Iran and India are the top focus now all over the world, over two sides of an issue that has one demand at the core of it — women's right to bodily autonomy.
In Iran, defying a lethal crackdown by security forces, people have been protesting on the streets for nearly a month now since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the 'morality police' after she was arrested for not properly covering hair in public.
In India, the Supreme Court Wednesday pronounced a split verdict in the Karnataka hijab ban case. Delivering their verdict on a batch of appeals filed against the Karnataka HC judgment that upheld a ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions, a bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia acknowledged the “divergence in opinion” and directed the matter to be placed before the chief justice of India for appropriate directions.
A few days ago, a lot of Indian celebrities expressed solidarity with the women in Iran, by chopping their hair on camera. Ironically, those voices were silent when Muslim women in India were denied their choice to wear the hijab in India.
The hijab ban threatens India's secular fabric. If Hindu girl students can wear a bindi and Sikhs can wear the turban, no artificial distinction can be drawn to exclude Muslim women. Let's not forget that the Indian concept of secularism is broad-based and accommodative.
A ban on hijab would mean depriving women of their identities and freedom. But in sharp contrast, wearing of hijab is being portrayed as a symbol of oppression. From veiling to unveiling, what is being lost is the dignity of women.
Since Karnataka banned the hijab in educational institutions, statistics show, there has been a fall in the number of schoolgoing Muslim girls.
In September, senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi who appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of Muslim girls challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict on the hijab ban, told the apex court that the ban resulted in nearly 17,000 girls skipping their examinations this year. Moreover, there has been a 16% drop in women attending college in Mangaluru since the ruling.
This drop was expected since a lot of these Muslim girls come from socially underprivileged sections where orthodoxy is high.
The Hijab Conundrum In Iran
People say a false sense of equivalence is being drawn between the hijab ban in India and the women who are fighting against the morality police's imposition of the hijab In Iran. But in both the cases, we conveniently forget the right to bodily autonomy.
The right of a woman or girl to make autonomous decisions about her own body and reproductive functions is at the core of her basic rights to equality, privacy and bodily integrity. We forget that the true power of women or 'Nari Shakti' lies in making choices without facing coercion or violence.
So it's pitiable that the hijab is being forced on the women in Iran, against free will and agency, and it's equally pitiable that Muslim women in India are dropping out of colleges because of the hijab ban.
As a feminist, I say I am standing with the women in Iran if they want to do away with the mandatory head scarf. But at the same time, I am standing with my sisters who insist they want to wear the hijab out of choice.
The governments in both the countries should respect a woman's agency.
Women's Rights Are Human Rights
As large scale protests are taking place across Iran, people are intent on challenging the regime no matter what the cost is. 'Death to dictator' is the war cry now, and there sppears to be no looking back.
Protestors are out on foot and in their cars in south Tehran's Nazi Abad neighbourhood to make their voices heard.
I also saw a video from Rasht Iran where people were protecting demonstrators against plainclothes security forces and the police, in a country where one is meted out the death penalty for removing the hijab. We need to laud the public for the show of strength and unity. It requires courage when people put their lives in danger to save others. Then there were images that came from Trafalgar Square in London where an artist was drawing Nika Shakarami's portrait.
There are reports coming in on the internet being shut down widely in Iran in parts of Mashad, Isfahan and Tehran as many Kurdish populated areas such as Saqez, Baneh, Marivan and Sanandaj are on strike. It also seems that now the clerics have lost all authority and the uprising is unstoppable.
Despite the intense conflict between the mercenaries of the Islamic regime with weapons of war and the unarmed people protesting against the fascist regime, there were also some incredible scenes coming in that showed the riot police uniting with protestors against the regime.
'Woman', 'Life', 'Freedom' are being written on chalkboards in schools as Mahsa Amini becomes the secret word for the revolution against tyranny. It is heartening to watch the freedom rallies happening in Europe's Berlin. Women and university students are holding freedom marches on Tehran's Palestinian streets.
Some brave Iranian women who were part of the protests were reported to have shouted "Mahsa is all of us,you fight us, we'll fight back" as they waved their headscarves. The Iran revolution is for freedom, for democracy, for human dignity, and for a decent life.
In Tehran, women are chanting we are all Mahsa Amini. A few months ago in India, a hijabi Muskaan Khan shouted back at her bullies who were preying on her Both required strength. One lost her life, one skipped her exam. Both incidents are tragic.
Let us not forget that religious rights are human rights. Women's rights are human rights.
The Supreme Court of India's verdict on the hijab case is a split one. It's now a matter of wait and watch to see if India stands with "desh ki betiyan" or get buckled under the majoritatarian sentiment. Until then, there's no looking back for Muslim women.
Saira Shah Halim is a rights activist and an educator.
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