Striving for Gender Justice: Overcoming Obstacles

Ram Puniyani

While on one hand a PIL has been filed for UCC, there is another significant development in this direction. This relates to the personal laws of Muslim community. That ‘Muslim women are subject to more domination and gender injustice’ has been a widespread perception. While as such the Personal laws of different religious communities are not giving due justice to women, the popular focus is mainly on the Muslim community. This despite the fact that there are number of Muslim women’s groups who are striving for gender just civil codes within Muslim community. The recently released Nikahnama (Marriage Norms) by Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) is one such leap by Muslim women to overcome the shackles of patriarchal grip on the Muslim women.  Model Nikahnama released by BMMA (June 23, 2014) is an important step in this direction, in the direction of empowering Muslim women This tries to give the solution to various problems faced by Muslim women. It outlines the various steps for which the large section of Muslim women is longing for. 

This Nikahnama calls for registration of all marriages, calls for denial of second marriage unless there is a valid ground like death of the first wife etc, calls for minimum age of marriage for girls to be 18, (for boys 21), wife should have due place in the household even after the death of husband, divorce should be permitted in the physical presence of husband and wife both and it should be supported by legal documents, and in case of women demanding divorce, her voice should be respected and she should be allowed to keep personal belongings.

The notion that the present plight of Muslim women is due to Islam holds no water. Islamic scholars and reformers like Asghar Ali Engineer contributed tremendously to the many basic points of this Nikahnama, which is a sort of Muslim Personal Law. The major highlight of this draft is that it represents the opinions of thousands of Muslim women due to whose participation the drafting of this one took final shape. The future challenge is that this Nikahnama has to be made the basis of the personal laws and a major campaign has to be launched in support of this. While the directive principles of our Constitution call that state should attempt to evolve a Uniform civil code, the issue as such came to the forefront in the wake of historic Shah Bano judgment, where a Muslim divorcee women was granted the maintenance by the court. The opposition to this court judgment came from the orthodox section of the community and the judgment was reversed by an act of Parliament by Rajiv Gandhi Government. This was a serious mistake.

The women’s movement has been asking for gender justice and many a concerned groups have been struggling for this. As we know the personal laws have been a continuation of what British had introduced and pertain only to marriage, divorce, custody of children and inheritance. While the civil and criminal laws are the same for all the religious communities, the personal laws have been based on the traditional customs, primarily patriarchal. The severe flaw in these laws is that they are heavily weighted in favor of men. While initially there was some lack of clarity about the concept of Uniformity, the women’s movement in due course called for gender justice as the basis of these rather than mere uniformity.

Uniformity can very well be an amalgam of unjust laws picked from different traditions and put together. That’s not something which women’s movement wants, that’s something which is not in consonance with the concept of gender parity. That’s not what a civilized society should have. The twin aspect of the need for newer personal laws has been the gender equality in front of law and their introduction through a process of social reform rather than imposition by dictat from the top.

The efforts of Muslim women’s groups face obstacles due to the domination of orthodox elements in the community. This situation is worst confounded due to the sense of physical insecurity following the communal violence. During last several decades the percentage of Muslims getting killed in the communal violence is close to 90%, while their percentage in the population is close to 14%. Communal violence is also the ground where women from minority community are subjected to serious sexual and physical abuse. This is what creates the sense of social insecurity, weakening their movements in a serious manner. It’s not that Muslim women don’t want reforms or parity in social matters; it’s not that Muslim men are able to hegemonize the situation due to religion or due to what Koran says. The issue at stake is the physical insecurity due to which Muslim women’s groups have remained comparatively weak and unable to assert themselves within the community and society. There surely are number of groups from amongst the Muslim community asking for equality, their movement is unable to get strength due to the cancerous phenomenon of communal violence and its soial-psychological aftermath.

The Hindu right wing’s cry for Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is not because it is seeking for gender parity. It has been seen that this UCC can be used as a political tool to beat the Muslim community with so it has been made as a basic part of the so-called ‘Hindutva’ agenda. This also needs to be seen from another angle. As a matter of fact the term Uniform has to qualified in proper perspective. It should not be a compilation of different unjust laws from different religious customs. What we need is an overhaul of the personal laws in all the religious communities and that the new laws have to be formulated on the grounds of gender justice. And secondly, they have to be evolved through the process of discussion and debate within the communities, where the women, who are the major sufferers of the prevalent laws, should have a major role in formulating them.

The step by BMMA shows the way for the communities to march in the direction of change in personal laws. On one hand this Nikhnama has been evolved through an extensive process of community participation, on the other it articulates the aspirations of Muslim women at large. Surely the laws pertaining to other religious communities also need to go through the process of similar exercise where women have a major say and the laws then act as a major mechanism for overcoming the patriarchal norms on the society.  Such positive steps by social groups need a welcome modification to further broader participation to make it more representative in character.       

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Rape: Patriarchy and Selective Historiography

Ram Puniyani

The spate of horrific rapes in Haryana in particular (Sept 2012) has drawn the national attention to this abominable phenomenon. Various diagnosis and prescriptions have also come forward about the causes and as to how to prevent these rapes is also being suggested by different people. Interestingly the world view of those advising on the issue is shaped their world view as such. While the progressive liberal tendencies and ideologies will link the phenomenon of rape to the prevalent uneven gender equations and so what follows as a preventive measure is the need to empower women and strengthen liberal norms in the society. The conservative opinions also have a wide shades of understandings.

