Muslim girls in UP college walk down the ramp in burqas, hurting Jamiat Ulema's sentiments

A show of creativity in a college during a fashion show has led to a controversy in UP’s Muzaffarnagar. While the event was a fashion show where some Muslim girls tried to showcase some designer burqas, it hasn't gone down well with a Muslim body in the district, and they have now demanded an apology. 

What happened

• On November 27, 2023, girls from Muzaffarnagar’s Shriram College walked down the ramp sporting numerous designer burqas. 
• The three-day fashion show called Fashion Splash had students displaying western and traditional attire, and thus a group of Muslim girls walked down the ramp in different designer burqas.

  मुजफ्फरनगर के श्रीराम कॉलेज में बुर्के में कैटवॉक !!
  
  जमीयत उलेमा ने कहा– "बुर्का फैशन का हिस्सा नहीं, ये पर्दे के लिए इस्तेमाल होता है। कॉलेजवाले आइंदा ऐसा न करें"#Muzaffarnagar #Up pic.twitter.com/P8sswuGpPD

  — Sachin Gupta (@SachinGuptaUP) November 27, 2023

• Students, however, have said that the event was all about showing your creativity, and different kinds of attire were displayed, and burqa was part of them.
• Bushra Khan, a student, said there was nothing wrong with it, “Nobody asked us to do this; we did it because we wanted to. There is nothing wrong with what we did. The motive was to showcase the designs.”
• The students have also got the support of their fellow college-goers and have claimed the backing of Darul Uloom, who said that the fashion show was a form of representation.

Muslim group demands apology

• When the video of these girls came on social media, the Muslim group Jamiat Ulema issued a statement saying the act was defaming a particular religion and the college should apologise.
• “We condemn the incident. Burqa is not an item of fashion; it is used for purdah (covering). It is a mark of dignity and honour for Muslim women. A burqa is worn so that women can avoid the looks of men who have wrong intentions. It does not behoove them (college authorities) to target a particular religion and inflame someone’s religious feelings,” Mukarram Qasmi, district convener of Jamiat Ulema, said.
• He added that the college authorities must apologise, and if they fail to do so, the Jamiat would pursue legal action against them.

The college stands with the students

• The college authorities have backed the students' creativity and said that the girls did not hurt sentiments of any religion.
• “The maulana’s views are his own, and I don’t want to comment on that. We are an education institution, and our objective is to give students the best education possible, irrespective of religion. The girls did not hurt any religious sentiments and instead took their traditions forward. I don’t think the students did anything wrong,” Ravi Gautam, a media coordinator for Shri Ram Group of Colleges, said.
• A section of people on X (formerly Twitter) have also expressed support for the girls for their creativity.