Fiction Shahina experienced a strange sense of oppression whenever she put on the hijab. No other girl in her class had to cover her head and look like a blinkered horse. Moreover, she was not a little girl anymore. She was sixteen and was mature enough to make some personal choices at least. “It is our religious duty, my girl,” Bapa told her in his usual affectionate way. “But there are other Muslim girls in the school who don’t wear such a thing. There’s even a Muslim lady teacher who never wears it.” “Well, we live in a particular community and we have to follow the rules of that community.” How absurd, thought Shahina. We call ourselves Muslims and then we divide ourselves into a hundred factions. Shias, Sunnis, Salafis, and what not. And then each faction makes rules for itself. Then fight for the sake of those rules. Absurd. Absurd. Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at herself. “Blinkered horse,” she smiled to herself in spite of th
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