Kashmir nursing students protest alleged burqa discrimination at medical college
Muslim students accuse doctor of barring burqa-wearing trainees from labor room, prompting inquiry into discriminatory treatment
SRINAGAR, Kashmir (MNTV) — Muslim nursing students at a government medical college in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir have protested alleged discrimination over wearing burqas and abayas during clinical training, prompting the institution to open an inquiry into their complaints.
Students at Government Medical College Doda boycotted work and demonstrated on Wednesday after alleging that the head of its gynecology department, Dr. Madhu Chib, repeatedly prevented burqa-wearing trainees from entering the labor room.
The students said the dispute was not an isolated incident but part of recurring treatment they considered harassment over their Islamic clothing. One student alleged that trainees wearing burqas were also prevented from entering the professor’s room.
“Why do they have a problem with our burqa? It is our identity and pride,” one protester said as students demanded equal treatment and an investigation.
Another student, identified as Iqra, alleged that the professor had openly expressed dislike for the burqa and associated wearing it with kand, a term referring to wrongdoing or unlawful activity. Students questioned why their clothing was being singled out while other potential concerns inside clinical areas were not treated similarly.
Chib has denied that her objection concerned hijab, telling local media that the dispute was about students wearing the required uniform.
The conflicting accounts have placed the issue before an eight-member inquiry committee constituted by the medical college administration after receiving a written complaint from the students.
The committee, headed by physiology department chief Dr. Garima Charak, has been instructed to conduct what the administration described as a “free and fair” inquiry and submit its findings within two days. The allegations against Chib have not yet been established.
Students have demanded that the investigation determine whether Muslim trainees were subjected to discriminatory treatment because of their religious clothing and ensure that they can undertake their medical training with dignity.
The controversy comes amid wider concerns among Muslims in India over hostility toward hijab, burqa and other visible expressions of Islamic identity in educational and public institutions.
Disputes over Muslim women’s clothing have increasingly moved beyond questions of institutional dress codes to debates over religious freedom and Muslims’ ability to visibly practice their faith.
Doda legislator Mehraj Malik said he had raised the students’ complaints with Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakina Itoo and called for swift action by the administration
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