Not Secular

The clip of a Muslim girl named Muskan Khan, which vent viral in early February 2022, shattered the false claims of India being a secular and egalitarian state. The clip showed Muskan being heckled, for wearing the Hijab by a mob of Hindus in southern Indian state. The mob, chanting the slogan of Jai Shri Ram, was following her as she entered her college building. In a fist of courage, she replied to them with slogans of Allah o Akbar. This was against the claims of Indian Hindu leaders that their country is a secular state and safe for all minorities. The outcry against the Hijab-wearing girl revealed that things were far removed from reality.

The incident took place after the Karnataka High Court, hearing a petition, had issued an interim order imposing a ban on wearing the Hijab in educational institutions. Following the decision, many Muslim girls wearing the Hijab were denied entry into schools and colleges, and were harassed by fanatic Hindu mobs. This led to widespread protests in all major cities of India and attracted international attention. Indian Muslims as well as Hindus who believe in secularism held protest demonstrations against the ban. As a result, the government of Karnataka had to close educational institutes for some days.

The Hijab is a right which the Constitution of India guarantees. It provides for people’s right to practice the religion of their choice. No doubt such rights do have limitations. However, the limitations only apply whenever the rights conflict with the interests of the state or prove harmful in any way. For example, a right can be infringed if it harms the sovereignty or security of the country or is in a violation of state law. But as far as the Hijab is concerned, such limitations are not applicable as the Hijab does not challenge the sovereignty of the state, nor does it harm public interest.

The incident along with exposing gender bias prevalent in India, has also brought to the fore the fact that minorities, especially Muslims, are not fairly treated by governments in India. This has been confirmed by international human rights watch dogs such as Human Rights Watch which says that ‘authorities in India have adopted laws and policies that systematically discriminate against Muslims and stigmatize critics of the government … Prejudices embedded in the government of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have infiltrated independent institutions, such as the police and the courts, empowering nationalist groups to threaten, harass, and attack religious minorities with impunity.

In December 2019, a citizenship law was introduced which discriminated against Muslims, as it used religion as the basis for citizenship for the first time in history. The law stripped many Muslims of their citizenship. This is the reason it attracted condemnation from Muslims in India and across the world. Many people took to streets to oppose it.

The BJP government has not only enacted laws in certain states which have criminalized cow slaughter, but it has also made some cow vigilante groups active. Human Rights Watch says, ‘Communal rhetoric by BJP leaders along with policies around cow protection by BJP-led state governments have emboldened violent vigilante groups.’ As per a report from the same human rights agency, as many as 50 people have been put to death by ‘so-called cow protection groups’ many of whom have affiliations with the BJP. The perpetrators are hardly prosecuted. Instead, cases are filed against the families of victims under cow protection laws, thereby making it difficult for them to seek justice.