Students took to the city streets on Thursday to condemn the torment Bibi Muskan, a student of a college in Karnataka, was subjected to.
Two more protest marches are scheduled for Friday.
Students from schools and colleges gathered at the Park Circus intersection to show their solidarity with the second-year BCom student, who thundered “hijab is my right” as she strode ahead of screaming boys who sought to follow her.
In Park Circus on Thursday, a Class X student of Saifee Hall stood alongside a second-year student of Rammohan College. Both were wearing hijabs, while one was waving the Tricolour.
Nilofer Nasreen, who is pursuing a course in commerce at Rammohan College, said she wanted to voice her opinion that a “woman has the right to wear anything, including a hijab, as it is her and her choice alone”.
“We are here to protect our rights as women,” Nasreen said.
Uzma Athar, a Class XI student at Saifee Hall, had come to the protest with her junior in school, Anam Fatwa.
A poster Athar was carrying read: “Hijab is our right. Hijab is our Pride.”
Fatwa’s read: “Whether it is hijab, ghoonghat or jeans, it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear. The right is guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. Stop Harassing.”
Nousheen Baba Khan, who was at the forefront of the women-led vigil against the citizenship
matrix at the Park Circus Maidan, addressed the gathering of around 100 women and men.
“The saffron brigade is continually trying to ensure that this country’s secular fabric is torn apart. We will not let that happen as these issues cut across religions,” she said.
On Friday, teachers, students and members of the civil society groups will lead a candle light march from Esplanade to the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road to protest the politics of polarisation.
At 4pm, students of Jadavpur University will march to protest “the assault on a fellow student”.
Suman Sengupta, who represents Sahomon, a platform that works for communal harmony, will be present at the candle light march. He said: “Who are they to decide what a student will come wearing to the college?”
Aritra Majumder, chairperson of the students’ union of the engineering faculty of JU, said: “As students of a campus that has celebrated plurality, we cannot sit idle over what has happened to
a fellow student. When students revolt, the 56-inch chest shrinks.”