KOLKATA (Reuters) - Hundreds of students in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Wednesday chanted slogans and blocked roads in protest of a hijab ban in the southern state of Karnataka, as a row over wearing the head covering in schools intensifies.
The row has drawn in Malala Yousafzai, the campaigner for girls’ education and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who survived being shot aged 15 by a Taliban gunman in her native Pakistan in 2012, who asked Indian leaders in a tweet to “stop the marginalisation of Muslim women”.
Local media reported last week that several schools in Karnataka had denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab citing an education ministry order, prompting protests from parents and students.
The protesting students in Kolkata were predominantly women wearing hijabs, and the demonstrations were without incident. The students told media that they plan to reconvene on Thursday.
“We will keep protesting until the government stops insulting the students,” said Tasmeen Sultana, one of the protestors. “We want our fundamental rights back…you cannot take away our rights.”
“Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more,” Yousafzai said in a tweet late on Tuesday.
Opposition parties and critics accuse the BJP government at federal and state level of discriminating against the minority Muslim population.