The hijab discourse has reinforced the voice of common law, common freedom and equal justice in this country. Justice, equality, fraternity—these are the pillars of our constitution as well. Women cannot be seen in isolation from them. And the constitution does not even allow arbitrariness to a particular class. Everyone knows that politics is not even cut from issues.

– Panchjanya.                                                                                                              @hiteshshankar

The social discourse on hijab currently going on has started from Karnataka. It has been trending on social media for days, where hashtags change within an hour. The persistence of an issue for so long suggests that it is not just a momentary charge, but has become a major issue of social discourse. This is also confirmed by the fact that the issue has been heated from Udupi in Karnataka in the far south to the hijab of Arusha in Kashmir in the north. Arusha has also been threatened by the fundamentalists for not wearing the hijab. There is a different face of this discourse. The promising Arusha said that I am a Muslim not because of the hijab, but because of my faith. This is a befitting reply from a Muslim woman to the hysterical Jamaat.

Along with the spread of this discourse, also watch the assembly elections in five states of the country, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. It was also argued in the court that, since the elections are on, the media, social media comments in the hijab controversy should be stopped at this time. The court said that the Election Commission will say about it, then we will see. what is the meaning of this? Could this be an election issue? Will there be education in educational institutions or a special kind of religious identity will take hold there, who is feeling this election issue? That is, they understand that social discourse has the potential to influence divisive politics, and its timing may be wrong. If we look at this criterion, then on the one hand there is a group of people who are trying to masquerade identity, make educational institutions an arena of bigotry, talk about women’s freedom but in fact keep them stuck in medieval thinking. On the other hand the voice is rising from the whole society that these things cannot work.

talk about education
You notice that even those who claim to be the contractors of the so called progressive, secular and Muslim society, everyone is talking about hijab but today no one is talking about education. These are the same people who used to talk about education institute instead of Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya when it comes to culture, faith, facts or evidence. Those who then used to say ‘worship later, study first’, today they are talking about promoting religious identity in place of education.

So, who really is a true progressive? We have to give credit to this society which has created this discourse. The riots can happen on any side. Put the fussy elements aside and see who is really talking about education right now. Who is saying that our children’s classes should be fine, schools should have more facilities, classes should be run perfectly. This becomes more important after education is affected by the restrictions of the Kovid period. At a time when the entire education system has collapsed, some people are bent on promoting religious identity. Education and the right kind of education should also be talked about because there is a leftist agenda distorting history in this field, it is a game to promote Christian conversion in the guise of education, free from them, cheap, accessible and education based on Indian values. Today is the need of the hour.

stairs of fanaticism
Actually hijab, niqab or burqa—these are the steps slowly leading a section of the society towards bigotry. Look at the pictures before the Iranian revolution in which things like niqab, hijab were not there in the society there. It was the same in Turkey. But when bigotry grows, it takes women in its grip, keeps them away from education. We have seen a great example of this with the arrival of Taliban in Afghanistan. How can we give freedom to a section of our society to keep its women captive? Will women be deprived of even sunlight and air due to medieval thinking and surroundings, the pressure associated with it, social upheavals, splintering in the localities? What is this thinking? Your face is your identity in social life. If some people become uncontrollable after seeing the woman’s face, then they need to be treated. Women cannot be punished for this.

Hijab, niqab or burqa—these are the steps slowly leading a section of the society towards bigotry. Look at the pictures before the Iranian revolution in which things like niqab, hijab were not there in the society there. It was the same in Turkey. But when bigotry grows, it takes women in its grip, keeps them away from education. We have seen a great example of this with the arrival of Taliban in Afghanistan.

Those who argue for hijab are giving childish arguments. They are saying that the valuable thing is kept in the screen. They argue that mobiles are expensive, so you put screen guards in it. That is, for them the woman is only a thing, a mere toy of material pleasure – the price of which they will decide. Can any society move forward with such thinking?

sex abuse in madrassas
Indian society is a society of discourses and today this annoyance is visible in it. There are more important issues in Muslim society than the hijab which should be considered. One of them is the problem of sexual abuse of students in madrasas. There are frequent social media debates, innumerable videos on YouTube, repeated incidents, confessions of exploitation by Muslim students. But these incidents did not shake him. The whole society seems agitated that women are not captives, women should not be freed from their grip. In the name of education, where Muslim students are actually being exploited, why doesn’t any debate arise in the Muslim society on that madrassa system? The biggest discourse in Muslim society should be that students will not be allowed to be sexually exploited in madrassas. But leave aside the national discourse, has this issue ever become a part of the discourse of Muslim society as well?

The question of ‘one law’ arose from the discussion
In the meantime, these people are worried about the election. I believe the hijab has strengthened the voice of common law, equal freedom and equal justice in this country. Justice, equality, fraternity—these are the pillars of our constitution as well. Women cannot be seen in isolation from them. And the constitution does not even allow arbitrariness to a particular class. Constitution is paramount. Any religious text or any such tradition, which is not acceptable to the society from the point of view of social, health and morality, is not right on the test of logic, how long will the society last? It is known to all that politics is not even cut from issues.

Social discourse is taking shape and is not limited to Karnataka. The issue of Uniform Civil Code has arisen from Uttarakhand. With the growing trend of Twitter, it should be understood that this is not just an issue of election based states, but has spread all over the place outside elections. Society also has the power to pull politics in the direction of public opinion and churning, you cannot decide its geography. At the time when this issue has arisen and the way technology has made inroads in India, now the issues of social discourse will not only decide the direction of future politics but will decide the direction of society and future India.