UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES,

PANJAB UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH.

In partial Fulfilment of requirements for the syllabus of

B.A.L.L.B (Semester-I)

The topic of the Assignment - ‘Hijab’

SUBMITTED BY: Smriti

COURSE: B.A. LL.B. (Honours.)

ROLL NUMBER: 138/22

SECTION: ‘C’

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. SARABJIT KAUR

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 Acknowledgment

In preparation for my assignment, I had to take the help

and guidance of some respected persons, who deserve my
deepest gratitude. As the completion of this assignment
gave me much pleasure, I would like to show my gratitude
to Dr. Sarabjot Kaur, of Panjab University, Chandigarh, for
giving me good guidelines for assignment throughout.

I would also like to thank my family and my friends for

constantly encouraging me during the course of this
Assignment, which I could never complete without their
support and continuous encouragement.

I would also like to expand my gratitude to all those

who have directly and indirectly guided me in writing
this assignment.

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 INDEX

INTRODUCTION 4

HIJAB AS A FORM OF EXPRESSION 5

HIJAB AS A FORM OF OPPRESSION 6

HIJAB VS. BURKHA 7

HIJAB - FEMINISM 8

HIJAB IN MEDIA & FICTION 9

HIJAB BAN CASE 10

CONCLUSION 12

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 INTRODUCTION

‘HIJAB’ this Arabic word simply means “covering” (Halrynjo & Jonker,
2016). While such head covering can come in many forms, hijab often
specifically refers to a cloth wrapped around the head, neck, and
chest, covering the hair and neck but leaving the face visible. Hijab
has been an integral part of women’s attire predominantly in the
Muslim community. Hijab has been associated with many realms of
society namely, feminism,fashion, politics, employment but most
importantly;

RELIGION - Hijab in Islam is has a broader meaning. It is the principle

of modesty and includes behavior as well as dress for both males and
females.In the Holy Qur’an ‘Hijab’ is reiterated seven times in the
Qur'an with the term known as ‘Khimar But the verse that has been
most often used to prove the "obligation" of veiling for women and
that mentions the term Hijab is ‘It is rather a symbol of separation
between public life and private life at the time of the Prophet’ Verse
33; 53. It is rather a symbol of separation between public life and
private life at the time of the Prophet.

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 HIJAB AS A FORM OF EXPRESSION

Why is it that when we see someone wearing a hijab we

automatically associate them with the Muslim community and
think they are subjugated and oppressed? Despite its religious
connection, hijab and religion are not mutually exclusive. The
Hijab is not just a piece of cloth or a partition to cover the head
and neck, it is a concept. The textbook definition of hijab is that it
is a cloth used to cover the hair of a person but its usage is
broader than that. Many faiths have had the practice of covering
one’s hair. Any person who wears a scarf, a bonnet, a hat, a wig, a
turban, a fascinator, a veil, or a hijab wears it because it is an
integral part of their identity. They wear it because it makes them
feel powerful, confident, and comfortable in their skin. Hijab is
just an alternative term used for any headgear worn by a person.

The conjecture that oppression and hijab go hand in hand in is

very racist. Hijab is a statement ready to be interpreted anyway at
the will of the person wearing it. We need to understand that hijab
is not just a religious symbol that can be banned under the disguise of
secularism, but an integral part of clothing that if asked to be removed
would make Muslim women, or any women donning it feel exposed.
One does not need to start taking clothes off to feel empowered and
liberated.

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 HIJAB AS A FORM OF OPPRESSION

While the hijab might be a form of expression for some people but the
politicization of Islam has led to the hijab being seen as a symbol of
enslavement. Some countries run under the Taliban regime and
orthodox Muslim communities make it compulsory for women to wear
hijabs in pursuit of religion and purity. There are many draconian laws
for women in Islamic countries on the topic of appropriate attire. In
Iran, all women residents and tourists are obliged to cover their hair
or wear hijab many other countries which make the hijab mandatory
like Indonesia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and more. In recent times, the
occupation of Afghanistan by the Taliban has led to the suppression of
Afghan women. Around the 1950s women, they had done away with
the practice of wearing hijab. It had become a personal choice and a
fashion symbol to wear it. But after it was occupied by the Taliban the
woman are again forced to wear hijab, niqabs, and burkha.

