Religious Nudity vs. Religious Veiling
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
28 February
2022
In A
Multicultural Society Like India, Veiling Should Also Be Accepted If Nakedness
Is Acceptable On Religious Grounds
Main
Points:
1. In India
even Hindu women have covered their faces with Ghoonghat.
2. Muslims are
divided on face cover as Jains are divided on clothing.
3. Both Muslims
and government should show some flexibility on the issue.
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Tarun Sagar was greatly respected by various politicians including PM
Modi, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje. (Photo:
DNA)
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In October
2016, the Digamber Jain Saint Tarun Sagar had been invited by the Education
Minister of Haryana, Ram Vilas Sharma to preach a sermon in the Haryana
Assembly. He had accepted the invitation and come to the Assembly and delivered
his sermon for forty minutes. According to his religious principles, he was
totally naked though there were some women MLAs also present in the assembly.
Questions
were raised on the legitimacy of the event on the social media. Questions were
raised as to how a monk or a Saint can be invited to address an audience in a
public comprising women while sitting completely naked. Reacting to the event,
a woman columnist Sanjukta Basu had written an article
that was published in Firstpost. She wrote about India's laws on obscenity and the justification of
permitting a religious guru to deliver a sermon in an Assembly while naked. She
wrote:
"Section
294 of Indian Penal Code defines the crime of obscenity: Whoever to the
annoyance of others
a) does any
obscene act in any public place or
b) sings,
recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words in or near any public
place."
She further
wrote: "Of course the law is very ambiguous. The main test is that of
annoyance. Courts have held that no act is per se obscene or vulgar unless it
causes annoyance (2005 (3) ALD 220). But what constitutes annoyance? Who are
others? What is a public place? When a formal event is organised in a workplace
where women go as part of their ordinary duties that choice is kind of taken
away. But this is not just one day in Haryana Assembly or just about a few
women. What example is being set? Tomorrow it could be a school or college ---
a nude body should not be forced upon a female gaze in any way. Nudity in the
workplace would amount to sexual harassment but why doesn't religious nudity?
Is it because it is about what the religious man intends and not how the
non-religious female gaze receives the body?"
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Also
Read: Indian Muslims
Should Adopt A Realistic Approach To Hijab Issue
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To many
this analogy to the Hijab issue may not sound appropriate but in a
multicultural society like India it sounds bizarre that religious veil or Hijab
causes annoyance to many but religious nudity does not. India is not a
culturally homogenous society like France where uniformity in looks and dress
is expected and so if Hijab is banned there, it is seen as lack of knowledge to
cultural sensitivities of others. But in India where veiling and nudity are
both part of religion and culture and people of different geographical regions
wear different clothing.
Images
by Abhishek | This photograph was taken during the Naga sadhus procession while
the crowd looks on
----
There are
Naga sadhus whose nudity does not cause annoyance to any one so as to fall
under obscenity. Again when a rape happens, it is said that scantily clad women
encourage rape.
The Muslim
college girls were barred from attending college because it annoyed the boys
associated with a particular ideology. The arguments the girls presented was that
the Hijab or veil was among their Essential Religious Practices just as the
Jain monk said nudity was his Essential Religious Practice.
In India
not only Muslim women use veil or face cover but for centuries Hindu women have
used Ghoonghat, a part of sari to cover their face. In a joint family
the bride or the daughter in law had to draw Ghoonghat over her face the
whole day because she was supposed not to show her face to the senior male
members of the family.
In modern
society too young Hindu girls cover their face with scarf or stole for security
reasons. Some high profile rape cases, in the country have instilled a sense of
fear and insecurity among the girls. By covering their face they avoid unwanted
glares and enjoy the comfort of anonymity. Incidents of posting of photos of
girls in the social media by rogue elements have also made no-Muslim girls to
opt for face cover. However, since there is no religious compulsion of covering
the face in Hinduism, so Hindu girls are not rigid on the issue of covering the
face and so they remove the scarf where uncovering the face is required. In
case of Muslim girls, since veil or Hijab is seen as a religious ordainment,
the Hijab or veil becomes a religious identity. Hence the rigidly.
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The girls
who are ready to leave their career for veils or Hijab are not aware that in
many Muslim countries veil is banned. In 2009, Egypt's Al Azhar University
banned veil or niqab in all female classrooms and dormitories in all its
affiliate colleges and educational institutes. In Saudi Arabia there have never
been clear cut rules mandating Hijab or Niqab. The black Abaya was imposed because
of the pressure of the religious section. The present government has lifted the
Hijab. Now it is not compulsory.
In India
too, Hijab or veil is worn by a section of women and girls while other section
does not wear hijab or veil. The choice is entirely theirs. In Karnataka,
Muskan Khan was hailed by Muslims for wearing Hijab while a Kashmiri girl who
was a topper in class 12 was criticised for not wearing Hijab.
In a
society where girls face harassment, cat calls, or harassment on social media,
they have found Hijab or face cover as a protective cover irrespective of
religious affiliation. The Indian government has not banned Hijab or veil and
so educational institutions may adopt some leniency In view of the sensitive
nature of the issue. Whether veil or face cover is cited in Quran or Hadith is
a debatable issue as different Ulema have interpreted Quran and hadith
differently. Some say veil is mentioned in the Quran while others say it is not
just as Digamber Jains and Shwetambar Jains differ on dress. In short, as
religious nudity is allowed and accepted in a multicultural society like India,
religious veil should also be acceptable. However, a degree of flexibility is
desired from both the Muslims and the government on the issue.
-----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/religious-nudity-veiling/d/126474
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