Amidst the ongoing hijab controversy in Karnataka, Manchester United player Paul Labile Pogba on Thursday, 10 February, shared a video on Instagram of mobs donning saffron scarves heckling hijab-wearing Muslim women in educational institutes across India.
The visual, shared by the Muslim footballer as an Instagram story, was captioned, "Hindutva mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India."
Six Muslim students, on 1 February, were denied permission to enter a classroom after they refused to remove their hijab at the government Pre-University College in Udupi, Karnataka.
On Thursday, a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court heard arguments on the petitions requesting that the Muslim girls wearing hijabs be allowed to attend school. However, in a shocking decision, the bench refused to pass an interim order allowing the girls to attend classes wearing their headscarves until final adjudication.
Instead, the bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna Dixit and JM Khazi said it would pass an order prohibiting any student from wearing any religious clothing while it considers the legal issues involved.
'Stop Marginalisation of Muslim Women': Malala Extends Support
Reacting to colleges denying entry to Muslim women in Karnataka schools and colleges, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said on Tuesday, 8 February, that it was "horrifying" that Muslim girls were denied entry to schools for wearing a hijab.
The women's rights and education advocate urged the government to stop marginalising Muslim women in India.
She tweeted,
"Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying. Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women."
Yousafzai, as a school student, was shot by the Pakistani Taliban over her advocacy for girls' education.
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