The oppression is not just of being forced to wear hijab but also of
being forced to not wear hijab. In the workplace sector, women are
discriminated against for wearing a hijab and thus not given many job
opportunities, IN education systems also as seen in the recent
Karnataka case, female muslim students are forced to not wear hijab s
as it is unconstitutional and asked to stay at home if they refuse to do
so. A lot of islamophobia rises as soon as someone sees a person
wearing a hijab so they try to suppress their representation or use it as
a means to show fake diversity and inclusivity

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 HIJAB VS. BURKHA

There is an innate difference between a burkha and a hijab but both of

them have their roots in the Muslim religion so they are often
confused with one another these are not interchangeable terms. A
hijab is merely covers your head and a Burka is something that covers
you from head to toe. A burkha is never used as a form of expression
or a form of fashion. Burkha is merely following a kind of an operation
because you are being forced to be covered from head to toe but with a
hijab, you are allowed to be as fierce as possible under that piece of
cloth. A burkha is a religious piece of clothing that tells Muslim
women that they can never show themselves to the rest of the world
whereas a hijab is just merely a sense of pride a sense of individuality
and identity.

A very small difference between many of us don’t realize is that a

hijab can be colored patterned and you can do it a lot with it you can
wear it as a turban but a Burka is just a black piece of clothing that
tells women that their faces their bodies that identities is not
important enough to be seen by the world.

Burka is a piece of ownership by a man in the patriarchal world and a

hijab is something that a woman carries on her it is her identity, her
expression, her sense of self and it’s her pride.

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 HIJAB AND FEMINISM
“Let me free you from your Hijab”

Does Hijab have Religious significance? Yes, in some areas but the
patriarchy has made it limited to that only. It portrays this concept in black
and white ignoring its greyness. Thus, putting a metaphorical hijab and
eye-band on the society regarding this topic. They make it seem that if a
woman bares herself of her hijab she is characterless and loses her integrity
becoming a person following ‘HARAM’ practices. This is where we need to
understand that hijab is also a feministic symbol.

Undoubtedly, the notion of a hijabi feminist is a contradiction in

terms. It is justifiably oxymoronic when women donning the Islamic
headscarf tout feminism. And yet, especially in the West, many young
women have taken to social media to normalize the hijab as a symbol
of emancipation rather than oppression. Today’s hijabi feminists seek
to elevate the garb to something it clearly isn’t. They don it for
political reasons, such as protesting the West’s interference in Muslim
lands. They wear it to assert their ethnic or socio-cultural identity.
Some continue to do so for religious reasons, thinking Islam indeed
requires it. Other modern Muslim feminists may also wear the hijab as
a fashion statement, and the fashion industry has picked up the garb.
These are attempts to legitimize the hijab as an enabler rather than a
deterrent for Muslim women to take their rightful place in modern
societies.

Nadya Taolia wrote in a Guardian column: “This is not about

protection from men’s lusts. It is me telling the world that my
femininity is not available for public consumption.”

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 HIJAB IN MEDIA & FICTION

In media, The news channels in today’s “woke” times have always

portrayed Muslims as a part of the community but with underlying
islamophobia. The mainstream media has a too narrow,
one-dimensional view of Muslim women and represents them as such.
&fiction, Though representation has increased, Islam on TV is still
largely centered around terrorists and oppressed women.

What we need is more complexity – and fewer dangerous cliches hijab

is often being used as just a form of representation. usually whenever
there is a character who is Muslim and is wearing a hijab is not been
given the freedom to express their identity because the writers are
scared to tackle such a politically sensitive topic. however, there have
been such cases like the famous show “Elite” and the book by Jennifer
L. Armentrout called “From Blood and Ash ”.

