WHY INDIA
MUSLIM WOMEN FELT THE NEED TO ORGANISE THEMSELVES?
Genesis of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan
Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
Since the
inception of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan in a January 2007 in New Delhi, it has been
asked by many as to the need for Muslim women to organize themselves? Kya zaroorat hai Musalman aurton ko apni
tehreek tayar karne ki? The reasons are many. To start with, no community
can develop if its women remain behind and conversely the women of the
community cannot progress unless the larger community also takes the onus to
lend her a helping hand in playing her role in public life.
To state the
obvious, Muslims who are the largest minority in India have a poor human development status-
widespread illiteracy, low income, irregular employment - implying thereby a
high incidence of poverty and marginalization. The documented
evidence by various secular agencies reveals that in areas like education, work
participation, health, income Muslims are found to be faring much lower than
other communities. The rise of communal and conservative forces has made
matters worse. Muslim women suffer from multiple marginalization owing to
poverty, lack of education, inequality and lack of opportunities. The issue of marginalization and
injustice is compounded by the fact that it is a minority community and is
deeply influenced by conservative, religious patriarchal forces on one hand and
exists in extreme poverty and marginalization on the other. Moreover rising communalism
and fundamentalism has resulted in increased insecurity and sense of alienation
within the community. The rise of terrorism and the impact from the so-called war
on terror, increasing negative impact of the forces of imperialism and capitalism
has led to the Muslims being a community under siege. In this context the
issues of the Muslim women are put at the backburner.
It is to their credit that founding visionaries of India had a
special commitment to the rights and safety of the minorities. This was
reflected in the Constitution of India which enshrines the values of equality,
democracy and justice for all citizens. There are safeguards for minorities in
the form of various articles prohibiting discrimination on religious grounds
and enabling development for minority communities. The fundamental rights are
guaranteed to all citizens irrespective of religion, caste, sex or language.
The Eleventh Five Year Plan states that amongst the minorities, the Muslims,
and especially Muslim women need special attention since relative to other
communities, they have remained socially, educationally and economically
backward. And yet even a cursory look at the ground reality is enough to
suggest that all is not well. In spite of all the Constitutional safeguards Muslims
in general and Muslim women in particular continue to remain vulnerable.
The arrival of the forces of globalization and privatization in
India since early 1990s have also led to the poor - dalits, adivasis, women and
minorities being driven further to the margins with a direct onslaught on their
lands and livelihoods. Civil society organizations have been protesting about
the widespread exclusion of India’s
large masses due to the very questionable notions of development which are increasingly finding deep roots into the
successive governments and their policies. A malfunctioning PDS and
nonfunctional primary schools both aggravate the social exclusion faced by the
minorities as by the dalits and adivasis.
Indian history is replete with instances of
struggle for social change and justice. Women and especially Muslim women have
also initiated and actively participated in many historical movements for
justice. These struggles are still on with increasing strength of women. Yet women’s
participation and the articulation of her perspective of social justice and
development have always been ignored traditionally. This alternative voice of
women which is concerned with just, fair and humane society must get due
recognition. And this fuelled in some Muslim women a strong need to create a
collective that will not only address the concerns of the Muslim community and
particularly of the Muslim women but also take concrete steps to ameliorate
this situation. They felt that a mass organization is required where the most
oppressed and marginalized sections gets a voice and are able to mobilize
themselves to create conditions in society which will ensure social, economic
and political justice, upholding of human rights, equality and peace. This urge
led to the formation of the Bharatiya
Muslim Mahila Andolan. Over the last four years it has established itself as an
alliance of like-minded individuals that take upon themselves the onus of
taking up the issues of the Muslim women and Muslim community head on.
The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan [translating into
Indian Muslim Women’s Movement] was formed on 17th January, 2007 at
a hugely attended inaugural program in Delhi.
It has emerged as a mass organization of Muslims, led by Muslim women which
fight for the citizenship rights of the Muslims in India. The Andolan works for all
the rights and duties emanating from the Constitution. In its fourth year its
membership has crossed 20,000 members across 15 states. The Andolan works on
the issues of education, jobs, security, law and health. It being a national
entity seeks to carry out its activities through a formal national democratic
structure with a system of accountability. It addresses the issues of
education, employment, security and legal reforms and takes proactive and
concrete steps towards these. It not only works at the grassroots on these
issues but also does political advocacy to raise issues at the appropriate
fora. In short it seeks to create an alternative voice of Muslim women and
works for its leadership development.
The vision of
the Andolan is to create conditions within the Indian society where the Muslim
community and especially the Muslim women are able to eradicate their own
poverty and marginalization and live a life of equality, justice and with
respect for human rights. It believes in the values of democracy, secularism, equality, non-violence,
human rights and justice as enshrined in the Constitution of India. These are
the guiding principles in their struggle. It believes in the inherent capacity
of women to lead and ameliorate the social, economic, political, legal and
educational backwardness. It also seeks to carry out positive, liberal,
humanist and feminist interpretations of religion for ensuring justice and
equality to Muslim women. And to achieve its vision of an equal society it
seeks collaboration and alliance with other movements and networks that are
fighting for social equality and human rights
and are opposing forces of fascism, capitalism, communalism and imperialism in
all its forms.
To achieve this vision and objectives the
Andolan through its well laid out administrative structure reaches out to
Muslim women in villages, towns and cities and organizes them into pressure
groups under the leadership of a committed woman leader. The emergent
leadership of Muslim women at the national, state, district, block and village
level carries out programmes and activities related to education, livelihood,
law reform and health services. Amongst its many achievements the Andolan in all the states where it is active, has mobilized Muslim women and
exerted pressure on local government machinery to issue important documents
like voter I-cards, ration cards, widow pension cards etc. As we know these
documents are important to assert one’s self as a citizen of this country. The
Andolan has also published a women-friendly Nikaahnama and more than 50 marriages
have been solemnized on it. The Nikaahnama prohibits polygamy and oral
unilateral divorce and contains many provisions to safeguard the matrimonial
rights of Muslim women. Through its quarterly newsletter, which contains articles, stories, information relevant to the
Muslim women, the Andolan is trying to reach the voices of Muslim women to a
larger audience. This newsletter is widely distributed and has received good
response from Muslim women. Since the time of its inception the National
Council of the Andolan which comprises of state leaders and founder members has
been meeting regularly to share its work, take stock of objectives achieved and
to plan and strategize for the future. Perspective building and inputs and
information-giving workshops are organized on various issues on a regular
basis.
The Andolan
which is growing from strength to strength with each passing year has given a
platform for Muslim women to emerge as leaders and take their community out of
its stagnation. Muslim women are taking tremendous interest in the affairs of
the community as well as the country. This churning amongst the Muslim women
has a historical significance as they have never been organized on a national
scale ever before. Their dreams and aspirations of a prosperous, just, plural
and democratic Indian society and Muslim community are matched equally well by
their administrative and organizational skills. This development only confirms
that that the deliverance of the community lies in the hands of its women.
Noorjehan Safia
Niaz
The author of this article is the Founder Member of Bharatiya
Muslim Mahila Andolan
