Mazhab nai sikhata aapas mai bair rakhna
Hindi hai ham watan h Hindustan hamara

Rightly quoted by Allama Iqbal, yet unfortunately, today the government fails to implement it. The recent derogatory action by CM Nitish Kumar is a dark stain on the Janata Dal (United) ideology, which claims to incorporate secularism and integral humanism in its agenda. Moreover, the much-publicized slogan of the BJP, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, appears to have been gravely violated. After the incident involving a Muslim lady doctor in Bihar, we, as Muslim women, are compelled to protect ourselves from the government itself. One is forced to question whether the Prime Minister’s statement, Beti Bachao, was meant to imply protection from leaders as well. Today, after living in a secular India for centuries, I am deeply ashamed to state that minorities, especially women, are struggling for their safety.
What a habit is (a long tunic, veil, scarf, and scapular) are to a nun; a turban is to a Sikh woman; a sari is to a Hindu woman; and a robe is to a Buddhist or Jain woman, the hijab holds the same religious significance for a Muslim woman. It is not optional but obligatory, not forceful, but compulsory. Now, if some women from the Muslim community choose not to practice it, that is their personal choice, as Allah, as stated in the Qur’an, allows room for conscience. However, this does not grant any Muslim or non-Muslim individual the authority to question, comment on, or attack a woman’s hijab. It is her integrity, her identity, and an inseparable part of who she is.
Al-Tabari wrote:
"Allah commanded women to cover themselves with jilbāb so that their beauty is concealed and they are recognized as chaste, preventing harm."
Tafsir al-Tabari, verse 33:59
Ibn al-Jawzi wrote:
"Women have been commanded to hide their beauty because exposing it leads to corruption."
Ahkam al-Nisa', p. 74
Ibn Taymiyyah said:
"The hijab was prescribed to prevent fitnah by hiding the woman's beauty."
Majmu' al-Fatawā, 15/448
Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:
"Women were ordered to cover because they are a place of attraction and exposing their beauty leads to evil."
Ighäthat al-Lahfān, 1/254
Such a disgraceful act is completely unacceptable, whether it was ordered by the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, during elections at a polling booth, or carried out by the current Chief Minister of Bihar, or witnessed in Kolkata. We, the Muslims living in India, stand firmly against such indignity.
As rightly stated by MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi in Parliament, Muslims have shed their blood throughout India’s freedom struggle and remain ready to do so even today. However, a pressing question arises: have Muslims given their blood to this nation only to witness such slurs being directed at their women? History bears testimony that during the battles of Islam, including the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of Badr, Muslim men never even raised their gaze toward the women of the enemy. Even in contemporary times, no Muslim leader has ever questioned, demeaned, or humiliated the women of any other religion.

The religious references about the same are :

lbn al Jawzi رحمه الله said,

"Women are the trusts of honorable men.
None but an honorable man will honor them, and none but a dishonorable man will humiliate them."

[AI Mudhish 661]

I still remember watching a cricket match in South Africa where cricketer Hashim Amla did not even lift his gaze during an interview with a female reporter. This exemplifies the respect and dignity accorded to women in Islam, and it is exactly what we, as Muslim women, demand and expect while living in a country whose Constitution and Preamble proclaim secularism and whose laws uphold it.
Additionally, what added fuel to the fire of rage among Muslims was the statement made by Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad, who has been serving as a cabinet minister in the second Yogi Adityanath government, in which he stated, quite gleefully, that:
Arey, woh bhi toh aadmi hain na, peeche nahi padna chahiye. Naqab chhoo diya toh itna ho gaya...kahin aur chhoo dete toh kya ho jaata (He's also a human being after all. One should not hound him like this. Just by touching the 'hijab' caused such an uproar, what would have happened if he had touched something else)," he told Bharat Samachar.
To be completely honest, I was left numb upon hearing these words. It felt as if my personal integrity, as a woman, had been attacked. This is a vitriol-laden and egregiously reckless statement. I asked the supporters of the Uttar Pradesh government to explain this shameful remark to me. How would they feel if the same statement were made about their own women, or if the same incident had happened to them? Would they still remain silent? This is a reprehensible display of sordid patriarchy, a statement that exposes nothing but the absurdity and cheap mentality of the so-called leaders of this country.
It is often said that Muslim women are oppressed because they are expected to cover themselves. Additionally, Bollywood has left no stone unturned in portraying Muslim women always in burqa, as if that alone represents their identity. But is it merely a representation? I question this. I believe that even if the world perceives us as oppressed for covering ourselves from head to toe, not by force but by Allah’s command and for our own comfort, that perception is misguided. However, after the recent incident, covering has become a necessity. When the vultures in society, especially those in positions of power, harass women who are fully covered, how would they behave toward those who do not cover themselves? This objectification of women is precisely what compels us to take to the streets.
Is this what secularism truly stands for, or is India turning into a pseudo-secular country? Or is it simply Islamophobia overtaking the minds of certain Hindu leaders? Have they forgotten the sacrifices of Muslim leaders during the freedom struggle? Are they attempting to erase the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in one universal religion for all—humanity? Have they forgotten the contributions of APJ Abdul Kalam to India? Or is this merely a new way to suppress and dominate minorities? The government must answer these questions, for we, the Muslim youth living in India, will not tolerate any discrimination or disrespect toward our religion. This is our basic and fundamental right, guaranteed by the Constitution of the country we live in.
The evidence and arguments outlined herein conclusively indicate that the Muslim community demands a formal apology from the culprit, not only to the victim but to the entire community. When our religion is at stake, age affords no immunity.

Emil:------------------shakirahwaqar1707@gmail.com