Is Hijab a choice? Can a girl, or a woman, choose to adopt a dress that hides her? Iran born chess prodigy Dorsa Derakhshani rejected Hijab. Indian shooter Heena Sandhu refused to wear it. Let us learn from them.
Dorsa Derakhshani was born in Iran. She is a free spirited girl. Dorsa became a centre of attention when she was just a child. She had won the national chess tournament in the under-8 category.
But the reason she attracted attention was her outfit. She wore a princess dress alongwith a Tiara in a chess tournament, while all other participants were wearing Hijab. When interviewed by media, she said, “I’ve always liked to wear what shows my mood in that day and so, when I won the tournament, I felt quite powerful”.
The 1998 born Dorsa has won three gold medals at Asian Youth Chess Championship. In 2012 in the category of under – 14 and then in 2013 and 2014 in under – 16 category. But in 2017 she ran out of luck.
The Iranian Chess Federation banned Dorsa from playing Chess for Iran National Team. The reason: she had not worn Hijab while playing in the Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017. Since then she has moved to U.S.
Heena Sidhu
Heena Sidhu is another illustrious sportsperson who refused to wear Hijab. The year was 2016. She was all set to participate in Asian Airgun Championship to be held in Teheran. Heena had won gold medal in 2015 for 10m category. Consequently, she was the defending champion for 2016.
Forcing tourists or foreign guests to wear ‘hijab’ is against the spirit of the game. Since I don’t like it, I have withdrawn my name…I’ll not participate in this competition if you are going to force me to comply with your religious beliefs.
Heena Sidhu
Heena received massive support from sports lovers all over the world.
Is Hijab a Choice?
What message do we get from the examples of these two very illustrious, modern and successful girls?
Firstly, that there is an oppressive machinery that tries to impose Hijab. The tactics of coercion can vary but the objective remains same. To browbeat women to wear Hijab. The authorities might jail them for not wearing Hijab. Or, ban them from progressing in careers of their choice.
Secondly, free spirited girls/women love their freedom more that wearing Hijab. They are willing to make major sacrifices instead of wearing a regressive clothing.
Thirdly, even common sense tells us that any kind of moral policing, especially related to something as personal as the way of dressing is against the human spirit. Every living being loves to be free.
It seems that Hashtags like HijabIsMyChoice are Islamist tools of imposing medieval mindset using democracy and media control.
