If you like me has been living on the internet or seeing your parents watch ‘prime-time’ news debates then hashtags like #HijabRow and #SaffronShawls are not new to you. Students in Karnataka have been protesting.
Several colleges in Karnataka have imposed a ‘dress code’ upon their students—disallowing students to enter campus if they were wearing anything other than just the uniform. All in the name of ‘uniformity’ and ‘oneness’ and fear that covering one’s head will create a ‘conflict’ among children and make them see the ‘difference’; differences (read: prejudices) that are mostly taught to us culturally by elders and caregivers.
But Sikh students so far have not conflicted any student about their identity and neither has or ever will, a Hijab.
Living As A Religious Minority In India
As a child, in primary school, all I cared about was getting new notebooks and a new pencil box every year, and once puberty hit, I had my plate full with my own conflicts and hormones. Like every teenager, I was more bothered about my uniform and how I looked in it than anyone else’s!
So when statements like “No one should come to school for practising their religion, as it is a place where all students should learn together with a feeling of oneness” are made, my personal experience of going through school, and that of so many others says otherwise.
Why our school assemblies primarily focused on Hindu hymns and prayers. Many friends also had Gayatri Mantra as a core part of their school functions and prayers.
Why when we had to appear for our board exams, we were taken to temples for blessings. Some schools also did havans for classes 10 and 12.
A religious minority – Sikh student- I studied in a convent in Punjab where everything from Christmas Carols, the 5 Nitnem Banis, to Sarawasti Vandana and hymns in Hindi and Sanskrit were taught.
Freedom Of Religion: A Favour, A Right & Everything In Between
Living in the college hostel was a rude shock about how myopic and unquestioned religion-based discrimination is.
It completely changed my perception basis what I had seen in school. I studied in one of India’s largest public universities where students from all backgrounds come to learn. But things were a stark contrast from my school.
Diwali, Holi and even Teej had festivities and special dinners and even longer holidays. Every Navaratri, the hostel mess would cater to meals for folks who would be fasting in addition to the usual food for everyone else. But during Ramadan, when it was simply about providing food in the wee hours of the day and dinner around 6 PM, the college did not care.
Students’ needs weren’t catered to. And it was quite ridiculous that just like the students in Udupi, girls in my hostel had to relentlessly call out the unequal treatment that was being meted out on the basis of their religion. It was only after a lot of contention that the mess provided bread, eggs and bananas, but more as a favour than a right.
They still had to cook for themselves in the morning and in the evening for that one full month, along with of course attending college. I now recall that even my own festival of Gurupurabh wasn’t marked as a special day, or a day I, or others around me, could celebrate.
Is this really something that 17-year-olds need to fight for in this country?
In The Country Of Highest Dropout Rates, Religion Is a Priority
In India, girls have the highest dropout rates. Girls from minority groups – even higher. There’s already rampant discrimination in our institutions against Muslims and Dalits.
Even in 2022, we choose to debate what someone wears instead of how their access to education can be improved. What instead warrants an escalation, urgent attention and all the uproar is:
‘Uniform’ access to education! Girls from Dalit and Adivasi communities are not only discriminated against in classrooms but often don’t make it to schools.
‘Uniform’ fees! Millions of girls drop off after primary school as education is no longer free and compulsory. Secondary schools are far and few and schools of nearby private schools are either unaffordable or those spends can only be made on sons.
‘Uniform’ measures for continued learning! The digital divide in India is so stark and student suicides saw a huge spike during COVID. Two years down the line, we are continuing to build on a fractured system. Let’s not even talk about the astounding absence of a clear plan of action to make up for the learning loss during COVID.
‘Uniform’ investment in education and scholarships rather than budgetary cuts left right and centre.