Muskan Khan Sherni A Symbol of Muslima’s Strength

When my daughter grows I want her to have the conviction in Allah like Muskan Khan who has now earned the nickname Sherni or Tigress. 

Muskan Khan was going to college to hand in her assignment when she was confronted by about a large group of male Hindu extremists, demanding her to take off her hijab. At that time, all she could think of was Allah and she shouted “Allahu Akbar’. 

This happened after the colleges in the southern Indian state of Karnataka imposed a hijab ban in order to access education. This repulsive discriminatory move was orchestrated by the ruling political party that has been hijacked by extremist Hindu ideology known as Hindutva.

Their extremist ideology is behind injustice donetowards Muslim in India, the destruction of the Babri Mosque, the periodic massacre of Muslim community, and violence against Muslims.

In order the appreciate this kind of courage you have understand a little bit of India, and their treatment of Muslim. While most are secular and very tolerant, the voices that always win is the voice of the Hindu extremists. 

If you want to get rid of a whole Muslim family just accuse them of eating beef, they will get lynched first before any investigation is done. In fact it is not an isolated incident. Like in this BBC article and this report by the New York Times article Muslim Killed by Indian Mob had beef in his home.

What can we do?

The story of Muskan Khan goes viral because of the power of social media. Her innocent act of defending herself just with only two words “Allahu Akbar” is an inspiration. It has triggered other people to speak up against the ban ranging from influencers to celebrities.

We seen how social media have shifted public opinion about Israel. The western public has began to accept that the Palestinian issue is not a conflict between two equals instead it is oppression of defenseless people by Israel.

We have human resources who are willing to give their skills and expertise to a cause. The least that we can do is to highlight the injustice done to Muslims in India. You can highlight 100 injustices but people tend to become numb to injustice, and they look the other way. 

However, a display of courage like the one shown by Muskan Khan in standing up for her rights, gets the attention of the whole world. Allahu Akbar!