Unveil the Veil

Of all the religious attires (I am aware of), the ones that attracts the most attention and contention are the turban and burka. While both these outfits have been in the news on and off for many years for a manifold reasons, the latter is in the headlines again all around the world because of the keynote Parliamentary speech made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy at the palace of Versailles amidst applause said "The burka is not a religious sign. It is a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement. In our country we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut-off from all social life, deprived of all identity. It will not be welcome on the territory of French Republic." Sarkozy's speech came a few days after US President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo where he contrastingly said - United Sates prizes religious freedom and wouldn't tell people what to wear. Now whether it was cultural appeasement or something else is debatable. Nonetheless, the French Parliament is expected to discuss and take measures against both burka (eyes covered with fabric mesh) and niqab (has en eye slit). As expected, the proposed ban invited the wrath of some, while some welcomed it.

Apparently, this is not the country's first heated face-off on a religious garment. In 2004, French parliament passed a legislation forbidding students from wearing conspicuous religious symbols like headscarves or jilbabs, turbans, crucifixes, and skull caps in state schools. France is not the only exception, even Muslim majority countries like Turkey and Tunisia have banned headscarves in schools, universities and public places.

The biggest question that pops up in this entire controversy is - Should a politician or for that matter a state be allowed to decide how one should practise one's religion based on what the majority feels? The answer may appear to be a straightforward NO, but not in this matter which is as complex as spaghetti. Yes, I agree that every individual has the right to practise religion is his/her own way, but NOT when it hinders our existence and interaction as social beings. Some may argue, Muslim women wear burka out of choice and not oppression and if they really felt it was submissive then they would have stood up against it. Certainly some women see burka as a sacred expression of religious freedom, but if our male chauvinist society were really paying heed to female subjection, then there won't be a hue and cry of women's rights going on in the entire world.

According to Islamic traditions, the idea of wearing a burka or niqab or to dress modestly is applied to akil baliq (women who reached puberty) in order to avoid attention from men, especially from muhrim (relative of the opposite sex with whom marriage is forbidden). Why is the onus of carrying the beacon of religious traditions always on the women? Why is it ok for Muslim men to wear T-shirt and jeans, while the Muslim women have to wear a burka or a headscarf. Why not cure the problem rather than taking precautions to avoid it, and so does it not make more sense to teach men to respect beauty, rather than covering up the beauty? Islam doesn't ask it's followers to wear burka, it's just asks them (men and women) to dress modestly and so does every religion. So, this is not a religious but a social issue and it's far reaching implications has been and are still witnessed throughout the world.

Another logical argument that is being raised now is - What about the wimples and robes wore by the nuns? Why is it that the garment wore by nuns is a sign of dignity, while the same is oppressive for Muslim women? There are two basic flaws in this argument - 1. All the Muslim women are supposed to wear the burka, while in the other case ONLY nuns who are women members of a religious order and bound by vows of chastity and obedience are required to wear the religious garment. How can one compare a nun to a common Muslim woman? 2. The biggest difference as far as I can understand between both the religious attires is the niqab. Nuns don't cover their faces, while the Muslim women do and to me this is what causes the failure to integrate with the broader society.

Not to offend any religious sentiments, but the headscarves I see these days seem to be wore to make fashion statements rather than to abide by the rationale behind them. The bejewelled headscarves wore with tight multi-colored tees combined with denim mini-skirts and leggings are beyond my understanding of a religious garment. It perplexes me whether those Muslim women are being religiously stylish or the other way round. Plus, does it make more sense to cover the head/face or the body curves?

In the end, is wearing burka really a matter of divine will and does the Muslim women wear it out of choice or compulsion? Nobody has the statistics to prove either. France is a liberal country and so it has all the rights to decide (based on the majority) what's good for it's society and if foreign women in Saudi Arabia can be enforced to atleast cover their heads and not even drive cars, why can't France have a policy for it's own citizens. In the end, modern society should be built on pragmatism and dialogue and not on sectarianism. Burka may or may not be a problem, but the larger picture is that there are numerous problems which the women face and everyone should work on eliminating those. We should take a step ahead and empower the women to voice their opinions and speak freely against any oppression. Banning burka won't stop women oppression, but ensuring justice and indiscrimination irrespective of the gender certainly will.

-Kartavya Jain