Government Nizamia Tibbi College, where several female students turned up near the Charminar wearing hijab, holding up the national flag. “We are protesting against the injustice of the hijab ban in Bengaluru. Hijab is not a new thing, it’s an age-old practice. This ban is a divisive political tactic. But India will rise together against this and teach the detractors a lesson,” one of the protesting students said.
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Another student also spoke out against the denial of education to Muslim students in Karnataka over the hijab. “We have been wearing the hijab and will continue to wear it. It is part of our cultural identity,” she said.
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The students also appreciated Muskan, a student at a pre-University college in Karnataka’s Mandya, who was seen standing up to a mob of men in saffron shawls in a viral video, as the mob heckled her when she arrived at college in a burqa. The protesting students of Nizamia Tibbi College expressed solidarity with her.
After a video of Muskan’s act of defiance went viral on social media on Tuesday, February 8, AIMIM Chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi praised her and called her retaliation a brave reaction.
On February 9, Owaisi said that he spoke to Muskan and her family over the phone. “Spoke to Muskan & her family on call. Prayed for her to remain steadfast in her commitment to education while also exercising her freedom of religion & choice. I conveyed that her act of fearlessness has become a source of courage for us all,” Owaisi tweeted.
Spoke to Muskan & her family on call. Prayed for her to remain steadfast in her commitment to education while also exercising her freedom of religion & choice. I conveyed that her act of fearlessness has become a source of courage for us all 1/n pic.twitter.com/pSoTsQ5FhL
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) February 9, 2022
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Earlier on Sunday, February, Girls Islamic Organisation, Telangana (GIO) had held a protest at 7 Tombs Road in Toli Chowki to express solidarity with the Karnataka students who were denied entry into classrooms for wearing hijab.
The protest was held by GIO Telangana, at seven Tombs Road Tolichowki, Hyderabad to show solidarity with the girl students of Karnataka educational institutions who were denied entry into their classrooms for wearing hijab.#HijabisOurRight@kparveen2005 @writesalman pic.twitter.com/C6T06tvSFf
— GIO Telangana (@GIOTelangana) February 6, 2022