Indian politics and Imrana:

Posted on Thursday, June 30, 2005 at - Post Comment

It is an irony that if you hear any news of the lovers hanged by the order of the general consensus of society, couple stopped from marrying as they belong to the same gotra etc. then it comes from the belt of Mujjaffarnagar, Saharanpur,Meerut,Bagpat and Bulandshahar which are the richest districts in UP and very close to the cosmopolitan Delhi. Of course the rich belt of neighbouring Haryana is no better.

And now the story of poor Imrana who was raped by her father-in-law in  a small village of Mujjaffarnagar. Instead of consoling to her woes, the fatwa has been issued by Darul Uloom Deoband that she can’t go back to her husband. The alternative solutions are either she gets married to her father-in-law and stays in the house as mother of her erstwhile husband or gets married to another person. The fatwa seems to have been accepted by the poor Imrana.

Rather then discussing the opinion of the socio cultural organizations whose stand is clear by and large(but surprisingly delayed as they are not coming out openly) I will confine my views to the political reactions which matter most to the fate of the society.

The contemporary Indian politics is broadly regulated by two camps. (a) those who see every aspect of political movement from the so called secular angle( secular as distinct from religion rather than secular which means sarva dharma sambhav) which at times gets identified with minority appeasement (b) those who identify Indian Nationalism with Hinduism.

The CPM which falls in category (a) has remarkably given a progressive statement. Prakash Karat has defended the right of women and desired the need for change in the personal laws of all communities albeit without imposition and coercion. The British Educated Congress president of UP Salman Khurshid, who boasts of himself being an ardent supporter of secularism, has defended the decision of clergy thus supporting the stand that Imrana be lead to suffer for no fault of her own. Mulayam Singh who wishes to become the PM of the country by virtue of being secular has defended the decision on the ground that the religious leaders who gave this judgment were learned people and who must have give it the necessary thought.

BJP, which is facing an acute crisis of identity, is using the god gifted issue to induce the congress to again commit a stand which Rajeev Gandhi took in Shah Bano’s case and thereby make out a case for uniform civil code which at this point in time may also be a soother to the RSS.

There is a theory that the more you are educated the more rationale you become. I think that the Imrana incident proves it wrong in the context of political leadership. If Salman Khursheed and Mulayam Singh represent  opposite streams of educational system (the former has his education rooted in Etawh whereas the latter has studied in Oxford),their political views are not reflective of the bipolarity. Both view are converging on this point as both are defending the dictate of the clergy though knowing that secular and religious worlds are absolutely two different world with no commonality of issues except the commonality of the agent: the man. This drives me to think that it is not the education which makes a person humane and fair but interest. Both of them are showing their lip sympathy to Imrana but the fear to loose or urge to gain the sympathy of the muslim clerics and thereby the muslim support is compelling them to support the clerics.

The stand of both Mulayam Singh and  Salman Khurseed thus is dogmatic and regressive rather than secular.

Mulayam Singh is wrong when he labels the clergy of Darul Uloom as learned. They are unprogressive and uneducated. Their world view is like that of a frog in a well. Unaware of the realities of the fast changing world they have kept their eyes and ears shut. What religious stand is this which separates husband from wife, mother/father from their children, deprives the woman from the source of her livelihood, creates and sanctifies relationships of a promiscuous society in modern days for no fault of theirs? The woman when seen as a mother is the most powerful under the sky who can settle disputes as complex as the reliance one but the same woman per se becomes so week and cursed that the society throws her into hell and without any protest from her side. The status of women needs serious consideration by all religions. The difference in treatment of women in different religions is only a matter of degree.

Interesting would be the stand to be taken by the political leaders now on the issue. Prakash Karat has expressed a very serious but progressive opinion so quickly. Such views in Left can only be given by leaders like him or Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The English educated Jyoti Basu would have never made a statement of the type. CPI has been silent so far.  Bhardhan and  Raja may not announce any agitation to reform the communities.  Lets see how congress reacts. Abhishek Singhvi seems to be in a dilemma. Any opinion of heart may affect the muslim support in Bihar. Lallu, the great secular, may see how Paswan reacts. Paswan is clear on the issue and may soon come out defending the clergy as anything in favour of the lady may prove incompatible with his stand of muslim appeasement which he is nurturing so meticulously. Nitish may keep silent. The list may go on but the crux of the matter is that the leadership of the day may take a stand not based on rationality but on how their vote bank is strengthened.

Time for Indian Politicians has come to call a spade a spade. Instead of basing polity on regressive ideas the judgment of Imrana may be rejected out rightly. Personal laws must change on the lines of Rationality, equality and humanism. However, instead of imposing a change in the personal laws, efforts should be made to induce the muslim community to change their personal laws on their own. The saner voices must be welcomed and given the force of law . However it may not be forgotten that the voice from within shall be more stronger and durable then any forced imposition.

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