SRINAGAR: The Srinagar girl who topped the twelfth class examination and was trolled for not wearing a headscarf, skipping her academic success, wants the controversy to end so that she can focus on her studies and become an engineer. She is interested in nuclear sciences and computers.
“I am a Muslim by words and action. I respect the Hijab. I will wear it when I think I need to,” Aroosa Parvaiz was quoted saying by a Delhi based TV channel. She got 499 of the 500 marks in the examinations conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir state board of school education. “Please don’t judge me. No one has given you the right to do so.”
Aroosa who was felicitated by the District Administration Srinagar on the weekend said though personally did not take the toxic trolling so seriously but it disturbed her parents, who did not deserve it. She said her agency, space and judgment should be respected as she might be a better Muslim than the vitriolic trollers.
Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, honoured Aroosa with a certificate of excellence, a trophy and a bank cheque of Rs 10,000 as a mark of encouragement.
Watching the 18-year old being trolled for three days, a number of social media users fought back in support of the little girl, who deserved to celebrate her success. Some of them felt no difference between the crowds objecting to the Hijab of Karnataka girl and the virtual moral cops in Kashmir who targetted the young girl for being bearhead.
“Instead of focusing on what girls wear, we should focus more on creating opportunities for their empowerment. Aroosa is an asset for Kashmir and all the losers trolling her should get a life,” politician, Anees Salman Soz wrote. “Just as some girls in Karnataka are right to fight for their right to wear hijab, Aroosa has a right to dress the way she wants.” Another social media user termed the trollers as “Kashmiri well-frogs”.
Even the clergy joined in her defence. “Islam does not permit trolling or issuing fatwas on social media,” Mufti Azmatullah of Darul Uloom Rahimia, Bandipore was quoted saying. “Islam does not allow anyone to give violent lessons”.
In most of the adverse comments, the key trigger was Karnataka where a young Hijab-wearing Muslim girl being surrounded by the rightwing activists was heard shouting Alloh u Akbar. The video clip of that event went viral on social media across the world.
Moderate comments, however, did insist that the dress should be left to the wearer and the larger point is to defend one’s choice of the dress, which must be as important in Karnataka as in Srinagar.
“I know amid all the darkness, there’s still a silver lining,” Aroosa told a newspaper. “And that’s the outpour of support I received. I’m happy that there’re people celebrating my humble feat out there.”
