Dangers of stereotyping a community
By Vidya BhushanRawat
The Hindustan Times published in the front page the story of terrorist training camps in western Uttar Pradesh. The next day the denial was published to a meek headline in the second page. The Mumbai edition of the paper also began with the same bang by disclosing the Salman Aishwarya Rai tapes while every right thinking person can see nothing unusual in those taped conversation, the paper continued with its campaign. Now it comes out with the news of the Maulanas of Deoband for their Fatwa against women’s participation in the elections.
The issue of Muslim women has been a regular feature in the media and after Imrana’s case; there has been a spurt in the cases of Muslim women in the media here in Delhi and elsewhere. Muslims as a whole have become subject matter internationally and in fact in the west a huge amount is being invested to understand Arabic and Islamic culture and value system. The fact that CNN has started with an Arabic channel shows the importance west give to understand Islamic value system. Unfortunately, in India while we want to follow the west, there is a complete lack of understanding of Islamic culture and values.
I want to raise one more issue of ethics here. Media forgot its own line of control in not naming the ‘rape’ victim. But in the cases of Muslims, such sanctity is never adhered to, why? Why has media always named Muslim women raped while the same is not done in the case of others? No raped women and their families are normally shown on ‘TV’, at least their faces are blurred but in the case of Imrana, they are not only debating but discussing it wildly and some time idiotically repeating the same thing all over.
I, for one reason would not like to comment on the veracity of the case that has happened to Imrana. But I would like to focus here on another aspect of which we in India have become victim. Like our secularism, our news media has also become victim of symbolism. Hence when issues like Imrana come out in public, the loudmouthed get the maximum space, for they provide better sound bytes to the already hungry news channels. The problem that the Muslim community is facing today is marginalisation on the one side and loudmouth Mullahs on the other side who are waiting to react on everything happening on the earth. It is this quest to speak which give them space in the media and create an unwanted controversy putting the entire community on the dock. The common man is interested in his work and job. He is conscious of his identity and follow Islam accordingly. However, cases like Imrana’s need a little more introspection on part of all of us. Secondly, Muslim men will have to come out openly against any evil practices that have crept in. Muslim intelligentsia should not see every such information as an affront to Islam. It is often blamed that Muslim intelligentsia rarely speaks against injustice in their own system while cry against the external threat.
My problem started with the media which does not give liberal voices a space in the same way as it give to loudmouthed. Whatever happened to Imrana was uncalled for and may be attributed to the primitive practice and has a lot to do with socio economical condition prevailing in our society. Secondly, what happened to Imrana may not be entirely attributed to Islamic values as such. More then that it is the issue of an entire region. Its like that Muslims are blamed for marriages with in the family but the same tradition exist among the Hindus in Tamilnadu and Andhra where Mama (uncle) can marry to their nieces.
We have seen caste Panchayats in this area deciding about young children. Not many months ago a local Panchayat decided that the two Jat families who got their children married should break the marriage. Even when the parents of both boy and girl agreed to get them married, the Panchayat decided against them. The Panchayat passed a resolution that since the boy and girls come from the same gotra hence they are brother and sister. The same kind of story has come from Haryana this year when the Panchayat order the husband to leave his wife who was pregnant, as their gotra remain the same. Interestingly, the husband accepted the Panchayat’s verdict but the woman refused to accept her husband as her brother. Ultimately, some civil society organization went to the court and got injunction from the Chandigarh High court.
Recently, the issue of Sikh families involved in polyandry has been reported by a section of media. To save their land from disintegration the brothers have decided that they better live with one woman. So Draupadi tradition is returning. I have traveled a large part of Haryana and found the gender ratio alarmingly low. I am surprised that there is no movement against it in the media. One is pained that these does not become our headlines as the people in Haryana are buying women from as far as northeast because there is no girl child left. It is shameful that such issues of concern never prick our conscious.
Is it important for all of us to involve a religious person to define what they should do or not do? There are many scholars among Muslims who can interpret Quran much better then what the illiterate Mullahs who have nothing to do with this world, for they live in the other world. Similarly there are many Hindu scholars who can do interpretation of Vedas much better then the communalists Hindus.
Therefore, it is important for us is not to stereotype the entire community with certain cases which have more related to certain geographical region and also has a socio-economical background. A majority of Muslims in India are socio-economically backward and education is a matter of great concern. Muslim community has learnt a lot during the past 50 years and the voices of changes with in the community is growing every year. Imrana should get justice and hopefully she will get it. But let us not make it a political point to justify our positions and score over the religious values. The need is to defend the rights of an individual and strength of civil society. Let us not make a Shah Bano out of Imrana to feed the ‘revolutionary’ Hindutva brigade whose concept of women’s freedom are well known to all of us. Let us talk of justice and rule of law and defend the saner voices everywhere. It is in the interest of every one of us that social evils and problems in our system are rectified and not politicized for the benefit of votes.
