Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Oldest debate.. More comments.

My cousin brother just got married. Bhabhi just as any other newly married girl wears the dupatta over her head. Its freakin hot, for christ's sake.

And then it occured to me. What about all my other friends who have to wear a burqua to come to even college.

As justified and explained (by others) the burqua , hijab or the head scarf are instruments to save the women from the lustful eyes of men.

My question is, however, why should us women be behind a darkened prison, in suffocation, for you guys' sexual problems?

No, really.

Regardless if allah said so or not, isnt it inhuman to cover people from head to toe?

Well, in the first case, women have sexual urges too. How come Allah didnt command the men to cover up? Obviously, he didnt treat men and women as equals. Talk about where inequality started. This is no personal attack on Muslim traditions, dont even get me started on 'Sita Maiyya', 'Agni Parikshaa' and 'Character debates'.

I suddenly see in people a growing rage to "lets get back to our taditions". Probably because more women are chucking the burqua, pallu, sorry [sic. saree]. And in some crazy logic maybe they think covering the head will also cover the brain.

At times, in my past, I took decisions that nobody would expect from a girl. Had it been a boy noone would have questioned the injustice done to him. But just because I'm a woman I guess I was supposed to stay quite and be a nice submissive little girl. Let go and compromise. I too, just like others have only one life.

बात इतनी है की अन्याय को सेहना सिर्फ़ कायरता नही, वोह भी न्याय के खिलाफ़ अन्याय ही है

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Nani!!!

Well you were absolutly right that this is a very old debate which you have tried to preswnt in your own words.

Never-the-less, even though i myself am a guy, i wud say that u really have hit the nail right on target!

But i would like to tell you that all this fundas of covering head just because of guy's lustful nature or vice-versa is crap. This is just another tradition of a male dominated society.

I am definately against this too.
Way to go nani.

Only one thing though you did go a bit personal in the end but it wasn't very clear what it meant.
anyway your blog ;]

Unknown said...

Its a personal blog.. So that answers that.

Thanks for the comment.

'Nainy' :)

Unknown said...

u have written some amazin articles gal... aggressive nd totally from the heart.. love them :) .. can see now why G wanted to hire u ;) .. nd hehe i to have always wanted to see gals without burkhas :p just to appreciate the beauty u knw.. no other reason :p .. kiddin.. try publishin this in some newspaper...

Anonymous said...

Spot on

Anonymous said...

Hi Nainy!

There are four stories in the Quran that indicate, if not precisely define, the origin of the 'hijaab'. First is related to a war that Mohammad fought and won, and ordered all but one lady to stay alive; she became her second wife later. The second one has Abu Baqr, a close ally of Mohammad, who suggested him (Mohammad) to cover up his wives' faces as his brothers saw them with lustful eyes. The third one says it was because Mohammad's wives did not have a place to relieve themselves; they used remote places in the desert for that. It was utterly embarrassing; hence, the face wrap. The fourth one, well, I fail to remember. It might just be related with lusty eyes, god's orders, and all.

This was about the provenance; I’ll get down to the opinion now. The burqa, undoubtedly, is an irritating and uncomfortable outfit. In order to prevent lustful eyes – I call them eyes that scavenge for the female flesh – you cannot be that unreasonable. The Islam, on various issues, reduces the women into a submissive sex – that’s true; women, though not on the face of it, symbolize a sex-gratification, son-producing machine.

Regards,

Hussain.

Unknown said...

Your opinion meant a lot, Hussain. Thanks :)

shupriyo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shupriyo said...

the thing is that allah or christ or ram ie god never discriminates its just ous humans that do

its the wrong interpretation of religious writing cause did u hear god saying such things or as for the matter of facts did anybody else nobody

the thing is tat men who do not have control on their sexual urges will even rape a girl wearing a burkha all men r diffrent and this burkah stuff is just another method deviced by men who do not have confidence over them selfs in other word these guys r complete loosers

Nitin Chandil said...

Ma'm, it helps in the blazing sun and a dupatta/burqua is a cheaper and durable solution than a sun-screen lotion :)

Just joki'n! It is a male-dominated world..try your luck! Thats what i can say!

neways..thx for the comment on my blog!

~nits

Sonia said...

hey nainy...just read the TIMES LIFE..confessions of a male stripper..haha..so now we also have a lot of women who look at men that ways..
probably the time is not far when our beloved "ladeej taylors" will be busy stiching burkhas for males..

well on a serious note i'd say that a man will be a man, so even if a woman rapes him, it's SHE who'll suffer the consequences! so obviously the one who is more PRONE to suffer the consequences, tends to take more precautionary measures..like burkhas/ ghunghats and whatever..it's like prevention is better than cure..

