India was first full country with her citizens enjoying religious freedom but a small group of young with weird ideas of greatness insist now, as they began in Karnataka, that girls with hijab covering their faces cannot attend their educational institutes. The State government has succumbed to their demand and classes are closed to prevent them.
Nobody seems to have given consideration to the interpretation that others draw from it or the significance of the action. The girls also seem to be adamant to follow old religious practice instead of seeking assurance of safety of their persons from evil glances of others.
The tradition of burkha or hijab for women to hide their beauty and bodies came a century after Islam. Men needed to protect their women from rowing eyes. They had obviously copied from ghunghat practice in India for a thousand years earlier for safety of their women from hoards of aggressors who came on fast horses and whisked away and women from public places. Hiding not only face but entire body of women was a need of the time as cases of abduction were on increase. AS Arabs from deserts could do it at their will hiding women was the only way to keep them safe. To ensure the observance of social norm by all, it was converted to be wish of the almighty and thus religious. In India it remained a social practice as ghunghat in presence of elder males in the family was converted to be sign of respect.
For the most, hijab is the external symbol of virginity or purity as they know little of the female body.
Large number of rapes indicates the lack of proper protective system in India where the purity of woman is insisted up on as the essential norm. Indian constitution guaranteed freedom to everyone to adopt and practice social norms. A hijab has now become an essential symbol of that freedom. TO insist on no cover on face is denying and particularly when mask has become an essential need in public and the law system is authorized to punish any individual without mask, how can you deny the practice of mask of a different kind? Surprisingly the state authority is insisting on observance of demand by religious fanatics who are not even aware of the great traditions of democratic mind and tolerance in India. India is the only land that allowed any differing sect to the main religion including two religions that got propped up 2500 years later and both preaching no god, but social custom of hiding beauty of women to all others except husband and youngsters of the family remained till the end of the last century.
Most women have moved out and away from their kitchen stoves. So gradually norms of their purity may also change but they cannot and should not be denied independence of observing their social norms. But the state government has reasons to believe that girls are not given independence to follow their instinct independently but the Muslim Maulavi as a class is playing the same game that fanatics are playing.
STORMS OVER PRIMITIVE IDEAS
Vijay Sanghvi - 2022-02-13 09:27
The first fully democratic nation with assured independence for living and for pursuit of religious beliefs is now caught in a torrent political controversy only because few conservatives in the political group of young pretending to be serving the old religious norms are insisting on denial of independence to few. India was hailed in 1950 with her constitution assuring full freedom and voting rights to all regardless of their gender or economic status. Even America had not granted voting rights to women or economically not independents though accepted as citizens for 450 years.