When France decided to ban the Niqaab, citing security reasons, I was taken back to those days when I received so much flak for not covering my head the Islamic way. As a single Muslim woman, I felt the need to talk about the same. This article is solely based on my interpretation and not meant to intentionally hurt anyone.
Back then, when I was 6 years old, my parents decided to send me to a madrasa where they taught things the traditional way. There, I was taught to pray and wear a burqa. A clearly confused 6 year old me never comprehended why it was mandatory to wear headscarves all the time.
My parents never felt it was necessary to don a burqa on a toddler whose teeth had barely sprouted. But I obliged by the rule that one must cover their head while praying as a mark of respect, which I follow to date. My relatives “ooohed” and “aahed” on how I was growing into this obedient girl and wore a niqab, whereas I felt like I was being tamed for sacrifice.
The next part came during schooling, where I was the only Muslim girl in a batch of 80 students. It was here that I had to face myriad questions on why I didn’t cover my head. I have to admit it was my free spirit and the deep resentment towards unnecessary attention that made me discard a Niqab.
It was around the time Islamophobia was slowly making its way into the minds of the general population. This was where my emotional need for peer acceptance came to play. I wanted to be that regular, happy, loved child and not just another Muslim kid.
When I turned 15, I started questioning why Islam enforced a burqa. My quest on the same yielded some interesting theories. The one that made me laugh was the Toffee theory. I was not falling for that misogynist bullshit. Why is it that only a woman feels the need to save her body for her better half and there’s no pressure on a man to do the same?
So that theory went through the window.
I went on searching for answers. No explanation seemed to convince me.
Then, I read how the burqa was related to the origin and spread of Islam. Back then, when man was invading lands in the name of religion, the often collateral damage were women who were considered vulnerable.
Women were taken and forcibly converted and married off. It was then that burqa was prescribed for self-protection and to ward off the unnecessary male gaze. There is also this theory that covering oneself fully was another way of protection from the brutal sandstorms of the Arabian Peninsula that could possibly scorch your skin.
Even today, we see how men and women in the Middle East wear long robes as part of their couture. It was well established that scions of the same Arabian crusaders brought the veil tradition to India, which again became a part of the Hindu tradition as well. That seemed almost logical.
But what piqued my interest was how it became an instrument of oppression down the lanes of history.
A Question Of Free Will
Then came the question, how relevant is it in the contemporary age? We can see how the niqab is related to Islamophobia. Though initially, I felt the burqa was completely unnecessary, I came across how it was linked to freedom of expression.
While some women feel in their power wearing a burqa, some feel confident by discarding it. The free spirit in me started questioning how it breached my freedom of expression if I was forced to wear or discard a burqa against my will. The concept of free will gets more precedence here.
I have seen how working women, college students and women who are well oriented with themselves prefer not to wear a niqab because of how easy it makes their lives. Free will, again, depends on how comfortable it makes us feel and varies from individual to individual. It is a matter of choice.
I felt baffled with how women wearing hijab in Iran are celebrated for their choice, while women wearing headscarves in France are oppressed.
We have come across instances of Muslim children in India wearing headscarves being disallowed from entering school and college premises, mostly because it clashed with the interests of fringe elements.
Isn’t it their choice to wear the niqab? Isn’t it their choice to follow their religion? Isn’t it our duty to respect a person for the choices they make? Isn’t it atrocious that our fellow citizens are dealt with such a heavy hand for exercising their freedom of choice?
Let me remind you that the constitution guarantees all citizens some basic fundamental rights that no element with extremist propaganda can take away over their insecurities or whims. These rights were made with the sole purpose to ensure that diversity is maintained with everlasting peace.
What is India without its vibrant diversity? We have a rich history where our brethren battled for independence, fought wars against invaders and laid down their lives, without a second thought of what religion or faith a fellow fighter belonged to. They fought to preserve a diverse homeland.
Ask The Women What They Want
Now, coming to the part suggested by my dear friend on how the power equation plays a key role in deciding whether women should mandatorily wear a burqa.
My madrasa experience taught me how the seers and theologians make 6-year-olds wear a burqa because my femininity could possibly provoke male sexuality. Really? Isn’t that another patriarchal and misogynist tactic of tailoring women to fit the frame of how they need them to be?
It is pure male privilege and feeling of entitlement that forces a woman to wear a niqab here. Why not ask the woman about what she wants from life and leave her to pursue her will?
Even today, when I go out without a niqab, I see the look of disapproval on my neighbours’ faces, which makes my skin crawl. So I’ve always felt the need to do what makes me feel comfortable and in hopes that someday God will forgive me for my quest to find myself and make a living to put food on the table.
I hold my head high, not because I trumped everybody but because I did justice to myself by making that choice. And if it comes to hurting the sentiments of people who don’t feel the same, so be it.