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THE story begins in the Udipi district of the coastal Indian state of Karnataka.
Earlier this month, several female Muslim students were suddenly barred from entering the premises of the government school they attended and were told by the principal that, according to new state regulations, they could not enter school unless they removed their hijabs. Since this had never previously been an issue, and given that exams were only a month away, the girls protested and began a sit-in outside the gate of the school.
As more and more schools and educational institutes followed suit, the protests spread and, on cue, hordes of Sanghi students and affiliates wearing saffron scarves also came out on the streets to support the ban and condemn the protesters, who were comparatively much smaller in number.
Then came the moment that has defined the issue: a young student named Muskan drove up to school on her scooty and was immediately accosted by a large group of men, waving saffron scarves and shouting “Jai Shri Ram” in an effort to intimidate this lone lady. After all, if there’s one thing that watching National Geographic and classics like the Lion King has taught us, it is that when hyenas try to take on lionesses, they always attack in packs. But this lioness wasn’t having it; turning back to the baying mob she raised her fist and shouted “Allah-o-Akbar” in a defiant reply to the mob’s cries and catcalls.
This is an India where Muslims are routinely demonised by a Goebbelsian media.
The moment these words left her lips, I could picture anchors and editors in the propaganda machine that is Indian electronic media wet their lips in delight. Here, finally, was their chance to turn this issue in the direction they wanted. And so it was: talk shows focused on the Allah-o-Akbar versus Jai Shri Ram and hijab versus saffron scarf row. The purpose, of course, was to ‘both-sides’ the issue and obfuscate the reality that this doesn’t really have anything to do with the hijab or even with women’s right to choose what they wear.
While those are issues in their own rights, to reduce what is happening in Karnataka is to ignore the context: this is an India where hate and polarisation is policy. This is an India where speakers at a conference in Hardiwar openly called for the genocide of Muslims without so much as a word of censure from the highest echelons of government. This is an India where Muslims are routinely demonised by a Goebbelsian media amplified by an onslaught of targeted and organised fake news and fear-mongering campaigns on social media.
To imagine that this is just about school rules, the hijab or women’s rights is naïve and reductionist at best and deceitful at worst. It is in fact about the systematic erasure and ghettoisation of Indian Muslims as part of a well-orchestrated strategy which clearly has the support of all branches of the state including, but not limited to, the supreme court of India.
The fakers also immediately went into play, posting pictures of a girl in jeans and a shirt while claiming that this was Muskan. The goal here was to paint her as a hypocrite who only insisted on her right to wear a hijab out of some nefarious political motivation. In actual fact, the picture is of Najma Nazir, a member of the Janata Dal. There were other pictures as well, some Photoshopped to make it seem as if Muskan wore revealing clothes in her private life, and some of these were circulated by BJP office holders.
Even more insidious can be the behaviour of some media outlets. An editorial in The Print found it “distressing that the hijab-saffron scarf row in Karnataka is forcing even the well-meaning voices of modernity and liberalism to defend the regressive practice of covering up young women”.
Once must appreciate the artistry: in just 50 words not only was a false equivalence drawn but the direction of the debate was also skillfully steered to the question of backwardness and modernity, all the while attempting to retain the outlet’s ‘progressive’ credentials. An India Today anchor was somewhat more honest with her spin, asking: “Who convinced young girls to suddenly hide their bodies, fight for religion, rather than focus on impending college exams? Which outfit knew Hindus will likely react and turn it communal?”
Here, once again, we see the typical tactics of the spin machine: to turn victim into oppressor, to turn the targets of a conspiracy into the conspirators.
And it works. It works because in every land there are always poison seeds slumbering beneath the soil, invisible to the eye. They wait only for the right kind of rain to come before sprouting and blooming into a harvest of hate. That rain, in India’s case, was Modi. And now it’s time to reap.
The writer is a journalist.
Twitter: @zarrarkhuhro
Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2022
