Hyderabad News

  e By Maleeha Fatima To assume that the choice of a woman to expose her body is somehow inherently more independent than her choice to cover it up is a fallacy of the enforcers, and supporters of the Hijab ban. I do not speak for all Muslim women, but for many of us, in whatever Institution we go to for higher education in this country, we often find ourselves as the token Muslim woman, a stranger that invokes the curiosity of her peers, one that is expected to answer all their questions about Islam and be a silent audience to their patronizing critique of Islam. One whose every choice is assumed to be either an enforced restriction or an act of rebellion, never just a simple choice. One who everyone takes a shot at trying to save, or liberate. Gendered Islamophobia and mild forms of discrimination against Muslim women in the higher education spaces of India has, since the past few decades, been a growing concern. Through the Hijab ban in colleges of Karnataka and a potential immi...