In 2017, Emmy-winning actor and activist Riz Ahmed gave a speech in

Parliament about diversity on screen. “Representation is not an added
thrill [because] what people are looking for is a message that they
belong,” he said. Soon after, the Riz test – the equivalent of the
Bechdel test for the representation of Muslims in the media – was
established

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 HIJAB BAN CASE
Eight months ago, six students were banned from entering a college
in Karnataka’s Udupi district for wearing a hijab. The issue threw up
legal questions on reading the freedom of religion and whether the
right to wear a hijab is constitutionally protected as per Article 25(1).
They protested, but the college didn’t relent, and the matter ended up
in court.

The girls argued that banning the hijab was not only discriminatory
but also impinged on their right to freedom of expression and
religion. Their faith, they said, required them to cover their head. The
petitioners further contended that Muslim girls are the least educated
and least represented in classrooms and if they are shut out in this
fashion, it will be detrimental to their educational careers. The court
holds that the wearing of a hijab is not essential to the practice of
Islam, and, therefore, the petitioners’ right to freedom of religion is
not impinged. The court said that a uniform itself is not
discriminatory and, subsequently, it held the government order “per
se does not prescribe any uniform but only provides for prescription
in a structured way.”

Thus, Karnataka High Court, in Resham vs the State of Karnataka,

upholds a ban imposed on the use of hijabs by students in classrooms

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across the Karnataka State. The petitioners moved to Supreme Court
against the hijab ban verdict of the Karnataka High Court.

In Aishat Shifa V. State Of Karnataka and others (2022 SC 842) a

two-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on
13-10-2022.

Expressing the divergence in his opinion, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia

set aside the Karnataka High Court judgment and held that the entire
concept of essential religious practice was not essential to the
dispute. "The High Court took a wrong path. It is ultimately a matter
of choice and Article 19(1)(a) and 25(1). It is a matter of choice,
nothing more and nothing less," he said.

Justice Dhulia said that the foremost question on his mind was the
education of the girl child. "Are we making her life any better? That
was a question in my mind...I have quashed the Government Order of
February 5 and have ordered the removal of the restrictions...I have
held that the judgment in Bijoe Emmanuel squarely covers the issue."

Justice Gupta on the other hand had framed 11 issues and answered
all the questions against the appeals. In light of the divergence of
opinion, the matter has to be placed before the Chief Justice of India
for appropriate directions.

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 CONCLUSION

In View of the Hijab Ban Verdict, it makes the unbiased citizens of

India question if India was ever Secular?. By declaring this
anti-Muslim verdict the throes of an ever-inclusive India has been
brutally shut down. While certain media platforms are trying to show
the positive impact of the hijab ban the undertone is “crystal clear”.

In the 21st century when the people in power are talking about
scientific and economic advancement the societal perception still
remains orthodox. The Constitution made a “Box of inclusivity” and
we pledged that we will abide by it but in reality, we are deaconing it.

Our judgments, media representation, majority public opinion, and

biased political parties promote secularism but their actions say
something else. Our country is becoming more and more exclusive of
being theocratic under the flimsy pretense of ‘We care for everyone, to
whichever religion, gender, community or region they belong to”.This
as said by many political scientists is the Hindutva Politics ERA.

In my opinion, HIjab ban is an outright infringement of Muslims’

constitutional right to profess their religion freely and even if it is not
an essential practice in Islam Why was hijab as part of the school
uniform not questioned earlier?

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

SOURCES-

‘From Blood & Ash” - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Livelaw

Indian Express

Iasbaba.com

https://www.awra.co/en-us/blogs/news/what-is-hijab

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8687514/

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/hijab-a-symbol-of-oppress
ion-taslima-nasreem-1914069-2022-02-17

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/15/why-tvs-port
rayal-of-muslims-still-falls-short-ramy-bodyguard

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hassan-the-oxymoron-th
at-is-hijab-wearing-feminists

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