Bangladeshi students show support for Indian Muslim counterparts in hijab row

Around 50 students at Dhaka University in Bangladesh formed a human chain on campus Wednesday, expressing solidarity with Muslim students in India in a row over the wearing of the hijab, or headscarf.

The students said the wearing of the hijab is a personal choice and religious practice of Muslim women across the world as well as an issue of freedom of choice and no state has the right to interfere with one's personal and religious freedoms.

Highlighting the escalating situation in India due to the oppressive attitude against hijab-wearing Muslim female students, Saleh Uddin Sifat, a student of law at Dhaka University, said some female students at a college in India’s Karnataka state “were cornered in a particular room during class hours and forced not to participate in classes with others” on Jan. 7.

“It is very discriminatory policy and naked interference in one’s religious freedom that has been protected in the Indian constitution," Sifat said, adding such injustice could not exist in a civilized world.

The Bangladeshi students also expressed solidarity with Muskan Khan, a student in Karnataka who was heckled by a Hindu right-wing mob at her college.

While dozens of the Hindu youths wearing saffron scarves surrounded her and loudly chanted the slogan “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram), the lone, Burqa-wearing woman reacted by shouting “Allahu Akbar! (God is the greatest)” A video clip of the incident rapidly went viral on social media across the world.

“No one has the right to force anyone to wear the hijab or to abandon the hijab. No one should be bullied or harassed for wearing the hijab. It is not only a sign of religion but also an issue involving freedom of choice,” said Ashrefa Tasnim, another student.

Tasnim said that fascist and extremist groups in India want to downtrod women’s emancipation.

“The peace-loving student communities in South Asia and beyond will resist any conspiracy to destroy communal harmony in the region by banning the hijab,” she added.

- Massive volume of comments on social media

Meanwhile, a huge number of Bangladeshi nationals have hailed the video of Muskan Khan on social media, labeling her as a symbol of boldness and faith.

Many have used her photo as their social media profile picture.

Muktadir Rashid Romeo tweeted that the incident may trigger “religious tensions” in South Asia, “but history witnesses (that) humanity always wins.”

Referring to the courageous turnaround of Muskan Khan as time-befitting, many called on world leaders to stand against the oppressive state policy of the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi against Muslims.

“In the last decade, I have seen many videos on social media. But I have never watched a video so many times. I have uttered ‘Allahu Akbar’ instinctively as many times as I have seen Muskan’s video,” senior journalist Muhammad Abdullah wrote on his Facebook page.

In a more emotional note, another Bangladeshi national, Monjur e Alahi, said he would name his brother’s forthcoming child “Muskan Khan” and would tell her later about the story of the brave Indian Muslim girl.

Popular television journalist Mustafa Mollick on his Facebook page has termed Khan’s bold struggle to defend the right to wear the hijab a symbol of “Iman (faith).”