Students’ group demands action to protect hijab, veil rights

A student group named "Students for Sovereignty" has placed a four-point demand to the Dhaka University administration, Education Ministry, and the government, seeking immediate steps to protect the rights of Muslim women to wear the hijab and observe veiling. The demands come in response to recent incidents of alleged discrimination against women wearing the hijab in educational institutions.

At a press conference held at Dhaka University on Tuesday, the group's convenor, Ziaul Haque, expressed concerns over what they described as an imported agenda of "Indian Hindutva ideology" against hijab-wearing Muslim women. He cited an incident at Rangamati Government College, where a student named Umme Anjuman was allegedly expelled for wearing a hijab, comparing it to similar incidents in Karnataka, India in 2022.

Haque noted that in 2022, a Muslim student in Karnataka named Muskan faced harassment from Hindu extremist groups for wearing a hijab to college.     —UNB