Former Bollywood actor Zaira Wasim, who shot to fame after playing an important role in Aamir Khan’s Dangal (2016), has reacted to the ongoing hijab controversy that erupted in the Indian state of Karnataka a month ago at a college in Udupi. She said that hijab is not a choice for Muslim women, but an obligation in Islam.
Wasim took to social media and shared a lengthy post in which she spoke about “the inherited notion of hijab being a choice is an ill-informed one.” She said such an idea is “either a construct of convenience or ignorance.”
“Hijab isn't a choice but an obligation in Islam. Likewise, a woman who wears the hijab is fulfilling an obligation enjoined upon her by the God she loves and has submitted herself to,” the 21-year-old wrote.
“I, as a woman who wears the hijab with gratitude and humility, resent and resist this entire system where women are being stopped and harassed for merely carrying out a religious commitment,” she added.
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The Secret Superstar (2017) actress continued and called the ban on hijab and injustice, “Stacking this bias against Muslim women and setting up systems where they should have to decide between education and hijab or to give up either is an absolute injustice. You’re attempting to compel them to make a very specific choice that feeds your agenda and then criticising them while they’re imprisoned in what you’ve constructed. There is no other option to encourage them to choose differently. What is this if not a bias with people who confirm it acting in support of it?”
Wasim said she is saddened that the issue is being labelled as one about empowerment. “On top of all this, building a facade that all this is being done in the name of empowerment is even worse when it is quite exactly the opposite of that. Sad,” she concluded.
Her remarks come even as the Karnataka government, on Friday, submitted before the Karnataka High Court that the hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam and preventing its use did not violate Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees religious freedom.
The court is hearing petitions on the issue, but it has for now asked students to wear uniforms and refrain from wearing hijab or saffron scarves till the time the issue is resolved.
Wasim, who was last seen in The Sky Is Pink (2019) alongside Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, quit her acting career in 2019 as it conflicted with her religious beliefs and faith.
Amar Kanwar is getting a huge London show in 2026.
Will host a site-specific, immersive installation.
Feature both new and existing films, transforming the entire building.
A new catalogue will feature unpublished writings and a long interview.
Indian filmmaker and artist Amar Kanwar, a quiet but monumental figure in contemporary art, is getting a major retrospective at Serpentine North. Slated for September 2026 to January 2027, this Serpentine Gallery retrospective won’t be a standard exhibition. It’s being conceived as a complete, site-specific art installation that will turn the gallery into what organisers call a “meditative visual and sonic environment.”
Amar Kanwar’s immersive films and installations will fill Serpentine North next year Instagram/paolamanfredistudio
What can visitors expect from this retrospective?
Don’t walk in expecting to just sit and watch a screen. Kanwar’s work has never been that simple. The plan is to use the entire architecture of Serpentine North, weaving his films into the very fabric of the space.Yeah, the Serpentine's been tracking his work for years. He was in that 'Indian Highway ' show back in 2008. Turns out that was just the start.
What it is about his work that gets under your skin?
He looks at the hard stuff. Violence. Justice. What we’re doing to the land. But he does it with a poet’s eye. That’s his thing. And it’s put him on the map. You see his work at big-league museums like the Tate, the Met. He’s a fixture at major shows like Documenta. You don't get invited back that many times by chance. His work just has that weight. His art isn’t easy viewing; it asks for your patience and focus. The upcoming Serpentine show is being built specifically to pull you into that slow, deep way of looking.
Alongside the films, the Serpentine will publish a significant catalogue. It’s not just a collection of images. It will feature a trove of Kanwar’s previously unpublished writings, giving a deeper look into his process. The book will also contain an extensive interview between the artist and the Serpentine’s artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.
The gallery is betting big on an artist who works quietly, but whose impact resonates for years. As one staffer put it, they’re preparing for an installation that changes how you see, and hear, everything.
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