For about a month now, anti-government protests are raging in Iran. These protests were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September, who was detained for a dress code violation by the Iran’s morality police.
Many celebrities and public figures from around the world have come out publicly in support of the anti-hijab protests in Iran. Cutting hair, burning hijabs and stripping in public have become a form of protest.
Similarly in India, protests have been brewing since the beginning of this year following hijab ban imposed by the Karnataka state in schools. 17 thousand Muslim girls in the same state skipped exams as they were not allowed to appear for them in hijab.
Maktoob spoke to India’s pro-hijab protestors to know their take on Iran’s situation.
“The circumstances leading to the death of Mahsa Amini are shocking and highly condemnable. However, with respect to these protests, I feel the focus has shifted from the actual issue to the unveiling of hijab,” Sumaiya Roshan, the President of the National Federation of GIO (Girls Islamic Organization) told Maktoob.
She remarked that the actual issue is freedom from oppression.
Speaking from Karnataka’s Bangalore, she added that the media has to stop painting the issue as freedom from hijab or anti-hijab as it demeans the struggle of women fighting for hijab in various parts of the world.
“I can stand in support of Mahsa Amini even while donning a hijab.”
A law student from Hyderabad, Mariyam Haniya questioned, “these feminists who are asking us to remove the hijab and marching naked in solidarity with women in Iran, will they wear niqabs and burqas in solidarity with women in France, Switzerland, and so many other countries that are banning the practice?”
She further stated that this, from the start, has been an issue of police brutality and medical negligence, however, some elements looking to push their own ideologies and attack the Islamic system, have used it as an opportunity and hijacked the issue.
“Nowhere in Islamic law do we see that those who don’t wear the hijab should be abused or beaten to death, so the act of Irani policemen is condemnable and unislamic,” remarked Fatimah (name changed to maintain anonymity).
Hailing from Mangalore, Karnataka, Fatimah is one of the 17 thousand girls who skipped exams because they were not allowed to write exams wearing the hijab.
“The act of those who burning hijabs as a protest against the Irani government is wrong, they should protest against abuse and death of Mahsa Amini.”
Fatimah added that the sentiments of hijab-wearing girls across the world have been hurt by the way these protests have been carried out. “Hijab is not only related to the women in Iran, but it is also a universal symbol of Muslim women and their dignity.”
“Where were these so-called feminists when the same hijab was being banned? We are forced to question if these people carrying out selective activism really care about ‘so-called’ liberation of women, or do they just hate Islam.”
“The anti-hijab protests of Iran have been framed as a struggle against oppression, revolution, and liberation. However, a key point is missing,” an English literature student from Aligarh Muslim University, Sarah(name changed to keep identity anonymous) told Maktoob.
Addressing the protestors she questioned “what does the ‘hijab’ actually mean to you? Is it just a piece of cloth that you *choose* to cover your head with, or is it an expression of your submission to God’s law?”
She added that if it’s the former, then, essentially, you’re pushing for a secular worldview where religion (Islam) is effectively divorced from its political aspects and has no right to mandate laws that are to be enforced and implemented.
“You view Islam as a purely cultural force.”
Sarah remarked that Islam, however, comprises a legal system as well, which can be (and is) implemented by an Islamic authority. “There is scholarly consensus on the obligatory nature of the hijab. The attack on the hijab is an attack on Islam, on God’s mandated law.”
In the online interview, the pro-hijab protestor added that these burnings, unsurprisingly, are being co-opted & fed into the anti-Muslim and anti-Islam lobby worldwide and, as is customary with western foreign policy, will be used around the world to bring even more hijab bans into effect.
“As a hijab-wearing woman from India, this concerns me very much,” she said.