The Hindustan Times published in the front page the story of terrorist training camps in western Uttar Pradesh. The next day the denial was published to a meek headline in the second page. The Mumbai edition of the paper also began with the same bang by disclosing the Salman Aishwarya Rai tapes while every right thinking person can see nothing unusual in those taped conversation, the paper continued with its campaign. Now it comes out with the news of the Maulanas of Deoband for their Fatwa against women’s participation in the elections.
The issue of Muslim women has been a regular feature in the media and after Imrana’s case; there has been a spurt in the cases of Muslim women in the media here in Delhi and elsewhere. Muslims as a whole have become subject matter internationally and in fact in the west a huge amount is being invested to understand Arabic and Islamic culture and value system. The fact that CNN has started with an Arabic channel shows the importance west give to understand Islamic value system. Unfortunately, in India while we want to follow the west, there is a complete lack of understanding of Islamic culture and values.
I want to raise one more issue of ethics here. Media forgot its own line of control in not naming the ‘rape’ victim. But in the cases of Muslims, such sanctity is never adhered to, why? Why has media always named Muslim women raped while the same is not done in the case of others? No raped women and their families are normally shown on ‘TV’, at least their faces are blurred but in the case of Imrana, they are not only debating but discussing it wildly and some time idiotically repeating the same thing all over.
I, for one reason would not like to comment on the veracity of the case that has happened to Imrana. But I would like to focus here on another aspect of which we in India have become victim. Like our secularism, our news media has also become victim of symbolism. Hence when issues like Imrana come out in public, the loudmouthed get the maximum space, for they provide better sound bytes to the already hungry news channels. The problem that the Muslim community is facing today is marginalisation on the one side and loudmouth Mullahs on the other side who are waiting to react on everything happening on the earth. It is this quest to speak which give them space in the media and create an unwanted controversy putting the entire community on the dock. The common man is interested in his work and job. He is conscious of his identity and follow Islam accordingly. However, cases like Imrana’s need a little more introspection on part of all of us. Secondly, Muslim men will have to come out openly against any evil practices that have crept in. Muslim intelligentsia should not see every such information as an affront to Islam. It is often blamed that Muslim intelligentsia rarely speaks against injustice in their own system while cry against the external threat.
My problem started with the media which does not give liberal voices a space in the same way as it give to loudmouthed. Whatever happened to Imrana was uncalled for and may be attributed to the primitive practice and has a lot to do with socio economical condition prevailing in our society. Secondly, what happened to Imrana may not be entirely attributed to Islamic values as such. More then that it is the issue of an entire region. Its like that Muslims are blamed for marriages with in the family but the same tradition exist among the Hindus in Tamilnadu and Andhra where Mama (uncle) can marry to their nieces.
We have seen caste Panchayats in this area deciding about young children. Not many months ago a local Panchayat decided that the two Jat families who got their children married should break the marriage. Even when the parents of both boy and girl agreed to get them married, the Panchayat decided against them. The Panchayat passed a resolution that since the boy and girls come from the same gotra hence they are brother and sister. The same kind of story has come from Haryana this year when the Panchayat order the husband to leave his wife who was pregnant, as their gotra remain the same. Interestingly, the husband accepted the Panchayat’s verdict but the woman refused to accept her husband as her brother. Ultimately, some civil society organization went to the court and got injunction from the Chandigarh High court.
Recently, the issue of Sikh families involved in polyandry has been reported by a section of media. To save their land from disintegration the brothers have decided that they better live with one woman. So Draupadi tradition is returning. I have traveled a large part of Haryana and found the gender ratio alarmingly low. I am surprised that there is no movement against it in the media. One is pained that these does not become our headlines as the people in Haryana are buying women from as far as northeast because there is no girl child left. It is shameful that such issues of concern never prick our conscious.
Is it important for all of us to involve a religious person to define what they should do or not do? There are many scholars among Muslims who can interpret Quran much better then what the illiterate Mullahs who have nothing to do with this world, for they live in the other world. Similarly there are many Hindu scholars who can do interpretation of Vedas much better then the communalists Hindus.
Therefore, it is important for us is not to stereotype the entire community with certain cases which have more related to certain geographical region and also has a socio-economical background. A majority of Muslims in India are socio-economically backward and education is a matter of great concern. Muslim community has learnt a lot during the past 50 years and the voices of changes with in the community is growing every year. Imrana should get justice and hopefully she will get it. But let us not make it a political point to justify our positions and score over the religious values. The need is to defend the rights of an individual and strength of civil society. Let us not make a Shah Bano out of Imrana to feed the ‘revolutionary’ Hindutva brigade whose concept of women’s freedom are well known to all of us. Let us talk of justice and rule of law and defend the saner voices everywhere. It is in the interest of every one of us that social evils and problems in our system are rectified and not politicized for the benefit of votes.
1 comment:
Our organization has organized a Pumlic Hearing/Jansunwai on the voilation of Right & Entitlements of Muslim Women. The Chairman of U.P. Minority Commission Mr. S.M.A. Kazimi was chief Guest in this Jansunwai.
Full Report arev available to provide emailID on demond.
Nasim Ansari
Tarun Chetna Sansthan
U.P. Inadia-230135
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