Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday termed the intimidation of
Muslim women for wearing hijab in Karnataka “an act of coercion.”
The controversy intensified after a video showing a
Muslim hijabi woman being heckled by over 100 male students wearing saffron scarves in Karnataka went viral on social media.
Taking to Twitter, the foreign minister condemned the extremist gesture, saying that stripping
Muslim girls of their
right to education is a violation of fundamental human rights.
“Depriving
Muslim girls of education is a grave violation of fundamental human rights. To deny anyone this fundamental
right & terrorise them for wearing a hijab is absolutely oppressive,” FM Qureshi wrote.
He urged the international community to take notice of wha
t he called a “ghettoisation of
Muslims” under the Indian state plan.
Meanwhile, foreign policy and South Asian affairs analyst Michael Kugelman also responded to the incident in one of his recent Tweets, questioning India’s future after all the hate and extremism becoming prevalent there.
He also condemned the harassment of the
Muslim woman for practicing an aspect of her religion, which she has the constitutional
right to do, and the Indian government’s silence over the matter.
“When the flames of hate have spread to schools, when young
Muslim women are harassed for simply exercising their constitutional rights, and when the state
continues to respond with stark silence, thereby emboldening the haters – what then does this portend for the future in India?,” Kugelman wrote.
On Tuesday, a video of a hijabi woman named Muskan being accosted by a “saffron-scarf clad mob” chanting “Jai Shri Ram” (victory to lord Rama) when she entered her college caused a stir among people, according to India Today.
In response, the girl chanted “Allah Hu Akbar” (Allah is the Greatest) and turned her back towards the mob.
Speaking to India Today, the girl said: “They asked me to take my burqa off and were not letting m
e in. As soon as I entered the college, the group started chanting Jai Shri Ram.”
The girl said the mob included outsiders and boys from her college; however, the college staff supported her. “I was scared when the mob surrounded me,” she added.
