'So disturbing': Hijab ban in India state confuses, angers Muslim women in Manitoba
Tasneem Vali and Humaira Jaleel say it’s making them more protective of their daughters
The next time Tasneem Vali takes her daughters to India, she will go to even greater lengths to protect them.
"Having to tell my daughters, 'you can't walk alone outside' … now having to tell them, 'please make sure you take somebody with you,'" Vali said. "This is something that I have never thought about."
Vali was reacting to a court decision announced Tuesday by the Karnataka High Court in south India that upheld a ban of hijabs in classrooms. Her daughters, Isra Cheema, 15, and Haadia Cheema, 17, wear the traditional Muslim head-covering for women.
The judges ruled it is reasonable for schools to enforce uniforms, and said wearing the hijab is not essential to the practice of Islam.
The issue has sparked numerous protests across the region with students threatening to boycott classes until the ban is revoked. It also prompted counter protests.
"I don't understand why a woman's piece of clothing has become a debate topic that has polarized the entire world," Vali said.
"It has become politicized and it is no longer a woman's expression of her devotion, of her faith," she said. "It has become a tool and to me, that's upsetting because it is targeting younger women."
Humaira Jaleel, who grew up in New Delhi before moving to Canada, calls the situation "heartbreaking."
"I cannot understand how the judges decide what is essential to our religion," she said. "That was just so disturbing."
Conversations with daughters
Both Vali and Jaleel say they've been having conversations with their daughters about what the events would mean if they were to visit the country.
Vali was born in India and has family in the city of Hyderabad.
"My son could just walk around and nobody knows what faith he is, but with my daughters, it's a label," Vali said.
"To be mobbed or be physically assaulted for that, I would have to make sure to take all the precautions that they were not," she said. "So, unfortunately, that is the reality."
Jaleel's daughters who are 9, 11 and 14, also wear the hijab.
"I told my eldest daughter about what happened and how the high court of Karnataka upheld this decision. She could not understand why," Jaleel said.
Jaleel still wants to take her daughters to India so they can know their roots and community, but unfortunately the divide between religious groups there is increasing, she said.
"It does cause caution. I would not take my daughters there and allow them to be outside by themselves, perhaps," said Jaleel.
'Students should be in school'
Lubna Hussain also has family in India. She spent three years of her childhood in Hyderabad, starting when she was five years old.
Hussain, who now lives in Winnipeg, says the court decision frustrates and angers her.
"It's really exhausting that it's 2022 and still we have to discuss what women are wearing and what we should not be wearing," she said.
"These students should be in school getting education, but they are protesting, going to court and using their time to justify and fight for their human rights."
Hussain says she worries the ruling will set a precedent for other states in India, where Muslims make up 14 per cent of the country's population of 1.4 billion.
"I am scared. I have family in India... I'm concerned for their safety," she said.
Jaleel says this shows that women have to continue to fight for their human rights.
"No one has the right to tell women what they should wear or they shouldn't wear," Jaleel said.
"Those young girls, they are not just sitting down and taking it. They are standing up. They're raising their voices … It makes me really proud."
