Young Muslim women in Karnataka recount how a court order legitimised Hindutva prejudice and locked them out of an education.
https://scroll.in/article/1041529/one-year-of-karnatakas-war-on-muslim-womens-right-to-learn
Following the high court verdict, the college authorities told Sayed that she would be allowed into class only if she removed her hijab. “I tried to convince them several times,” she said. “But they just would not listen.” A few weeks later, Sayed was back at home, doing household chores and taking care of her son. It had already been a struggle to convince her in-laws to allow her to go out to pursue an education; she did not feel up to the challenge of persuading them to let her study without a hijab.
While Muslims across India have long had low access to education, those in Karnataka have struggled particularly hard for it. A government survey released in 2013 found that of all states, Karnataka had the highest dropout rate of Muslim school students between classes 1 and 8, at 6.3%. The survey also found that among all the Muslim students in India in the upper primary stage who dropped out of school that year, 73.9% were from Karnataka.
11/01/2023
