Students from Dutch universities express solidarity with girls fighting hijab ban in India

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Students and scholars of Erasmus University, Rotterdam in The Hague have issued a statement in solidarity with Indian Muslim girls who have been denied access to educational institutions for covering their heads with hijab.

A statement from more than 100 students, read: “The students have been singled out, brutalised, and victimised under threats from Hindu majoritarian intimidation and state-backed violence.”

Most of the students, who are of Indian origin, belong to the varsity’s social science department.

“We unconditionally support the Muslim students’ acts of resistance and endorse the demands of these students to be granted their constitutional rights— freedom of expression, practicing their faith and access to education,” said the statement.

Hijab has, of late, become a ruse for conflict with Hindu far-right groups and politicians using a form of dog-whistle politics to vilify entire Muslim community in the country. It said the attacks on hijab come against the backdrop of an ongoing onslaught on Muslim women in India who have been a target of online auctions by Hindutva trolls often with the tacit support of the state.

These incidents are a reflection of the rampant Islamophobia that intertwines itself with Hindutva misogyny in India today, the statement underlined.

According to the statement by students in Hague, the hijab ban in educational institutes is aimed at targeting Muslim students to renounce their Muslimness and uphold a majoritarian cultural identity, synonymous with Hindu identity.

The justification for the attacks on hijab is claimed to be to ‘liberate’ Muslim women, it further said. “This weaponizes Islamophobia and sexism against Muslim women, assumed to be more ‘oppressed’ than other women.’

The solidarity statement lashed out at a section of the media in India which has wrongly framed the series of incidents as a “fight between modernity and conservatism, with both parties held equally responsible for conflict”. In reality, the scholars say, the cause is Hindu majority state-backed violence aimed at intimidating the Muslim minority, Muslim women in particular. It is a clear attempt to polarise the country ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh and Punjab elections.

Signatories of the statement include, Ashok Danavath, MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, Mariya Nadeem Khan, MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, Haris Zargar, PhD researcher, ISS, Hague, Sumaiya Tanim, MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, John Matthew Ang, MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, Layal Houssam Sasso, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Banji Moyo MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, Juliana Beltrán Grisales, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Anoushka Gupta, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Mohsen Usyan, Mundus MAAP, ISS, The Hague, Nadia C.E Ndiaye, MA Development Studies, ISS, Hague, Sergio Carvajal, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Adiresti Lalitya Rahmi, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Intan Kusuma, MA Development Studies, ISS, Den Haag, Rebecca Mort, MA Development Studies, The Hague, Richard Toppo, PhD Researcher, ISS, Josephine Brouwer, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Golden Singh, MA, Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Shaila Alam Asha, MA, Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Haenee Kim, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Raghad Abuualshaikh, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Chelsea Ellingsen, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Camilo Rodriguez. MA Development studies. ISS, The Hague, Sabina Bernal Galeano. MA Development Studies. ISS. The Hague, Inés Jiménez, MA Development Studies ISS, The Hague, Selasi Quarshie, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Nadya Selma Karamy, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Mwashamba Kapipi Amiri, Ivy Helena Torres, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Shreya Chatterjee, M.Sc. IR and Diplomacy, Leiden University, The Hague, Anvisha Manral, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Saarah Javed, MA Public Policy, Mundus MAPP, ISS, The Hague, Rohan Sharma, BSc Political Science:IRO, Leiden University, The Hague, Hugo Stinis, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Margherita Andreolli, MA Development studies, ISS, The Hague, Matam Manogna, MA Public Policy, Mundus MAPP, ISS, The Hague, Mira Zaghbour, MA, Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Deanna Ortiz, BSc International Relations, Leiden University, The Hague, Agustín González, MA Public Policy, Mundus MAPP, ISS, The Hague, María Fernanda Barahona Cruz. MA, Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Bruno Palombini Gastal, MA Public Policy (MundusMAPP), ISS, The Hague, Akolebirungi Belinda MA in Development studies ISS, The Hague, Muhammad Nashirulhaq. MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Abhimanyu Chakravorty, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Nadia Gissma Kusumawardhani, MA Development Studies, The Hague, Vanshika Kalsi , MA Development Studies, The Hague, Jocelyne Bazalar, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Palmer Anderson, MA Public Policy (MundusMAPP), ISS, The Hague, Rachelle Sartori, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Moubani Maitra, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Selma Khan Riepma, MA Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University, Tigist gebremariam yohannes, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Michelle Herrera, MA Public Policy, Mundus MAPP, ISS, The Hague, Chomprang Wongrusmeeduan, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Zahra Fatima, BA International Relations, University of Sharjah, Militza Martínez Meneses, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Lea Maria Liekefedt, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Jimena Stuart Barreto, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Charlie Yuzheng Song, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Bleuenn Couaran, MA IMP, EUR, Rotterdam, Sanchita Bakshi, Phd researcher, ISS, Doi Ra, PhD Development Studies, ISS, Bruna Morgana Zanatta, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Fernanda González Ronquillo, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Amod Shah, PhD Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Daniela Andrade, PhD Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Marina Cadaval Narezo, Phd Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Ilaha Abasli, PhD Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Amparo Bravo, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Mostafa Sadiqi, Msc Globalisation & Development, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Michelle Rose Villariez, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Raziye Rabia Basaran, MA Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University, Fatima Abbas, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Dina Paris, Bsc Health Sciences & Medicine, Maastricht University, Juliana Hauser, MSc Crime and Criminal Justice, Leiden University,,Forohar Taariq, BA Pedagogical sciences, Erasmus university, Ria Shukla, Msc Clinical Psychology, Erasmus University, Ranwa Alamsi, MA Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University, Kelly Musyoka, BA International Studies, Leiden University, EeMadeline Nece, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Helena Rogers, Msc International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Jeppe Bandringa, BSc International Relations, Leiden University, Aryan Goyal, MSc Political Science, Leiden University, Omar Bhatti MSc Anthropology and Development Management, LSE, Deniz Konuklu, MA International Development Studies, UvA, Ellen Zwerver, MA International Development Studies, UvA, Ewa Kasiarz, MA International Development Studies, UvA, Helen Hintjens, Staff, ISS, The Hague, Inès Boivin, MA International Development Studies, UvA, Archana Ria Vikraman, MA Development Studies, SJP Major, ISS, The Hague, Eva van Teeffelen, MA International Development Studies, UvA, Lena Schenk, MSc European Politics and External Relations, UvA, Ahlam Yachou, MSc Social & Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Nelli Horváth, MSc International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Jameson Lingl, PhD Researcher, ISS, Hague, Irene Vettiyadan, BSc International Relations and Organisations, Leiden University, Zemzem Shigute Shuka, Staff, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Brenda Rodríguez, PhD researcher, ISS The Hague, Ika Narwidya Putri, MA Development Studies, ISS, The Hague, Amanda Lethizya Lestari, MA Development Studies, ISS The Hague, Octavia Rizky Prasetyo, MA Development Studies, ISS The Hague, Cynthia Embido Bejeno, PhD/Guest researcher, Iss Erasmus University Rotterdam,  Sushruta Kokkula, MA Development Studies, ISS The Hague, Niyati Pingali, MA Development Studies, ISS The Hague, Sushrutha Vemuri, Staff, ISS The Hague, V.N.L.Pratyusha, Student, India, Evalien Stapper, BA International Studies, Leiden University and Sarah Hafez, MA Medicine, Maastricht University.

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