Right To Education Compromised In The Name Of Religion
Dipsita Dhar
The image of the young girls, clad in Hijab standing outside their college (+2) gate, demanding and at times even begging to enter inside their own college is a metaphor of how the Indian state under Modi is treating people whom they consider as the “other”. The present ruling dispensation which has acquired ideological hegemony among the ruling classes is absolutely hell-bent on denying even the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution to this venomously constructed category of the ‘other’. What can be more hypocritical than the fact that this very regime is celebrating the 75 years of our independence as the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’? Our Independence was a triumph of secularism over religious bigotry; however, the present government is actively working to annihilate the hopes and dreams of a secular, modern republic, which has been the polestar in this long journey. This has been a journey soaked in the blood of thousands of martyrs who gave away their lives for this dream.
This country rejected religious citizenship in 1947 prioritizing its long history of multiculturalism and established constitutional equality a norm, however, in 2019 that same parliament could come up with a citizenship act that clearly put citizenry and faith as mutually exclusive components. This going backward in time, undoing and redoing the cultural mosaic, is an integral part of the ethno-nationalism that the RSS-BJP pledges to promote. A nation built on exclusivity and supremacy of the assumed “majority”. The idea of a Hindu nation is founded on two major principles, the first being the homogenization of Hindu community, which was indeed difficult due to the rigid caste system and the century long oppression of the working classes by the privileged caste groups. Thus, to unify the caste society, construction of an external enemy became necessary, and here comes the second feature of Hindu Rashtra, a “vilified other”. From the beginning the RSS had these two as their primary focus, on one hand there was effort of finding a universal Hindu Icon that can connect the diverse deities, rituals and practices; which got concretized with the Ramjanmabhumi Movement and the subsequent temple in Ayodhya. On the other hand a persistent effort was there of painting Muslims, Christians as invaders, as ‘criminals’ through the cultural representation and later on by rewriting history. From 2014 onwards the naked state patronage onto such discriminatory ideology and institutionalizing hatemongering, helped in strengthening these narratives. The unpunished killing in the name of cow vigilantism, love jihad and the proposed NRC-CAA was an open declaration that the Indian state as an institution is here to let go the basic premises of secularism.
In the Name of ‘Hijab’
The recent incident of Karnataka where Muslim girls are denied entry in schools and colleges should be seen in this context, not as an isolated disruptive event. This southern state had been a Hindutva Laboratory for quite some time now, particularly the coastal Dakshin Kannada region. Multiple outfits of RSS, including Shri Ram Sena, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagarana Vedike started operating here post-Babri. The period since then has seen multiple instances of full-scale communal violence.
The Hijab ban in Udupi’s school came after the ABVP led students started wearing saffron scarves as a form of “protest” against women wearing hijab. Let us not forget this is happening just few days after the atrocious Bulli Bai app that auctioned Muslim women, came in public view. The people behind those apps were young educated Hindu men and women, a similar population that we see protesting here. While in case of Bulli Bai app the Maharashtra police was quick to nab the accused, the BJP led Karnataka government went on backing this unconstitutional demand. The idea of keeping educational institutions away from the religious grab, sounds progressive on the surface. But the fundamental question is who are the people making such demands? BJP-led Government has saffronized education in multiple layers. From passing mythology as history to deploying BJP stooges in every constitutional, educational and cultural body. Even the tablo by the Department of Education in the Republic Day parade reproduced the imagery of Guru-Sishya Parampara, where teachers have been portrayed as janeu sporting Bramhin men. If this won’t be considered as problematic then why young girls wearing their faith is a problem? In large parts of the country, Saraswati Puja in schools and colleges has become almost like a custom. Engineering colleges worshipping Vishwakarma inside the campus premises had never raised an eyebrow, so why suddenly this urge of “secularizing” education?
