MEND Statement: We condemn the ban on the hijab and subsequent targeted violence against Muslim students in India’s Karnataka state.

MEND condemns the ban on the hijab and subsequent targeted violence against Muslim students in India’s Karnataka state.

Both the central government of India and its Karnataka state are governed by the Hindutva-nationalist BJP party. Many schools across the state have banned the hijab in classes and saffron scarf-wearing activists of the BJP’s youth wing have taken to the streets to violently enforce the bans.

Since the BJP’s rise under the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, India has jumped from one act of institutional Islamophobia to another, culminating in the massacre of Muslims during the 2020 Delhi riots.

MEND commends the bravery of the Indian Muslim women that have stood up to these discriminatory and violent acts, despite the risk to their lives.

We call upon the British government to condemn this latest act of Islamophobia, and demand the Indian authorities uphold religious freedom and the rights of minorities in a country that is closely allied with ours.