As the Hijab row rages on in Karnataka, the repercussions are being felt in Telangana's Hyderabad.
Educational institutions in Hyderabad, especially those run by non-Muslims in Muslim-dominated areas, are worried over complaints and “false” social media posts claiming that the institutes are disallowing hijab and burqa-wearing girls from entering the campuses.
Dr Mounika Reddy, principal, Saanvi Degree College for Women, said she was shocked to find out some fictitious posts were circulated claiming that they had now prohibited the religious veil.
“We have a strength of 1,500 girls and over half of them are Muslims. Some of them wear hijab etc, some do not. It was always their choice and would continue like that,” Reddy told DH.
Saanvi College is located in IS Sadan-Santosh Nagar, an area with a large Muslim population.
“Some parents were initially alarmed by these made-up posts, but were supportive of us after knowing the truth. The police also allayed their fears stating the posts as from miscreants,” Reddy said.
In another case, a woman claiming to be a student of Sweekaar Academy of Rehabilitation Sciences (SARS), Secunderabad, complained on Twitter that their chairman Hanumantha Rao has asked “Muslim girls to not enter the college wearing a burqa.”
“It’s surprising that it’s happening in Hyderabad. We need justice,” the girl going by the name Fatima on Twitter said on Wednesday.
The tweet from a freshly created account triggered a row, with several Muslim activists, politicians retweeting it, tagging the police and media.
On Thursday, students of the institute reportedly told police and reporters that the management allows hijab but restricts the use of burqa.
Rao, a noted pediatrician in the city, is said to have defended the regulation on burqa – an article of clothing worn by some Muslim women to cover their entire body including the face – as “unsuitable in their institute environs dealing with children with intellectual disabilities etc.”
Amjed Ullah Khan, the spokesperson of Majlis Bachao Tehreek, said that Rao clarified to him “that there is no such ban on Muslim students wearing Hijab or Burqa, as being circulated in social media."
“Dr Rao is from Old City, with many Muslim friends, patients and students. He is running SARS since 1999 and is well aware of Muslim culture,” Khan said on Thursday.
A day before Khan had put out a video on Twitter, based on an accusation by 'Fatima', alleging that Rao had compared hijab and burqa-wearing Muslim girls to Mehtranis (cleaners). Khan had even appealed to Hyderabad police for immediate action against Rao.
Rao, a rehabilitation psychologist and an advocate of rights of children with special needs, reportedly expressed concern over “the miscreant attempts to defame their institute”, while clarifying that they do not get involved in individual personal matters like religious faith.
Meanwhile, Muslim students held protests at various places like Charminar, in institutions like Maulana Azad National Urdu University in solidarity with the agitation for burqa, hijab use in educational institutions in Karnataka.
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