The Ideological War
Whether Burqa, Parda should be hailed as a pride or not, is a different question altogether. But they cannot be judged without placing it in its complex spatiality. The Muslims are a persecuted minority, they are over represented in the prisons and under represented in the position of power. From 2014 the targeted hate crimes against Muslims got multiplied. Along with usual vilification and discrimination, the attack on Muslim visibility, must be noted down. Hindu radical groups stopping open Namaz in Haryana, doing Govardhan puja in that same place is not a routine activity but an effort to invisibilise Muslims from the public space. The women who were sold in Sulli Deals or Bulli Bai apps are not random people but Muslim women who were able to capture a public imagination. From Ismat Ara a journalist who was vocal against this government to Sameya a radio jockey who didn’t mind voicing her political opinion in public, they all represented the aspiration of their community, to be acknowledged, to be heard . The condition that one must remove her scarf to enter a public sphere (here a classroom), actually reproduces the same logic of invisibilizing the minority.
One must also delve to understand how this regime has used the women’s body to advance its ideology. Godhra saw the indiscriminate rape and killing of Muslim women as a lesson to her community, the Muzaffarnagar riot was no different. the recently passed anti love jihad law in Uttar Pradesh had seen 14 cases, 49 arrests within just one month. Interestingly, among them only in two cases the women herself complained of a forceful conversion, in all the other cases it’s either the relatives or the Hindu vigilant group who brought the matter up. There had been cases where even after mutual consent of marriage, without any mention of conversion, Muslim men are victimized. The denial of women agency is an inherent feature of patriarchy, their infantilization is also not specific to Hindutva. But here the state has weaponized feudal institutions to have absolute control over the women’s body, which can be either used as a site of violence or an excuse to witch-hunt the “other”.
Here, we need to underline how in the name of secularism, islamophobia has been used as an ideological weapon by the ruling classes across the world. In fact, this provided the hegemonic consent for the so called “war on terror”. Thus we can clearly see an overlap between the imperialism’s ideological moorings and the ideological maneuvering of the right-wing , fascistic political formations like the RSS in our country.
Restricting Women’s Education
Muslim students constitute only 5% of total students enrolled in higher education according to All India Survey on Higher Education 2017-18, among them 49% are girls. The recent data published in the parliament shows that the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for minority students has reduced from 4141 to a mere 2348 in the last four years. The Post-doctoral fellowship for women too saw a drastic drop from 642 to 434. The Government has not allocated funds in the last budget for the National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education (NSIGSE), whereas 80% fund allocated for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is used for media campaigning. The discontinuation of M.Phil, while implementing NEP will also adversely affect the girls, currently on and about 60% students enrolled in this course, they are girls who might not enjoy the luxury of a prolonged period of research. With the increasing expense of education, closure of public funded schools, rampant privatization, expanding digital divide and surge in drop out due to pandemic, the condition of girls coming from the margins has become way too difficult to survive. In a crucial situation like this denying education to girls, questioning their religious belief is not only inhuman but also criminal. It increases the risk of girls falling out of the education system and disturbs the communal harmony to a great extent. The conspiracy of stopping women’s education is not new, the resistance against such efforts too is old enough. We have the legacy of Savitri Bai Phule, Fathima Shaikh, Begum Rokeya, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar and other social reformers who had fought and ensured the right to education for women. It’s this legacy which cannot be snatched away so easily. Recently in Delhi University the administration decided to build a cow shelter instead of a girls hostel, since they know cows can fetch them votes but girls with books will break all the pinjras.
References:
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/muslims-have-lowest-ger-in-higher-education/articleshow/88808430.cms
- https://www.newslaundry.com/2017/12/01/dakshina-kannada-hindutvas-lab-in-south-india-2?logged_in=false
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/beti-bachao-beti-padhao-whopping-80-of-funds-spent-on-media-campaigns-says-parliamentary-committee/article37922778.ece
Dipsita Dhar is the All India Joint Secretary of SFI and the Convener of SFI’s National Girls Sub-Committee.
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