Hundreds of women got together in Ludhiana’s Field Ganj on Saturday to take part in a hijab march and express solidarity with Karnataka students where controversy has erupted wearing of the attire.
On Saturday, the women, covered in their hijabs, marched from CMC chowk towards Civil Hospital and Field Ganj area, holding placards that said ‘hands off my hijab, hijab is my crown, and pehle hijab fir kitab, among other things. A number of young women speakers later took to the dais over this issue.
One of the protesters, Pagambari Khatoon, a nursing student of CMC Nursing College, said, “Girls are given chunris in Navratra pooja. Then why do they want us to take off our hijabs. We are comfortable in it. Hence we strongly condemn whatever happened in Karnataka where a girl student was targeted by a group of boys just because she was adamant about wearing a hijab.”
Aayesha Khatoon, another college-going student, said, “In our country, everyone has the freedom to eat what they want, and wear what they want. So why are we being targeted.”
Another protester, Shehnaz Sheikh, added, “No one should target us for our appearance. This is a moment of expressing unity and hence I have come in this march.”
Maulana Usman Ludhianvi, shahi imam of Jama Masjid, Ludhiana said, “It is a religious matter and hence we have all gathered here. The women-led the march and we followed them. This shouldn’t be linked to politics, though many communal forces are trying to do exactly that and giving us lessons on dress codes. “
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