Voices from the Indian Feminist Movement
Nazia Erum
Since the time of India’s independence, the Muslim minority has been tossed around like a political football. When it suits the political climate, they are a minority that needs to be protected, to uphold democratic ideals. When it doesn’t, they are radical extremists who cannot be pandered to. India has the third-largest population of Muslims in the world, and Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the country. However, with the election of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Islamophobia has been politicized. This has had violent repercussions on the Muslim community. In January 2018, Hindu men kidnapped an 8-year-old girl named Asifa Bano from her tribe’s land in Kashmir. They then took her to a Hindu temple, and drugged, raped and murdered her. PM Modi initially refused to condemn the men, because of the religious outcry against their arrest from Hindu Nationalists.
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Nazia Erum, author of “Mothering a Muslim”, is one woman working to raise awareness on this issue. In her book, she discusses the stories of young Muslim children in schools. But she has also included the stories of young Muslims girls and women throughout their educational experience. She “cried while talking to the women, and cried later while listening to the recording. [I have] tried writing. I couldn't write for more than 10 minutes at a stretch. There was a physical pain in my chest”. The root of this pain runs deep into Indian society, and is being felt at the youngest levels of it. “the kids face [the discrimination and bullying] the most
and they are vulnerable, they are all alone in schools facing this. It starts as young as 4 or 5.” Muslim students are often asked whether their fathers are terrorists. The girls who wear skirts are asked if their fathers will kill them for showing their legs in public. It is a shameful display of intolerance, especially in a culture where Muslims and Hindus have coexisted for over 2000 years.
If you really care about Muslim women, you need to stop demonizing the entire community, because our children face the consequences.”
Despite his Hindu-nationalist message, PM Modi recognized the importance of the Muslim vote. During his tenure, the Supreme Court has banned the “triple-talaq” law, where a Muslim man can divorce his wife by saying talaq, or divorce in Arabic, three times. This leaves her with no parental rights and no financial support. The PM enthusiastically supported this decision, painting himself as a champion of all women’s rights. Nazia dryly notes that “it was all about painting Muslim women as victims, and men as the troublemakers. And our dear Prime Minister coming to the rescue of his Musalman behne (Muslim sisters).” She adds that “we, as Muslim mothers, keep saying that that if you really care about Muslim women, you need to stop demonizing the entire community, because our children face the consequences.”