Malala Yousafzai criticizes Indian college’s hijab ban as protests force school closures

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai criticized a hijab ban at an Indian college amid protests that have forced school closures. 

“Refusing to let girls go to school in their hijabs is horrifying,” Yousafzai said on Twitter in response to an article regarding a girl getting denied entrance to her school because she was wearing a hijab. 

“Objectification of women persists — for wearing less or more. Indian leaders must stop the marginalisation of Muslim women,” she added. 

Indian schools have begun banning the hijab, which has led to protest by Muslim students and counterprotests by Hindu students, CBS News reported. 

The protests have sometimes descended into violence, with the two sides throwing stones at each other. 

The Indian state of Karnataka on Tuesday announced schools would be closed for three days due to the controversy, according to CBS News.  

In an attempt to stop the protests, the state announced Wednesday that gatherings at schools were banned for two weeks. 

The Karnataka High Court’s chief justice is appointing a multijudge panel to hear petitions against the hijab ban after a judge said it was too big of an issue for one judge to determine the outcome alone.