A rank-and-file member reached out to the executive and requested that a version of the following motion be endorsed. The CUPE 3906 executive committee strongly endorses the following motion in solidarity with girls and young women in India:
Whereas some might think that the world has gone well past the era of struggle for the right of education for everybody, regardless of their sex, race or religion. Unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere in the world;
And whereas no one should be deprived of education because of their sex, religious beliefs or for any other reason.
And whereas since last month, female Muslim students in the Indian state of Karnataka are being asked to choose between following their religious beliefs or pursuing their education;
And whereas several schools across the state barred female students who choose to wear hijab from entering classrooms, sparking nationwide protests by student activists that were faced by right-wing nationalists.
And whereas in video footage that went viral across social media, a hijabi female student “Muskan Khan” was attempting to hand in a college assignment in the city of Mandya, when she was harassed by a group of men wearing saffron scarves (the colour of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party) who demanded her to take her hijab off;
And whereas these events have occured concurrently with an alarming rise of Islamophobic speech by right-wing Indian politicians, that went as far as openly calling to kill Muslims during the proceedings of a political conference in the city of Haridwar in December last year.
Be it resolved that CUPE 3906 stands in solidarity with the struggle of Indian girls and young women to pursue their education;
And be it further resolved that CUPE 3906 demands the Indian authorities to take every reasonable and necessary measure to fight Islamophobia and to guarantee safety and equality for all Indian students.
For further background reading:
https://twitter.com/IRF_Ambassador/status/1492153532350402564?s=20&t=shPHmK5oOH0P7vynGY_KgQ
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/india/hijab-karnataka-india-protest-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/14/asia/india-hindu-extremist-groups-intl-hnk-dst/index.html