10 December,2009 07:19 AM IST | | Yasir Ali
So, what's common between poet-saint Kabir and Swiss feminists? The analogy is quite mind-boggling, considering the nature and scope of the work and era of the two personalities.
The idea struck while travelling to Lucknow in the Shatabdi Express, arguably the best Indian rail can offer. I saw a news item about a referendum over banning minarets in mosques across Switzerland, as they were deemed a symbol of male oppression. Whoa. Bra-burning feminists can go great lengths in digging out explanations for their theories. Did anyone from the ilk try to understand the architectural significance of a minaret in a mosque?
Enter Kabir, the great mystic and poet who pioneered the Bhakti movement. I heard a Kabir couplet from my Hindi teacher in class four. Though I could not recall it verbatim, it went something like this: Masjid bheetar mullah pukaaray, kya sahib teraa bahiraa hai? chinti ke pag nevar baaje, so bhi sahib suntaa hai. (Why does the cleric call loud from the mosque? Is your God deaf? His omnipotent ears can even hear the steps of an ant).
Now, with all due respect to the great bard as well as the fierce advocates of women liberation, I have to ask whether the allusions to Islamic symbols used by them were put in the right context before being cited. If I were to answer, certainly not.u00a0
The minarets, apart from providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, serve as a vantage point from which the call to prayer (adhan) is made. It has no other symbolic meaning. And even if it does, for my 'thinking' sisters, will it not prove a brutal blow to the multicultural identity of their country?
Back to Kabir. I am not qualified enough to write a critique of the great poet and saint. But, as a sufficiently informed Muslim, I have to say that there is no doubt in anybody's mind about the omnipotence of God, but the call made by a 'mullah' is not meant for God, but for His followers, and the allusion is quite misplaced, poetic nuances notwithstanding.
On the other hand, the Swiss referendum, I feel, will only serve to widen the western vs. anti-western world divide. A poster of the campaign shows a mosque's minaret with a veiled woman. Do they want to say allowing minarets will cause their women to be 'subjugated' like Muslim women? If this is the case, they must remember that their movement will damage the cause of feminism, which must not discriminate on the basis of religion or region. Do they want to imply that the sufferings of a Muslim woman are different from that of a European one? An exploited woman is an exploited woman, isn't it? Let's hope that the so-called flag bearers of equality and tolerance take note.
Yasir Ali is Chief Sub Editor, MiD DAY Delhi
