Layers in the hijab debate

The hijab has many layers. A collection of 17 essays, mostly from India and with some from Bangladesh and Iran, attempts to present some of them

The Hijab: Islam, Women and the Politics of Clothing

Editors: P K Yasser Arafath & G Arunima 

Publisher: 

Simon & Schuster

Pages: 240

Price:  Rs 599

The book cover reminds of a short film, Raat Rani, from the anthology Modern Love: Mumbai that premiered on Amazon Prime Video. After finally succeeding in cycling over a steep flyover, the protagonist, Lalzari (Lali), a hijab-wearing young Kashmiri woman who is abandoned by the man with whom she had eloped to Mumbai, exclaims in glee, “Maine flyover cross kar liya (I’ve crossed the flyover)”.

The flyover becomes a metaphor for the boundaries that she, like most women, is