Islamic group 'Darul Uloom Deoband' responsible for hijab row, says NCPCR

In a new twist to the hijab row, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights chairperson Priyank Kanungo has said that the 'Darul Uloom Deoband' is responsible for forcing young Muslim women to wear hijab.

The child rights body had already sent a notice to the Islamic seminary over the content on their website earlier.

Kanungo said that the notice was sent against content in some of the fatwas, which were infringing on the rights of children.

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“One of their fatwas say that Muslim girls should be pulled out from schools where the hijab is not allowed. Another says that girls should not be allowed in classes after a certain age if the teacher is male. There is no doubt that Darul Uloom Deoband is orchestrating these hijab protests," Kanungo told DH.

The NCPCR has sent a notice to the Islamic seminary on January 15 this year, and a reply is due sometime this week.

In the notice, the NCPCR said that it received a complaint against Darul Uloom Deoband’s website, against the “unlawful and misleading fatwas” issued by them.

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In one of the fatwas, the child rights body said, the seminary said that an adopted child does not have equal rights to property, which, it noted, was in contravention to section 2(2) of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, and the Hague Convention on Adoption.

“It is pertinent to mention here that such fatwas are not only misleading to the Law of the land but are also illegal in nature. There are similar fatwas provided in the links by the complainant which pertain to school book syllabus, college uniform, education of children in the un-Islamic atmosphere, girls' higher Madrasa education, corporal punishment, etc,” the complaint read.

The Commission asked for a reply within 10 days, but due to the ongoing elections, the seminary has been given time till this week.

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“They will either have to remove the content or take down the site,” Kanungo told DH.

Ashraf Usmani, spokesperson of the Darul Uloom Deoband refuted Kanungo’s charge and said that his claim was part of a coordinated attack.

“These fatwas have been on the site for eight to nine years, but the complaints were filed just now. The girl children in Karnataka have been wearing hijab for years but they needed to be stopped now. Islam certainly has such teachings, but are these new phenomena? This is coming from a malafide intention,” Usmani told DH.

As the row intensified with children in several parts of the state not allowed inside the school with headscarves, the Karnataka High Court continued to hear the petitions challenging the hijab ban in educational institutions.

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