Courtesy: wccpenang

Not too long ago a police top cop in Hyderabad linked rape to the clothes of girls, and he was applauded by the Rashtra Seviak Samiti, the women’s organization subordinate to the RSS. There is caste equation also in the phenomenon seen in caste atrocities where dalit women bear the large brunt of the phenomenon, the worst of which was witnessed in Khairlanji. In communal violence, the ‘women of other community’ are subjected to this humiliation. In a way the bodies of women become the site of contestation amongst these social groups, where women are regarded as the property of men.

In the spate of recent shameful incidents, the notorious Khaps gave the dictat that the age of marriage of girl should be lowered to 15 as now the girls reach puberty early, before 11 years of age so this change should be exercised. Omprakash Chautala, before retracting his statement later, said “In the past, especially in Mughal era, people used to marry their girls to save them from such atrocities. Currently a situation of similar kind is arising in Haryana.” This formulation has lot of holes in it. Does marriage prevent rapes? Married women are also subjected to this atrocity is too well known. Is it that the early marriage for girls has become because of the atrocities of Mughals on ‘Hindu’ women? The latter formulation is also a part of social common sense prevalent in the sections of society. Many an instances like Padminis’ Jauhar (Putting oneself in the fire) to prevent being humiliated by the rival king and the army is supposed to be one such example.

There is no doubt that many women might have committed such suicides to save themselves from anticipated situation. In the classic serial Tamas, a similar scene where women jump into the well to prevent their humiliation also starkly comes to one’s mind. But is it that the Mughal rule or the rule of Muslim kings in different parts of the country stands out for such horrendous ignominies, while rulers of other religions were protecting women? One recalls when Shivaji’s armies went to plunder Kalayan, apart from other loot they also brought the ‘daughter in law’ of Kalyan’s ruler as a gift for Shivaji. It is another matter that Shivaji sent her back with full honours. The plunder of wealth and the humiliation, rape of women by different armies was and is the part of the highhanded behaviour of the armies. Armies in the past, irrespective of being Hindus, Muslims or Christian did it and are doing it even now. One should shudder to think of the atrocities, which took place in Bosnia and Rwanda. Closer home this is what took place and is taking place in Kashmir or North East. The case of Manorama, who was abducted, raped and killed by the Indian army, will be etched in the memory of the nation as a dark spot on national conscience. After this event many a women protested in a most shaming way, stripping and carrying a banner “Indian Army rape us”. The phenomenon which has taken place has been due to the armed might of Kings-Generals- armies. This is a phenomenon cutting across religions. Here in India to attribute it to Muslims Kings and army alone is a part of ‘Communal historiography’ presented in a selective way. Incidentally, communal historiography is a way of presenting history through the prism of Kings’ religion, which was introduced in India by British to pursue their ‘divide and rule’ policy. One should also remember that the armies of Mughal kings were mixed, with Hindus and Muslims both being part of it. Do remember that the Commander of Chief of Akbar was Raja Mansingh and Aurangzeb had Mirza Raja Jaisingh as his associate.

As such the child marriage, early marriage and marrying the girls before they attain puberty had become a part of ‘religion’ so to say. During nineteenth century when the reformers were calling for the raise in the age of marriage of girls, the conservative sections argued that the Hindu girls must cohabit with their husbands before their first menses. During a debate on raising the age of consent for girls it was argued that raising the age of consent to 12 would increase such a possibility of a girl having her menses before cohabitation so such a move by the state will tantamount to the ruler interfering in Hindu religion. The trends for early marriage and few voices calling for the raise in the age of marriage has been debated since quite few centuries and those wanting to increase the age of marriage could succeed only gradually and more so after Independence. Even amongst Muslims the conservative sections have been demanding the lowering of the age of marriage for girls. Both conservative sections think alike, as the real issue is not religion, but control over lives of women, strengthening patriarchy. This patriarchy has been presented as the part of religious practice, and in that way the imposition of patriarchal norms becomes easier.

White Ribbon

Early marriage ensures a total slavery of the girls, apart from other miseries which follow due to early child bearing apart from the responsibility of household chores. The early marriage and pregnancy is also a biological risk to the mother and the child. So the struggle as such is between the attempt to rid the society of patriarchal control on one side and re-imposing the feudal norms in current times on the other. It is no wonder that Khaps, which are the most assertive in Haryana and other regions of North India, is also the area where the atrocities against Dalits are on the peak and the sex ratio is the lowest in the country. The agenda of these Khaps, the exclusive male bodies, is very visible in this area in the form of caste and gender subjugation. The Khaps, which are illegal, have been asserting and giving dictats on intra gotra marriages and the cases which are equivalent of honour killing are also visible on and off. Overall the likes of Chautala, may retract their statement due to the pressures of political considerations, but their articulations do express the reality of places like Haryana. The need for social reform, women’s education-employment-empowerment is one of the keys to overcome the fatwa’s of the self appointed lawmakers. These Khaps need to be done away and Panchayats with 50% reservation for women need to be empowered as per our Constitutional norms. The interesting point of the Haryana phenomenon is that the major victims of their agenda, women and dalits, both are facing the atrocities.

While multiple theories and opinions on why rape as a phenomenon prevails, the major cause of this phenomenon, the patriarchy and the uneven gender relations need to be highlighted to be able to go to the root of the issue. Doing away with Khap and promoting the grass root democracy through Panchayat system will be the way towards a more just, gender just, sans the chains of the likes of Khap or their equivalents in some form or the other.

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