My dress trolled because I’m a woman, says Shehla Rashid after Twitter slams hijab look
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My dress trolled because I’m a woman, says Shehla Rashid after Twitter slams hijab look

JNU student Shehla Rashid was criticised for covering her head during the launch of former IAS officer Shah Faesal's party in Srinagar Sunday.

Deeksha Bhardwaj    

File photo of Shehla Rashid (left) at the launch of Shah Faesal's political party | @khanumarfa/Twitter

New Delhi: JNU PhD student and social activist Shehla Rashid sees a whole lot of sexism in the trolling she has received for covering her head at the launch of former IAS officer Shah Faesal’s party in Srinagar Sunday.

“Let’s be clear — it’s not a hijab, I have covered my head as a sign of respect,” Rashid, 31, told ThePrint. “Even (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi does that, would you question her for wearing a hijab?”

A former vice-president of the JNU Student Union (JNUSU), Rashid has taken a leap into active politics with Faesal’s Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Movement, though it’s not clear yet if she will contest elections.

The party was launched Sunday, and images from the event, showing Rashid with her head covered, were soon being shared online with acerbic comments about the “regressive” image she was portraying.

Talking to ThePrint, Rashid said the comments were solely inspired by the fact that she is a woman.

“A male politician wears a suit in private, but kurta-pyjama in public. That is never questioned,” said Shehla.

“The only reason this topic has come up for discussion is because I’m a woman,” she added. “If I were a man, my dress would not be a subject of discussion.”

Also read: Female actor and TMC Lok Sabha candidate? Brace yourself for sexist Internet trolls

‘Speaking people’s language’

On Twitter, Rashid hit back at trolls with a collage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sporting various kinds of headgear.

“Men dress however they want to in politics, as you can see from the collage I have made,” she told ThePrint. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sporting a pagadi. Now that’s not even just headgear, it’s religious headgear. Why hasn’t anyone ever questioned that?”

Rashid rose to prominence leading protests against the arrest of then JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, as well as union members Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, following alleged “anti-national” chants at a rally in February 2016 against the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru three years before.

Since then, Rashid, a fierce critic of the Narendra Modi government, has emerged as a prominent activist, with her tweets critical of the administration earning her nearly 5 lakh followers on Twitter.

Asked if her choice of clothing at the launch event made her a conformist, Shehla asserted that despite covering her head, which may come across as regressive, her politics remained progressive.

“If I want to bring the women of Kashmir into politics, which is my aim, they must be able to relate to me,” said the Srinagar native. “Politics is about speaking the people’s language.”

Politicians, she added, dressed in a manner that attracted the least amount of attention.

“In politics, one tends to dress in a form that attracts the least attention,” she said. “Most politicians in India wear white kurtas. You want the focus to be on your ideology, and not your dress.”

Also read: Why can’t Shehla Rashid celebrate Sinead O’Connor’s embrace of Islam?

‘Symptom of a larger problem’

However, a political leader from Jammu and Kashmir who preferred not be named said Rashid’s criticism was not an issue of sexism, adding that Rashid was a symptom of a larger problem.

“The entire narrative in the country has become about Hindu-versus-Muslim,” the leader said. “If you have a choice, you’d obviously choose to go the Muslim way than the Hindu way in Kashmir,” the leader added.

The divisive religious narrative, according to the politician, “has caused the middle ground to fade, pushing even the liberal and secular leaders to choose sides”.

“Shehla is symbolic, so she ends up being reported about, but this is happening to a lot of people across the state,” the leader said.