By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Imphal (Manipur): The Manipur Muslim girl students have formed, perhaps first time in the history of the state, a union to wage a war on two fronts: to change Muslim socieity’s approach on higher education for Muslim girls and to demand state government reservation for Muslim women.
More than a hundred Muslim girls – from Class XI to graduation level – gathered in the state capital city on August 30 to form the All Manipur Muslim Girl Students’ Union – the first-ever union formed by Muslim girls in Manipur, says a report in The Telegraph.
This is the first move from Muslim women towards asserting their rights in matters of education and government jobs.
There are about 2 lakh Muslims, in the state.
“Girls are still discriminated against when it comes to higher education. Their families and community discourage them though there is no restriction as such to a girl going for higher education,” said M.R. Choudhary, a BSc final year student of D.M. College of Science, was quoted saying by the daily. Choudhary was instrumental in forming the union.
Seeking reservation for Muslim women in government jobs will be on top of their agenda. “Muslims in Manipur get 4% reservation in government jobs. Of this, we may demand 2 per cent for Muslim women,” Choudhary said.