International Women’s Day: Lifting the veil of ignorance over Muslim women’s attire

Around a month ago, a debate was reignited as Anne Frank’s suspected betrayer was identified. Several conjectural theories erupted in academic circles since the then 13-year-old Jewish girl’s diary, which she penned down during World War II, was published. It recounts the horrific miseries that the Nazis had inflicted on the Jews.

She writes, ever so tellingly, “I don’t dare to do anything anymore, ‘cause I’m afraid it’s not allowed.” As I flip through her heart-wrenching testimonial, it fills me with sorrow. How is it that humanity sunk so low when a teenage girl experiences what can only be construed as a traumatic loss of her childhood? Perhaps, the betrayal wasn’t by the one informant. Historically, the betrayal to the community was systemic, seated under the garb of cultural hegemony, racial extremism and an exclusionary brand of hyper-national identity politics.

Today, closer home, our society gawks at, is reticent towards, or much worse fervently supports the historical wrongs being committed against a different minority group. The ongoing hijab row in Karnataka’s educational institutes evokes a nationwide controversy, fostering far-reaching betrayals to the very idea of a secular India.

A culture of fear-mongering and intolerance

It is pertinent, and sadly so, that it is neither the first nor an isolated instance of majoritarian religious fanaticism exhibiting Islamophobia over the years. The blasphemous speeches at the Haridwar Dharam Sansad instigating genocide against Muslims and the formation of a ‘pure’ Hindu rashtra, mob violence and lynching over forcible chanting of ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ North-East Delhi riots, nasty blame games targeting Tablighi Jamaat at the onset of Covid-19, etc, have all followed a profligate trajectory.

The ongoing hijab issue is being farcically justified as an apparent liberation of Muslim women. Let us not forget that outraging Muslim women’s modesty on infamous platforms like Bulli Bai/Sulli Deals and antagonising Shaheen Bagh protesters received a perfunctory silence from the political dispensation. The communal targeting is systemic and patterned.

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Such Hindutva extremism is at loggerheads with secularism — it pronounces a divisive political ideology at best, a vicious communal one at worst. By flashing saffron shawls and hoisting saffron flags as a mark of ‘protest’ against teenage girls exercising their rights to practice their religion and to education, a culture of fear-mongering and intolerance is fomenting. The outfits have thence corrupted the very symbols of Hinduism they claim to protect through a vexatious misuse rooted in retaliation and vengeance.

Betraying the Muslim women: Politicising the Hijab

The conundrum at hand is mired in hypocrisy. Those intending to emancipate Muslim women also violently attack women for entering ‘their’ temples in the neighbouring state of Kerala. On pretext of a uniform dress code, ironically the professors too are harassed for the hijab and helplessly resign as the alternatives offered are clear: Right to enter public spaces and a path to prosperity (education/profession) versus the right to practice one’s faith. This bigotry is catastrophic and fabricates betrayal on at least three counts.

First and foremost, it betrays the foundational tenets of our nation as enshrined in the Constitution. It impinges on the very essence of ‘We The People’ being guaranteed Liberty of Thought, Expression, Belief, Faith and Worship in the Preamble. It goes on to infringe Articles 14 (Right to Equal Protection before Law), 15 (Prohibition on Discrimination on grounds of religion), 19 (Freedom of Speech and Expression), 21 (Right to life with Dignity including 21A the Right to Education) and most importantly, 25 (Right to profess, practice and propagate one’s religion). Being blatantly unconstitutional, it betrays our foremost holy text that has kept Bharat united for decades.

It also presents a structural gendered issue. The girls bear the twin brunt of being targeted for not just being Muslims, but for being Muslim women. As anthropologist and feminist scholar Lila Abu Lughod writes in her book, Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?, the women need their liberation to be within Islam. The hijab has for long been a visible symbol of women’s modesty and privacy, that has been adorned by girls as repositories of their ‘family honour’. Global politics has not only accepted, but celebrated all forms of foreign authoritarian intrusions against Muslim dress codes in the name of reform. By coercively stripping the headscarves, we make them vulnerable to conservative reactions from within their religion.

This whole fiasco certainly truncates the moral-ethical sphere of our collective conscience. Hindu mythology is rife with the sins of outraging a woman’s modesty and the current scenario only reminds us of the painful humiliation suffered by Draupadi. To our consternation, such divisive issues betray our long ingrained values of tolerance, compassion, empathy and an appreciation for our India’s diverse culture in the philosophy of ‘sarva dharma sambhava’ (peaceful coexistence of all religions). While Anne Frank’s times saw the Jews being compelled to put yellow stars on their clothes as visible markers of their identity, our times see an obligatory removal of all markers of unique identities.

The crucial element of choice

The discourse offers a binary of either bitterly attacking the hijab or aggressively defending its religious sanction. There is no in between. Both of these sides miss the point. It all boils down to the crucial element of choice, which encourages women empowerment and reform within Islam and not a complete ostracism from their religion. Today as we wish them a Happy Women’s Day, the betrayals shall only find penance when we lift the veils of ignorance over Muslim women’s attire. The hijab-clad woman’s agency over her clothing ought to be respected and accepted. This institutional ban in Karnataka is regressive in letter and spirit and manufactures betrayal to one’s faith and dignity. The democratic and secular fabric of India must be guarded; religiosity should not be allowed to become the subject matter of politics, as when you are standing at the edge of a cliff, progress is a step backwards.

The author is a graduate in Sociology from Lady Shri Ram College. A freelance writer based in New Delhi, she is extremely passionate about current affairs and presently seeking more knowledge in her field and beyond.

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