When Aroosa Parvaiz topped this year’s 10+2 board exams, never in her wildest dream did she imagine that her hard-earned success would be followed by toxic trolls. The J&K board of school education declared the results for 10+2 exams on February 8.

Aroosa topped the science stream with 499 marks out of 500. Congratulatory messages started pouring in on social media but her family’s happiness did not last long. “Bitter trolls started appearing on the social media. I could not understand why the same society trolled me on the one hand and felt proud of me on the other”, Aroosa said.

The moral policemen of Kashmir had seen her picture sans a hijab on the social media. That set the fireball rolling. While the majority of these toxic trolls cursed the girl and her family for the absence of hijab, some even went to the extent of seeking her murder.

“Begairat… Pardah nai Kia … Eski gardan Katt do (She is shameless. She has not covered herself, she should be beheaded)”, said one of the bitter, brutal and toxic trolls.

“My religion, my hijab and my Allah are my personal issues. What I should wear or not should not bother people if they believe in the greatness of my religion. These comments do not matter to me, but my parents are undergoing a trauma”, Aroosa told some reporters.

Even though some locals condemned the threats and trolling, they did not unequivocally support Aroosa’s right to not wear the hijab.

“She is our daughter and she has done us proud….If she had to be educated on hijab, that can be done as a father or brother’s advice. Never by trying to stoke violence against her”, said Ghulam Rasool, a teacher.

Some Islamic scholars while condemning the “online, groundless fatwas”, stopped short of commenting on the root issue – is hijab/niqab/burqa for girls and women mandatory as per Islam, or is there truly a choice to reject any such religious clothing, as some left-liberal supporters of “right to wear hijab in school” movement are telling us.

Mufti Azmatullah of Darul Uloom Rahimia in Bandipora district told a local newspaper, “Islam does not permit trolling or issuing fatwas on social media. Islam does not allow anyone to give violent lessons”.

Some people did demanded punishment of those trolling the poor girl for her success. “We have a very competent cyber police station in the city. I am sure the trollers must have been traced and booked by now”, hoped a neighbour of Aroosa.

Past acid attack on minor girl student who didn’t wear hijab/veil

In 2001, a terror outfit Lashkar-e-Jabbar after carrying out an acid attack on a 14-year-old student issued a diktat that all women in Kashmir must wear a veil. The attack was carried out by four youths who were believed to be indoctrinated by the outfit for carrying out such heinous acts in the name of religion.

Lashkar-e-Jabbar carried out a series of acid attacks in the Valley in the end of 2001 to ensure that edicts issued by the outfit are followed by women in letter and spirit. In some cases activists of now banned women terror group Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the faith) founded by Asiya Andrabi, a self-described “Islamic feminist”, were also accused of throwing acid on females who refused to follow the diktats issued by the Lashkar-e-Jabbar.

The tactics used by the militants to stifle the fairer sex have also been used by the disgruntled roadside Romeos to settle scores with the women, who dared to say no to them. And unfortunately, acid attacks have become a part of the Kashmir society, thanks to Pakistan and its stooges in the Valley.

Recently, a 24-year old female was attacked with acid in Srinagar’s old city by a jilted suitor who had been stalking her. Sajid Altaf Rather has been arrested along with his two accomplices. The victim has been admitted to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh ( SMHS) hospital but is likely to be moved to Chennai for specialized treatment as she has lost her eyesight.

Now, Islamist outfits like PFI (centered in Kerala but with tentacles all over Bharat) and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (founded in pre-partition Hyderabad state by notorious Islamist ideologue Maududi) are emulating their fundamentalist Pakistani counterparts and are driving the movement for hijab/face veil in Karnataka govt. schools.

Women in many Muslim countries like Iran have struggled long and hard for the right to reject clothing like hijab/niqab/burqa which clerics say are meant to ‘protect’ women from the male gaze. Although fundamentalists quote hadith (Islamic scripture) to say that such head/body covering garments are necessary from menstruating age, some recommend hijab for even younger girls (as young as 4-year-olds) arguing that it allows them to ‘get used to it’.

(With IANS inputs)