By Ismail Allison
(WASHINGTON D.C., 2/3/2022) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address a ban on the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, for Muslim girls at government-run schools in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Muslim students at the Pre-University College in Udupi have been prevented from wearing Islamic attire. The hijab ban has also spread to other colleges where Muslims have been harassed by other students wearing saffron scarves.
“We condemn this denial of religious freedom and urge Secretary of State Blinken to raise this disturbing issue with his Indian counterparts.” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “The hijab ban is just one more example of the mistreatment of Indian Muslims and the Islamophobic actions that nation’s government either carries out, ignores or excuses.”
