Protests in India as Karnataka state moves to ban hijabs in schools – BBC News

An Indian state has shut high schools and colleges for three days after a row over the hijab that has gained international attention after Nobel Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai weighed in. The government of Karnataka state in southern India took the decision after protests by students over Muslim women wearing headscarves in the classroom escalated into […]

Protests in India as Karnataka state moves to ban hijabs in schools – BBC News

Women of Color

By-Mubina (Afreen)
I am a woman of color 
the one who is racially profiled 
and wrongfully convicted 
are my race, ethnicity, and faith such a threat? 
why do I wanting the same privilege as you 
makes you so upset? 
I am a woman of color 
who is attacked and falsely accused 
for starting a pandemic and putting the world in a troubled state 
if only they knew a much worse disease is hate 
I am a woman of color 
who doesn't get a callback or a job interview 
for this reason only, "my name does not sound white" 
but I keep my head high because, at the end of every tunnel, there is light 
I am a woman of color 
who suffers violent crimes 
The world disregarding my silent cries
I am a woman of color who is killed in the name of honor 
raised to believe the only way a lady can fit into society is to be proper 
if I have the freedom to wear whatever I want 
why am I viewed as oppressed 
when I choose to cover myself? 
Or a flaunter if I am provocatively dressed? 
I am a woman of color 
who is exoticized and hypersexualized 
in American films dominated by white men 
objectifying and degrading me again and again 
I am a woman of color 
who is excluded and has my dreams shattered 
like my voice never mattered 
everyone ignoring my troubles 
If you turn off social media you will see, white women are not the only ones 
with tears and struggles 

My Hijab My Choice how to wear it

BY- Mubina C

Stop disparaging other Muslim females in the name of modesty. At times individuals in our community are too quick to judge other Muslim sisters on how they follow Islam just because they see a hijab on their head. There are countless times I have scrolled through social media reading comments by non-hijabis and Muslim men on how a Muslimah should wear her hijab and act. Some passing rude remarks like, “if you can’t wear it right, take it off” on their photos. 

As a Muslim woman who struggles with wearing the hijab herself, I want to make it clear that WEARING A HIJAB DOES NOT MAKE US PERFECT MUSLIMS! YES, WE SIN AND MAKE MISTAKES, WE DO PARTY (HALAL WAY), WE DO HAVE CRUSHES, WE DO HAVE GUY FRIENDS, WE HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS OF STYLING OUR HIJAB AND LIKE TO PAIR IT WITH SKINNY JEANS. We do the same things that our non-hijabi Muslimahs do. If you feel that you need to advice a Muslim woman on modesty it could be done privately not by publicly shaming them. If they don’t want to take you advice it is their choice and shouldn’t be forced on them.

But even if that makes us look like a not-so-perfect Muslim woman, we dare to roam around in a western country being the face of Islam. Some of you brothers and sisters are so quick to pass judgment but would not be able to walk a day in our shoes. If I had a dollar for every time I have been called a towelhead, terrorist, a F***** Arab, let’s say it would have helped a lot with my college tuition. I have not only been verbally abused but physically attacked just because I chose to cover myself. 

Westerners look at us with piety because they think we are being oppressed. If that isn’t bad enough, we have our brothers and sisters belittling us because we don’t wear the hijab a certain way. I know many other hijabis have experienced the same thing. Yet, we still wear it with pride. Like many of you tell us, we could take it off, and life would become so much easier, but we are not quitters. Our sisters before us didn’t carry a long fight to wear the hijab in a western country just for us to quit. Remember, next time you criticize a hijabi on how she wears her hijab, know that she goes through hell to represent the Muslim community you are part of.