Afeefa, One of the Victims of Karnataka’s hijab ban, bags first prize in Kerala State Festival
Little did Afeefa K know, when she was coming to Kerala from Karnataka after the controversial hijab ban issued by Karnataka High court, that she could bag the first prize with “A grade” in Kannada speech this year in Kerala State festival. 16-year-old Afeefa was a student of Shimogga’s KPCL high school in 10th grade; later she compelled to discontinue her class due to the sudden hijab ban order imposed by Karnataka government in February last year. Currently, she studies in Darunnajath HSS, Karuvarakkundu, Malappuram.
However, she is suffering from an intense pain as she wants to return back to Jogg Falls, Karnataka’s major tourist attraction, where her grandfather and family settled.
“One day police and teachers called a meeting and told us that new uniform rules don’t allow headscarf. We were five girls who were wearing hijab in the class. Everyone stopped going to school,” Afeefa told Maktoob media.
“Hijab is not allowed for students until seventh grade in Karnataka. I finally got to wear it in 8th grade and it was just two years. I didn’t want to remove.” She recalled the events to Maktoob media.
Now she is patiently waiting to hear the Supreme Court veridiction on the hijab ban issue ordered by Karnataka High court last year in February.
Concomitantly, The people’s Union for Civil Liberties – Karnataka unit ( PUCL -K ) released a report on Monday about the aftereffects of the hijab ban on Muslim girl students in Karnataka. The report reveals that Muslim women students were not only “actively prevented from accessing their right to education but also bore the brunt of a climate of hate, hostility, and misinformation”. Moreover , the report found out that over 1,000 Muslims girls dropped out of PU colleges in Karnataka after the Hijab ban. This January remarks the one year of Karnataka Hijab ban controversy .
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