Rising Islamophobia: Teachers, Students Bullying Muslim Students in Indian Schools

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—Developments in the last couple of years indicate that Islamophobia has acquired deep roots in Indian society and it is fast spreading among the teaching community as well. A number of recent incidents show that Islamophobia is fast spreading among teachers who have become highly biased against Muslims and their religious symbols though their basic job is to educate children and instill a sense of unity among all children irrespective of their faith and ideology.

This social ailment that was earlier restricted to Northern India has now gradually reached even Southern India which was almost free from this evil.  Reports say that Muslim female students at different places in Southern Indian states have not been allowed to appear at examinations in hijab though there is no ban on wearing the hijab in those states.

The latest incident was reported at Annamalai Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Somasipadi village near Tiruvannamalai town of Tamilnadu a few days ago when a 27-year-old Muslim woman was asked to remove her hijab to appear for the Hindi examination.

Shabana N was the only Muslim girl in the Hijab out of a total of 540 candidates who appeared for the examination conducted by Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Tiruvannamalai district. Shabana is a qualified Arabic teacher and also works as a teacher in a private school but she was appearing at the Hindi examination to procure a certificate in proficiency in Hindi.

Shabana was initially allowed to enter the examination hall without objection from the school authorities. However, 15 minutes after the exams had begun, the invigilator on duty asked her to remove the hijab if she wanted to continue writing the exam.

The Muslim female student had never expected such treatment in the examination hall because there is no prohibition on wearing hijab in schools and examination halls in the state of Tamilnadu. As the matter related to her religious right, she preferred to leave the exams rather than remove the hijab and then continue appearing at the exams. Shabana is also a member the Women’s League of the Indian Union Muslim League.

While Shabana could not be contacted, her husband Fareed told this scribe that the incident took place on Sunday, August 20. Her exam consisted of two papers: the first from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and the second from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Shabana was attending the first paper when, after just 15 minutes, she was instructed by invigilator Revathi and Principal Santhosh Kumar to remove her hijab.

Shabana protested saying that there is no ban on hijab in the state, yet she was forced to remove her hijab or leave the exam hall. School authorities behaviour mentally disturbed Shabana so much that it became impossible for her to proceed with the exam. Ultimately, she left the exam hall.

Fareed said that Shabana had pursued a teaching career after completing her 4-year Mubalisa course and had been teaching Arabic at a local school for the past two years. Having already qualified in the Prathmic Hindi exam the previous year without any objection to her hijab, this incident came as a big shock to her.

But Shabana did not take it lying down and decided to fight out the discrimination against her by school authorities. She brought the matter to the notice of Tiruvannamalai district collector B. Murugesh. The collector advised Shabana to file a complaint, assuring that appropriate action would be taken to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future.

Muhammed Abubacker, former MLA and State General Secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League expressed his support for Shabana. He intervened in the matter after learning of the incident. Abubacker promptly communicated the matter to School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh, who in turn instructed the District Education Officer (DEO) of Private Schools in Thiruvananmalai to ensure such incidents do not recur. The minister also directed the DEO to allow Shabana to complete her exam while wearing her hijab. However, due to the extended delay of over an hour in resolving the situation, Shabana’s mental state was greatly affected, preventing her from attempting the exam.

Abubacker commended Shabana’s courage in standing up for her rights.

*

Earlier, the neighbouring state of Karnataka had witnessed a huge controversy in January 2022 over the wearing of hijab in government-run pre-university colleges for girls at Udupi and other places on the pretext that the hijab is a violation of the government’s uniform policy. Hundreds of Muslim female students left government-run colleges and joined private colleges to pursue their educational careers. Many of the female students had to leave their education at places where there was no private college or the fees of the private colleges were beyond the paying capacity of their parents. However, the incident indicated the biased attitude of the then-BJP state government. The wearing of hijab in no way prevented students from acquiring education. In fact, hijab, which is a part of Muslim culture, encourages Muslim girls to go for education as they feel protected in hijab while going out of their homes. Forcing Muslim girls to remove hijab in schools and colleges amounted to preventing them from obtaining education which is against the national interest.

It is heartening to note that the Congress party that won assembly elections in Karnataka in May this year has now withdrawn the ban on hijab in the state’s educational institutions.

*

While this controversy was still on, two incidents of Islamophobia were reported in the last week from schools – one in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and another in the national capital of Delhi, drawing national and international attention.

ALSO READ: Muzaffarnagar Student Slapping Incident: Jamaat Demands Stern Action Against The Accused Teacher; Compensation For Torture Of The Boy

ALSO READ: Delhi Govt School Teacher Booked For Making Derogatory Remarks Against Kaaba, Quran in Class

In the Muzaffarnagar incident, a female Hindu school teacher asked the Hindu boys of her class to slap, one by one, a seven-year-old Muslim boy because the latter had not remembered the multiplication table. The boy was tortured for about one and a half hours. The Muslim parents have now admitted their son to another school. The Neha Public School, where the Islamophobic incident took place, has been sealed by the state government authorities and a case has been booked against the accused teacher. While strongly condemning the incident, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind vice-president Prof. Muhammad Salim Engineer has demanded monetary compensation for physical and mental torture to the boy.

In Delhi, a female teacher targeted her Muslim students by making derogatory remarks about Kaaba and the Quran. She allegedly told Muslim students, “You people chose to remain in India instead of going to Pakistan and your contribution to India’s freedom struggle is negligible”.

*

But this bullying of Muslim students in India’s schools is not a new thing. It has been going on for quite a long time, from the 1990s when the BJP launched Rajnmabhoomi movement. However, it increased after the BJP came to power at the Centre in May 2014. According to a BBC report schools and playgrounds have become dangerous places for Muslim students, both male and female.

Quoting Nazia Erum, who has written a book on the bullying of Muslim students in Indian schools, the BBC news story says that even five and six-year-old Muslims students were called terrorists and Pakistani by their Hindu classmates. This indicates that such things were being talked about by elder members of the family, including parents, otherwise, how could a six-year-old boy or girl comment on their school counterparts being a terrorist or Pakistani? This also shows how deep the roots of Islamophobia have gone into the Hindu society and to root it out is not an easy task.

Erum told the BBC interviewer that Hindu students commented on their Muslim classmates like: “Are you a Muslim? I hate Muslims. Do your parents make bombs at home? Is your father part of the Taliban? He is a Pakistani. He is a terrorist. Don’t piss her off, she will bomb you.”