So Many Hegemonies to
Contend With!
Too Many Fronts to Fight On!
Author – Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
noorjehan.sn@gmail.com
When the marginalized speak for themselves, many
voices emerge to assert on their behalf. Political voices, feminist voices, religious
voices, secular voices – all behave as if they have been robed off their job to
speak for the marginalized and that the marginalized themselves have no
capacity to speak about their own issues.
Since the time Muslim women have released the codified
Muslim family law, many voices have emerged; the loudest so far has been the
voice of our feminist friends. Suffice it to say that these voices appear
wounded and angry. As if they are saying, ‘how dare these Muslim women speak
about their own problems? Have we not been doing a good job of it for so many
years?! How much do they know about feminism and how much do they know about
law? These Muslim women know nothing and then they speak as if they know’. While
it was expected that the mullahs will fume and throw a fit, it is the reactions
of the feminists that was surprising, although not completely unexpected. What
is also intriguing is that the line demarcating the feminist groups and the
conservative religious groups is increasingly getting blurred. Sometimes it
feels that it is the same voice.
The feminists and the mullahs, both strongly oppose
any attempt at codifying the Muslim
law. The feminists believe that that the uncodified law protects the rights of
Muslim women more than a codified law would. Some strange logic! The mullahs
also believe that an uncodified law is good enough to protect the rights of
Muslim women. How is oral unilateral
divorce, unchecked polygamy, halala, underage marriage and muta marriage
protecting the rights of women only our learned feminists can answer with some
help from the mullahs, of course.
The mullahs will make use of other codified laws of
the country. They, I am sure, love the Indian Cr. P.C as robbery and theft will
not rob them of their hands as is the law in other countries. They love the
Constitution of the country as it ensures equality and justice for all. But the
same set of clerics will not allow codification of the family law. So equality and justice for Muslim man, YES
!! but equality and justice for Muslim woman, NO !!! Our feminist friends are
no better. Some of them practice law and fight cases on the basis of the
codified Hindu/Christian and other personal laws. But when it comes to Muslim
women, they smugly say codification is not required. For the Muslims uncodified
and unjust law is just as good. So much for their commitment to the
Constitution which has allowed codification of all family laws!
The mullahs say that polygamy is the right of a Muslim man. He can marry more than once.
Our dear feminists say polygamy is good for the Muslim women. All wives can
claim rights unlike the poor Hindu second ‘wife’. So both believe that polygamy
is generally a good practice. If this logic is extended than the feminist
groups in future must demand an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act to make
polygamy legal. You see the Hindu second ‘wife’ will then get all her rights
like the Muslim second wife.
And when the Hindu law is amended to allow polygamy, the Hindu right wing will
have a lot to thank the feminists groups. You see both want polygamy. Hindu
right wing, if our memory serves us
right, opposed codification of Hindu family law and one of the reasons they
gave was that the Hindu man will not be able to have more than one wife like
the Muslim man.
The feminists also don’t want the age of marriage of Muslim girls and boys to be 18 and 21. Some of
them are practicing lawyers and when lawyers themselves question the legitimacy
of constitutionally mandated laws, what hopes can we have from lesser mortals.
Ditto, our mullahs. They also do not
want the age of marriage to be 18 and 21. They want puberty to be the age of
marriage, hold your breath, for both! No respect for Constitution and no
respect for the Quran and the world calls these feminists and mullahs as
experts and alims !
And then there is the political establishment and its hegemony. Congress for all the 7
decades kept the Muslim community under the impression that their votes matter.
In reality, which the 2014 Lok Sabha elections have proven, Muslim votes don’t
actually matter. In this illusion of being an important vote bank or king
makers, the community lost out heavily on development. And the worst impact was
felt by Muslim women, as the Congress never considered the voices of Muslim
women. For them the Muslim male clergy which defended a discriminatory shariah
was supreme. This allegiance of the community to the so-called secular Congress
has cost the community dearly. And Muslim women had to pay a heavy cost for
this paternalism. The legal discrimination weighs heavily on her leading to
untold suffering and oppression. The new NDA establishment is no better. It
does not even listen to the Muslim male. The marginalization of the community
is complete with this new regimen. Moreover as mentioned earlier, in consonance
with the feminists demand, this new government also wants a Uniform Civil Code.
Here too we see the feminists hobnobbing with the Hindu right wing without a
care about the aspirations and demands of Muslim women.
In all the cacophony the voices of Muslim women needs
to be louder and shriller because all the above do not feel the need to listen
to the Muslim women. Each will have to give up its own agenda and look at
issues from the lens of a troubled Muslim woman. Is it expecting too much?
