Communalism
A lesson from the Mahabharata https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-lesson-from-the-mahabharata-india-hijab-7775630/ G. N. Devy February 16, 2022
As the hijab issue roils the nation, it would do to remember how Krishna stood by Draupadi at a time when, as now, dharma was under siege and anarchy loomed.
There is a well-set theory in linguistics: No signifier has the ability to produce meaning in isolation. Its signifying capability is determined by its place among all of other signifiers. Within the range of political signifiers of the day, where and how is the hijab issue placed? In the immediate vicinity of the lonely girl running in terror is the mob of young men, not all of whom are students of the same college, euphorically chanting the name of the “maryada–purush”. Mobs have become the authority, replacing the institutional authority, the judiciary and the law enforcing agencies. Their induction as substitutes for the institutions forming the pillars of democracy is strongly signalled by the prime minister who decided not to respond to the issues flagged in Parliament but to ramble endlessly on about his version of the history of India since Independence. Other political signifiers help understand the statements better. We are told about the perception that Independence was got as alms and that Jawaharlal Nehru was not the first prime minister. We are told that the history of India since Ashoka as written by historians is not history but a conspiracy to malign the Aryavarta.
Comment on WA: SG- I think talking of disrobing, is again fighting over the women's bodies as owned by community. And that is also not questioned. I find it offending reducing it to cause for war, without a critical comment.
SS: The reference to Mahabharat has been used just to effectively draw attention to the possibility of a devastating civil war that underlies the hijab row. ..The reference to Mahabharat has been used just to effectively draw attention to the possibility of a devastating civil war that underlies the hijab row... it's perhaps a bit unfair to chastise the writer for using and then not dissecting "disrobing" and bring out its various implications.
SG: one needs to be critical on all aspects. Protection of Woman's dignity works against women too. The very fact that the article starts with the disrobing is meant to have the dramatic impact, , which feeds in a very surreptitious manner the deep rooted bias in communities. So at least when women are foregrounding battle, one needs to be sensitive to that too.
https://countercurrents.org/2022/02/hijab-ban-multiple-dimensions/
The raging controversy around Hijab is taking disturbing proportions. In Udupi Karnataka Muslim girls alleged that they were denied entry in to the classroom if they wear Hijab. Then we saw the gates of the institute being shut on the hijab wearing girls. Also we witnessed the shameful-despicable act of the vigilantes wearing saffron turban and shawls obstructing the lone girl Muskan, and aggressively shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. She in turn resorted to ‘Allahu Akbar’ and went on to submit her assignment. The Muslim girls approached the High Court, which has put a stop on saffron shawls and Hijab in the schools in the interim order.
Read more
By Dr. Ram Puniyani
Supreme Court Must Stay Karnataka HC Hijab Verdict -Several Women’s Organisations and Concerned Individuals March 27, 2022 https://janataweekly.org/supreme-court-must-stay-karnataka-hc-hijab-verdict/
The Karnataka High Court in its order has held that wearing of hijab is not essential to the practice of Islam; that College Development Committees (CDCs) have a right to prescribe a uniform; and that Muslim girls must comply with whatever uniform is prescribed by their college.
we ( women's organisations) appeal to all CDCs in Karnataka to allow girls and women to wear hijabs along with uniforms just as Sikh boys and men can wear turbans, and Hindus can wear bindis, tilaks, threads, sindoor etc.*
not a single college in Karnataka originally had any rule banning the wearing of hijab; in fact one college rule book actually specified that students could wear hijabs conforming to the colour of the uniform. So it was not hijab wearing girls who defied the prescribed uniforms. It was Hindu-supremacist groups that disrupted colleges, forcing them to amend the rules to selectively prohibit hijabs. This was a chance for the Karnataka HC to address bullying in schools and colleges and both the institutions; but failing to do so, has endangered many people from minority communities and identities who may look different or be different from the most.
Comment on WHATSAPP:
JD: some women who wear the hijab may consider it an essential part of their religion, others may be wearing it because that it is the way they can go out an get an education given community situation, and still others may wear it because they feel the need to identify with their community. Each of these women cannot be dictated by the State or Law, at least not if the impact of its decision would be to prevent them from getting an education in government schools. It is precisely the vulnerability of such women/girls that needs a "accomodative" stance, when deciding what constitute "uniform", or distraction or indiscipline..
AA --There is a category. Those women who consider themselves Muslim, but will not wear hijab because they do not consider it an essential part of Islam, and resent being bullied. Feminists must also take their rights into account and be supportive .
'हिजाब-वाद' कशासाठी? : रझिया पटेल 22.2.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L_K4UeeEBg
'What is hijab for? When did the practice of veil, hijab and burqa start? What is the place of women in Muslim society? Comrade Madhu Limaye's review on the occasion of birth centenary from the point of view of politics and sociology. Writer and social critic Dr. By Razia Patel Patel ...
Look behind the hijab https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/tavleen-singh-writes-karnataka-hijab-row-muslim-women-controversy-dress-code-7769774/ Tavleen Singh writes: The protest is no longer about Muslim girls being denied access to education but Muslim girls becoming unwitting pawns of political forces whose ideology and ideas are the opposite of the ideas that define India in our Constitution.
Subcategories
Hate Crime
Hate Speech / Incitement to violence
Hate Speech Maharashtra
PUCL Maharashtra has decided to showcase information on Hate Speech in Maharashtra as presented in the different websites, social media of Civil Society organisations and concerned individuals. Each one has their own style of documentation and each one is a shining node. We hope to have a decentralised platform which will valorise whatever work individuals an organisations are doing, such that while they do their regular work of posting, creating websites, blogs, data directories, such that it can be searched, and researched, and help activist (information activist, if you will) curate this content into learning modules, state of the art reports.. letting a thousand nodes glow.
250811-Jalgaon-lynching of Pathan after being seen with Hindu woman at cafe
A 21-year-old Muslim man was on Monday beaten to death allegedly by members of a Hindutva group in the town of Jamner in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district. The perpetrators allegedly assaulted Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan after he was seen with a Hindu woman from the same village at a cafe
250114-Yavatmal
Two Muslim-owned restaurants in Wani, Yavatmal, were forcibly shut down by members of the Bajrang Dal
2501XX-Mumbai-Kurla
At the “Samrast Yatra” event in Kurla, Mumbai, organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, a Jain monk disseminated hate speech rife with anti-Muslim propaganda.
250200-Rane
Rane’s speeches continued throughout the month of February, spreading more hateful conspiracy theories, and even suggesting that if Muslims “looked at Hindus in an incorrect manner,” they would face consequences. He stated that, “Our government is very bad. What is going on around I am aware of everything. You don’t have to struggle. Wherever something wrong is happening, wherever someone tries to slaughter a cow, wherever someone tries to smuggle, wherever green snakes try to wriggle, just make one call, and leave the rest of the arrangements to me., https://cjp.org.in/the-role-of-leaders-in-spreading-divisive-rhetoric/