Posted on Aug 24, 2022
As India turns 75, Muslim girls are suing to wear the hijab — and protect secularism
247
6
2
4
4
0
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/24/ [login to see] /india-muslim-hijab-ban-schools
Ayesha Shifa is a 16-year-old with a passion for playing badminton with her younger siblings, and a knack for crunching numbers. She loves math and wants to be an accountant. But her dreams — and those of millions of Indian Muslim girls like her — are on hold, thanks to a new rule her school imposed last winter.
In early February, parents of all the Muslim students at Shifa's public high school in southwest India were called into a meeting. The principal told them their daughters could no longer wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, in class. They'd have to remove it or stay home from school.
"We were shocked because they'd never mentioned any rule like that before, and we'd even asked about it when we enrolled her two years ago," recalls Shifa's aunt Malika, 27, who goes by one name and attended the principal's conference that day. "After two years of COVID lockdown, and then just two months after the school reopened, this new rule came."
The principal told them it was part of a new dress code after lots of Muslim girls returned to in-person classes wearing headscarves, which they hadn't worn before the pandemic.
Ayesha Shifa is a 16-year-old with a passion for playing badminton with her younger siblings, and a knack for crunching numbers. She loves math and wants to be an accountant. But her dreams — and those of millions of Indian Muslim girls like her — are on hold, thanks to a new rule her school imposed last winter.
In early February, parents of all the Muslim students at Shifa's public high school in southwest India were called into a meeting. The principal told them their daughters could no longer wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf, in class. They'd have to remove it or stay home from school.
"We were shocked because they'd never mentioned any rule like that before, and we'd even asked about it when we enrolled her two years ago," recalls Shifa's aunt Malika, 27, who goes by one name and attended the principal's conference that day. "After two years of COVID lockdown, and then just two months after the school reopened, this new rule came."
The principal told them it was part of a new dress code after lots of Muslim girls returned to in-person classes wearing headscarves, which they hadn't worn before the pandemic.
As India turns 75, Muslim girls are suing to wear the hijab — and protect secularism
Posted from npr.org
India
Religion
Islam
Protest
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."An uncertain future for Muslim girls in India's public schools
For now, Shifa remains at her family's home in Udupi, playing badminton with her siblings, binge-watching TV series and studying independently.
The family never thought she'd be out of school for so long, says her mother, Nafisa, 43, who goes by one name. "We thought the Karnataka High Court would rule in our favor" in March, she says. "But that did not happen."
In the spring, Shifa was supposed to take a series of exams. To register for them, the school asked the family to submit a photo of her without her hijab. They refused. It felt like another dig, Nafisa says.
So Shifa missed her exams. For now, she won't be promoted to 11th grade.
Still, her family remains committed to figuring out a way for her to continue her education. They are weighing whether they can afford to transfer Shifa to a private Muslim school, where the hijab is still allowed.
But Shifa says she wants to hold out for India's Supreme Court, so that she can go back to her public school. She doesn't want to have to start anew somewhere else.
"I think about school all the time," she says. "About when I'll be able to return."
..."An uncertain future for Muslim girls in India's public schools
For now, Shifa remains at her family's home in Udupi, playing badminton with her siblings, binge-watching TV series and studying independently.
The family never thought she'd be out of school for so long, says her mother, Nafisa, 43, who goes by one name. "We thought the Karnataka High Court would rule in our favor" in March, she says. "But that did not happen."
In the spring, Shifa was supposed to take a series of exams. To register for them, the school asked the family to submit a photo of her without her hijab. They refused. It felt like another dig, Nafisa says.
So Shifa missed her exams. For now, she won't be promoted to 11th grade.
Still, her family remains committed to figuring out a way for her to continue her education. They are weighing whether they can afford to transfer Shifa to a private Muslim school, where the hijab is still allowed.
But Shifa says she wants to hold out for India's Supreme Court, so that she can go back to her public school. She doesn't want to have to start anew somewhere else.
"I think about school all the time," she says. "About when I'll be able to return."
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
I wish our students at levels would embrace increasing their interest in STEMbased learning be absent if we don't embrace this we will fall further down in the pecking order of educating our citizens. Some Smaller nations have surpassed us.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google