..ladko ko koi adh-nanga dekh bhi le to unka kya chala jaiga??...but women HAVE to follow certain code of conducts..right? we can't talk of equality simply everywhere..

Unknown said...

Hmm.. Interesting Sonia. But isnt it kinda irritating to always be on a look out for if my skirt is too short?

Why cant you be carefree? And off the testing pyre for once?

Equality.. तो हो ही नही सकती.

और बुरखा न पेहनना ये नही दर्शाता की हम मे से किसी को भी कपडे उतारने का शौक है. सिर्फ़ फ़ाल्तु के ढोन्ग से ज़रूर परेशानी है. बेमसरफ़ के कैद से शिकायत है.

नैनी

@Nits.. Nice way to look at it ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Nainy,
Right said..Old debate..but it felt strange to find OLD comments.

Why do u see it all as a prison or suffocation.??
What r u afraid of.?? UR freedom??
Dear, only u decide how do you feel free..by covering urself..or by showing ur legs n arms n .............
And its all about how one feels comfortable..I feel comfi by covering myself.

If talking about Islaam; Men are also ordered to cover up themselves (the necessary parts).
As women are made more beautiful than men, it becomes necessary to cover them up MORE then men, and this covering is not a punishment but safety.It is just like we keep our precious things more safely.

If u want me to explain what Allah said in Qur'an..; He ordered women to cover themselves only when they r out of their houses.They can wear anything when they r in their home with family members, no dupatta or scarf is required then.

In Hinduism, what I believe is there was no religious concept of Ghoonghat.Haven't u seen Apsaraas and Devis.....
So, in Hindus; taking a long ghungtaa or pallu is just a custom and not religion.
Similarly, Burqa is just a custom.
In religion,women r said to cover their bodies leaving face ,hands and feet uncovered.

"Lustful eyes'll b lustful whatever u wear or not." "Women in Burqaas are also raped."These reasons cannot be validated..
Don't you think that exposing in just half clothes and provoking the sexual desires of men by showing clevages.....just worsens the condition!

This world is made to test us. So,all of us are responcible for doing our own part in making this world worth living. There ARE people having animal instincts too, but evoking every other men's sexual desire by showing ur sensuality is misuse of the beauty and attraction God has provided u with.

Most of the girls do believe in family values and being faithful to their husbands.And covering ur body in public places is the part, a woman plays, in being faithful to his partner(n so t husband shud do by not looking at othe women with lustful eyes).
And this MAN-WOMAN-EQUAL-NAARA was not exped from a thoughtful person like u..This equality discussion is meaningless..
This is just like comparing yourself with somebody and trying to be like him/her; forgetting that you have your own different qualities.
MEN AND WOMEN ARE UNIQUELY DIFFERENT..physically..psychologically..have different thoughts..different works to do...And their behavioural pattern and dressup is also different,according to the requirement.

so WHY DO WE PEOPLE CRY FOR EQUALITY!

Unknown said...

Taha,

Look at what I wrote to Sonia in the comments section!

:)

Mayank said...

In the current world, human identifies himself more with the religion he/she has inherited and less with his/her own beliefs and humanity at large. He even goes to the extent of forcing on others his inherited beliefs.
That is the root cause of all problems. Burqa or no Burqa and many other similar issues for that matter should be a personal choice ..choice made based on once own beliefs and principles.
At least that is what I believe in :) !

Atul Jain said...

@ Na'I'ny: It is really irritating to see women covering their heads in the families. I am still to figure out how a man can be provoked by seeing her head.

@ Nia and Taha: Women can be safe in the protected environment, I agree. But they do have a right to be safe in the unprotected environment as well!

@ Hussain: We all need to understand that Quran was a war book written in the war time. So the presence of such sermons there is not unexpected. But then, we need to extrapolate according to today's conditions and interpret things accordingly.

@ Shupriyo: There was an interesting discussion between Shabana Azmi and Tasleema Nasreen regarding the parda issue. Ms Azmi wrote in an article, "Quran does not ask women to do parda. It is the religious gurus who have invoked such things."
Very next day, Ms. Nasreen wrote an article in which she provided references to all the relevant aayats of Quran and proved that it was very much ordered in Quran to do "purda". It asks women to do "purda" even in the most intimate moments with their husbands. So the issue is not whether Quran says it or not, issue here is do we like it or not? If we find something in any religious book is fishy, why can't we just ignore it?

@ Na'I'ny: "Mudda ye nahi hai ki main jeetoonga ya haaroonga; mudda ye bhi nahi hai ki main zinda rahoonga ya maar diya jaaoonga; Mudda sirf ye hai ki ek insaan hone ke naate jo mera farz tha main uske liye poori imaandaari se khoon ki aakhiri boond tak lada ya nahin!" It might not be related though, still couldn't stop myself from writing it, especially after the last line of your post!