Shameful

Sir ? Thanks to obscurantist mullahs and the anti-Muslim rhetoric of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Imrana Bibi case is going to be another disaster like the Shah Bano case. A member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has rightly stated that by their unwarranted statements, the ulemas are giving a bad name to the entire community. The Imrana incident, however, is also a blessing in disguise because the Muslim intelligentsia has only started to realize that the authority of the Muslim clerics over the illiterate masses has done irreparable damage. Many today understand that a sustained movement is needed to change this. The best way to do this is by keeping the semi-literate mullahs away from guiding the masses in worldly affairs. Only legal experts like professors of law in universities, retired judges, senior advocates and the ulema of a few progressive Islamic centres like Nadwa University and Jame Hadaya should be allowed to take up the work of interpreting or amending the sharia according to the changing times.

Yours faithfully,
M. Iqtedar Husain Farooqi, Lucknow

Sir ? The burqa on Imrana Bibi managed to hide her face from the media. Unfortunately, the burqa, which Muslim women are ordained to wear to protect them against the salacious advances of males, was not enough to hide her shame, angst and anger. Our politicians? commitment to secularism (that is Muslim appeasement politics) is leading to an India with two faces ? one obscurantist and the other progressive. Is secularism then a licence to a rapist to commit more rapes?

Yours faithfully,
S. Ganguli, Calcutta

Sir ? With due respect to Imrana Bibi?s wishes I must say that her case transcends her. No body of clerics can be permitted to decide on a woman?s marriage, or on where or with whom she wants to live. That is up to the woman herself. Further, it is shameful that most political parties have distanced themselves from her. Isn?t it the same government that is trying to pass a more inclusive bill on women?s protection?

Yours faithfully,
Usha George, Jorhat, Assam

Sir ? The silence of the Congress and the professed support for the fatwa from Mulayam Singh Yadav in fact shows the moral bankruptcy of our politicians. How can a chief minister take a one-sided view on a criminal offence? The ulemas are said to have applied the shariat in both letter and spirit. But what about that part of the same law which orders the rapist to be stoned to death?

Yours faithfully,
Govind Das Dujari, Calcutta

Sir ? It is agreed that till such time that India agrees to a common civil code for all its citizens, religious and personal laws must prevail for matters like marriage, divorce, property rights, inheritance and so on. However, when the personal law is in conflict with the constitutional law of the land including the penal code, then the latter must prevail and override any personal law. In the case of Imrana Bibi, her father-in-law committed a heinous crime. But instead of condemning the act, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and the Darul Uloom of Deoband have condemned Imrana. The Muslim personal law here is in conflict with the law of the land, which must overrule the former.

Yours faithfully,
N.B. Grant, Pune

Sir ? The fatwa on Imrana is a serious injustice to woman, irrespective of her religion. How can this be tolerated in a nation which propagates gender equality?

Yours faithfully,
G.B. Srikantiah, Bangalore

Sir ? Let us be explicitly clear that there is a difference between sexual relationship and sexual assault and there is a criminal law that should take its own course.

Yours faithfully,
Md. Aslam Parvez, Calcutta

Sir ? The recent attempts of the Muslim personal law board to redress the condition of Muslim women in India failed because the reforms suggested did not uphold gender equality. A fate worse than Mukhtaran Mai?s awaits India?s Muslim women.

Yours faithfully,
Omar Luther King, New Delhi

Sir ? Why hasn?t the minorities commission condemned the judgments on Imrana that violated all norms of dignity and human rights. There is little doubt that the Muslim personal law needs to be codified in a simple language and manner so that the average Muslim does not fall prey to unscrupulous clerics.

Yours faithfully,
S. Balakrishnan, Jamshedpur

Sir ? The cabinet can clear any number of legislation for the protection of women from domestic violence or sexual abuse, but till the women themselves stand up for their rights, nothing can help them.

Yours faithfully,
Purnima Vasudeva, Calcutta

Sir ? Post-fatwa, Muslim fathers-in-law can take their daughters-in-law as objects for sexual gratification, and Muslim families, wanting to get rid of their daughters-in-law may have found their way out. Even pseudo-secularists should agree that it is time to clamp down on personal laws that go against women.

Yours faithfully,
Madhu Agrawal, Dariba, Delhi

Sir ? The left has condemned the fatwa on Imrana. But it has condemned a number of other things before. What came of its condemnation of the Gujarat carnage? The left merely sent out its cadre with small tin boxes to beg for the maimed in Gujarat. If Prakash Karat is so concerned about the plight of women, he should ask his comrades to see that their dignity are not violated, sometimes by party members themselves.

Yours faithfully,
S.A. Rahman Barkati, Calcutta

Sir ? ?Imrana?s obedience? (July 2) seemed to blame the BJP for creating an environment where fatwas are issued. It is shocking that a supposedly secular newspaper like The Telegraph should constantly resort to Hindu-bashing.

Yours faithfully,
Ramesh Dewan, Chennai