You Will Be Beaten Up: Muslim Girls Threatened For Removing Burqa In Public

For months now, Karnataka has been a focal point of communal tension, ever since the state education ministry triggered the ban on hijabs and burqas in educational institutions. Groups of girls were not allowed to attend examinations for wearing hijab or burqa. Recently, a WhatsApp group has emerged that allegedly threatens the Muslim girls who remove their headscarves in public.

A WhatsApp group named Muslim Defense Force (MDF) has come under the scanner for messages which threatens action against Muslim girls if they "chose" to remove their burqa and hijab in public places. India Today reported that these messages in Kannada read, "In mall basements, we have seen many wearing burqas and misbehaving. Our workers have already warned them. If this is seen again, you'll be beaten up."

This WhatsApp group has asked the parents to monitor the movement of their children. As per reports, this monitor includes them going to college or any other public space. They also revealed that the MDF workers will be monitoring the Muslim girls in Mangalore. They will be inspecting public spaces for any sort of misbehaviour. In case, they find a girl not wearing a burqa, they will beat them up.

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Whatsapp Group On Burqa

However, no information or reports has talked about how this organisation will be able to detect if a woman is Muslim or not and how big their network is. All the information has only been attained through WhatsApp groups.

The Mangalore Police Commissioner Shashi Kumar reacted to the incident. Kumar told the news media that the police are monitoring the threat messages, which are doing rounds on social media and has mentioned the Muslim Defence Force in the statement.

The police have also asked the parents to ensure that the children do not remove the burqa in public spaces for even selfies and pictures or else there would be a risk of attack from the members of this group. The commissioner said, "One WhatsApp group claims itself to be the protector of Muslim rights. They are saying that Muslim women who wear a burqa in public places should not take it out to take photographs and selfies in public places, or they will be attacked. They have sent messages to parents on social media. So we have been watchful about it."

This entire incident does make a worrisome trend on how it is the women of the community facing the backlash in any given situation. Organisations, institutions and states need to understand that it is a woman's choice to wear the burqa or hijab and it is their choice if they choose to discard it.