OAKBROOK TERRACE (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A month long billboard campaign aims to combat negative stereotypes about Muslim women and to call attention to the mistreatment of the minority population in India.
“My Hijab-My Right,” reads a billboard along the northbound lanes of I-294 just north of 290.
“The hijab is the dress of the woman for the sake of modesty,” said Sabeel Ahmed, executive director of GainPeace, an Oakbrook Terrace based non profit organization.
Ahmed’s group looks to educate the public about Islam. The billboard’s objective is to empower Muslim girls and women as well as call attention to human rights violations in India, where they are prevented from attending schools and colleges.
“Besides the prevention from wearing the hijab for the Muslim girls and ladies, there are many other human rights abuses,” Ahmed noted.
The image on the billboard depicts the account of a hijab-covered woman in India who fought back against a mob of Hindu nationalists attempting to prevent her from attending college classes.
Related
“Single handedly she did not stop. She walked through them, raising her fist. She became a symbol of strength and empowerment for many, many Muslims across the world,” said Ahmed.
Ahmed said the majority Hindu population of India has long been intolerant of minority Christians, Muslims and other groups, to the extent, according to Ahmed, they’ve been close to a genocide.
Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago and the ICNA Council for Social Justice have also joined in on the campaign, calling on economic and political consequences for India.
More can be learned at the GainPeace website or at 1-800-662-ISLAM.