Self-styled Islamist puritans tout anti-woman slogans: Karassery
Kochi:The purdah is not even Arab, it’s Persian, unrelated to local culture, but the sombre veil has been imposed on Muslim women by backward-looking propagandists, who spare themselves of any such oppressive dress code.
Writer and thinker M N Karassery said MES president Fazal Gafoor was bang on. “Purdah is not Islamic, not even Arabic. It is Persian; covering of the face is part of Persian tribal culture. Koran says women should pull down headscarf to her breasts. It also says Muslim women should not cover her face. Our catechism taught us that face and palms are not part of ‘Aurat’ (nudity).
“Twenty years ago in Kerala there was no burqa with the veil piece. This dress is compelled by political Islam to propagate the anti-woman ideology,” said Prof Karassery.
"No one should be forced to wear a veil. Even in Dubai, I rarely see Arabs wearing the veil. Being veiled is not a test of one’s adherence to Islam. Not wearing it doesn't make one un-Islamic. I follow all Muslim customs and wear maftha when I go to mosque. But that is my choice ", says actor Shamna Kasim.
Writer Maina Umaiban, however, said that she was compelled to wear purdah. "Sheer narrow-mindedness drives this perversion; many girls do it out of parental compulsion. Uneducated Muslim clerics use this to suppress women,” Umaiban said. In Arabian countries everyone, including men, wear the veil to cover their face from sandstorms, she said.
Kozhikode district panchayat president Kanathil Jameela said she was not against purdah: “I believe dress should be an individual choice. But face-covering is absolutely unnecessary. I suspect the face cover is a cover for other activities”.
Author and doctor Khadeeja Mumtaz said that purdah was once a social tool that allowed women to emerge from the shadows but was later misused. “There were protests against purdah as early as 1930s. It is true that purdah helped women to come to the mainstream in Arab countries. But later the same dress was misused to suppress women. Now propagandists misuse it as a religious symbol as if only women who wear purdah are respectable," Dr Mumtaz said.
There is a business angle, too. "Many purdha brands are putting money on this. They sponsor many Islamic women’s magazines. Black is the colour of death. Men are entitled to wear white cloth and women black. That is suppression,” Dr Mumtaz said.
( Source : team dc )
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