ISLAMABAD: India declares itself a democratic and secular state that claims to promote religious harmony within the state. However, the reality is the opposite, Indian constitution has failed to transform the Indian society into a secular state because of the biased and bigotry attitude of the BJP-led Modi’s Hindutva ideology. Hindutva is a modern political ideology that supports Hindu supremacy and transforms constitutionally the secular state of India into an ethnoreligious nation recognized as the Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation). Whether it is Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhists and Dalits all the minorities are victimized under BJP’s biased policies. It seemed that India has become an apartheid state where human rights and equality have become a distant idea.
Karnataka is a state in Southwest India that has been in the news due to BJP-led Hindutva ideology and discriminatory attitude towards Muslims and Christians. Minorities have been bearing the brunt of Hindutva policies throughout India under the current BJP/RSS neo-Nazi government. Even the liberal Hindus who disagree with Hindutva policies have to face the consequence of being opposed. Contemporary, tussle over hijab and saffron scarves continue to spread to more colleges in Karnataka and issue has entered in national discourse; likely to gain momentum in the coming days.
The hijab ban
The hijab ban is another strike on the Indian secular outlook that India is losing rapidly. Hijab ban has once again highlighted Modi’s hatred of the Muslim minority. In the past, during 2002, Modi was the mastermind of Gujarat’s massacres to eliminate the resistance of Muslims proudly. Ethnic democracy and authoritarian approach is defining the future contours on Indian policy with intolerance and discrimination as its key pillars.
Forcing Muslim women to give up their hijab is a clear violation of Article 25 of Indian constitution which guarantees religious freedom and forbidding them from entering classrooms infringes upon Article 21(A) & Article 15 which give assurance of the right to education and prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth respectively. On 15 March 2022, a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court upheld the state government’s ban on Hijab in schools and colleges on the grounds that wearing it was not essential in Islam.
The discriminatory verdict makes a mockery of India’s so-called liberal and secular credentials under Modi’s Hindutva-inspired regime that protected and pleased Hindu majority. Therefore, India not only violates its constitutional article on religious freedom but also being a signatory to several international conventions, violates Article 18 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that stress on freedom of thought and conscience and religion.
