Teacher wins fight against burqa code

Updated on: Thursday, August 12, 2010

Shirin Middhya has won a hard-fought battle to get out of the veil. Four months after being shunted out of the Aliah University main campus to the Salt Lake branch following a controversy over refusing to wear the burqa, the 24-year-old Bengali lecturer has been reinstated. And the university website has a flashing update that says ‘we have no dress code’.

Shirin was allegedly hounded by students union leaders to cover herself in a burqa but stood her ground. “I have fought hard to get where I am and have not learnt to take anything lying down,” she told TOI on Tuesday after learning that she was being transferred back to the main campus at Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square. Having put the controversy behind her, she is eagerly awaiting for the university to allot her classes.

When she was transferred to Salt Lake in April, the authorities had assured her that the shift was only temporary. But she wrote to vice-chancellor Syed Samsul Alam, requesting that she be brought back to the main campus. The V-C on Tuesday instructed the registrar to issue a note to reinstate Shirin. “We have spoken to the students’ union and warned them that no dress code exists in the university. If they have issued such a diktat, it is illegal,” said registrar A H Dafadar.

The last four months have been a nightmare for the young lecturer, fresh out of Jadavpur University. “I hold a masters degree in Bengali and joined Aliah University in March. Trouble broke out right from the beginning. In mid-April, eight of us women teachers were threatened by the students’ union to wear a burqa. Initially, we protested and refused to succumb to the threats. The general secretary and assistant general secretary of the union called us up and threatened that if we do not follow the diktat, we would be barred from taking classes,” said Shirin.

The students union even put up posters that read ‘Those who oppose the burqa should go away’, Shirin alleges. Most of the teachers buckled under the threats. In the end, Shirin was the last woman standing.

“Initially, even they had refused. But the students prevented them from entering the classrooms. Eventually, they decided to give in to the union and requested time to get hold of a burqa, which was ‘granted’ by the student leaders. But I refused to budge and wrote a complaint to minority affairs minister Abdus Sattar and the vice-chancellor. I was then removed to Salt Lake as an assistant librarian,” she said.

“I was promised I would be back on the main campus when the new academic session began. Since Bengali classes are not held in Salt Lake, I was told to look after the library. I did not hold any degree in library science, so I was appointed as assistant librarian. The new session started on July 25. I then wrote another letter to the vice-chancellor requesting that I be shifted back to the main campus. Till now, I have not received any official reply,” she said.

Minister for minority affairs, Abdus Sattar said: “When I received a complaint from her, I immediately asked the vice-chancellor to initiate action and reinstate her. No one can issue any fatwa or impose a decision on anybody. It is against democracy. The V-C, however, must have thought it prudent to shift her temporarily from the campus. The students who are involved in issuing such diktats may have misbehaved with her outside the campus.”

Another teacher at Aliah University agrees that a diktat was issued. “However, I know some of the teachers who wear the burqa as a family tradition. I do not find any reason to protest,” she said, requesting anonymity.

Assistant general secretary of Aliah University Students Union Hasannujaman said: “We have not issued any such diktat. We had objected to a dress that she wore. We had requested her to wear a salwar kameez, like other teachers do. Instead, she wrote a letter to the authorities making allegations against the students’ union.”

Shirin, however, points out that it was only when the media highlighted her plight that the students union changed their stance. (TNN)

Teacher wins fight against burqa code

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