Zaira Wasim on hijab row: ‘I res this system where women are harassed for…’
Actor Zaira Wasim has voiced her opinions on the hijab issue in Karnataka. The actor took to her social media handles on Saturday to share a lengthy post criticising the ban on hijab in Karnataka schools, mentioning that it was injustice, and said that she ‘resed’ the entire system of woman being harassed for carrying out a religious commitment. The hijab row began at the beginning of January when six female Muslim students at Government PU College said they were forbidden from entering their college wearing hijab. They began a protest against the college authorities, which snowballed into a statewide issue across Karnataka. The matter is currently in the Karnataka High Court.
In her post, Zaira wrote that wearing a hijab isn’t a choice, but an obligation in Islam. She said that she wears the hijab with ‘gratitude’ and humility. “I, as a woman who wears the hijab, with gratitude and humility, resent and res this entire system where women are being stopped and harassed for merely carrying out a religious commitment.” She added that systems that force Muslim women to choose between hijab and education, are unjust. “Stacking this bias against Muslim women and setting up systems where they should have to decide between education and hijab or to give up either is an absolute injustice. You’re attempting to compel them to make a very specific choice that feeds your agenda and then criticising them while they’re imprisoned in what you’ve constructed.”
Zaira further wrote that this issue was taking place under the facade of empowerment. “On top of all this, building a façade that all this is being done in the name of empowerment is even worse when it is quite exactly the opposite of that. Sad.”
Zaira Wasim made her debut with Dangal, with Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra. She starred in two films after that, including Secret Superstar and The Sky Is Pink, and then announced that she would be quitting films since her acting career was at odds with her faith.
