By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
18 January
2023
In Such Polarised Times, A Poor Muslim Girl's
Innocuous Acts And Antics Make Her A Fahisha (Urdu For A Whore; Derived
From Fuhash). And When A Political Party Is Involved In Casting
Opprobrium On Her, It Becomes An Obvious Case Of Hindu-Muslim Divide.
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I'm not a
spokesman of Urfi Javed. Nor am I her friend. Her dressing sense could be
improper to some prudes because India is rife with ' voyeurs with a complaining
streak' (Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' apt observation).
Urfi
Javed
----
My point
is: What’s Chitra Wagh's (chief of Maharashtra BJP Women's Wing) problem? Why
is this self-styled moralist against Urfi's proper or improper dressing? Let
this young girl experiment with her body and apparels. Why do we feel so
squeamish about a woman showing her flesh? That's her life. This young woman
may be suffering from Attention Deficiency Syndrome and by shedding clothes,
she tries to attract people's attention. But is she creating a nuisance? Is she
killing anyone? Many Hindu girls are also doing the same. But the axe falls on
a Muslim girl in a sharply polarised country. At the moment, Maharashtra is the
most polarised state alongside UP, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Muslims are
openly abused. A few days ago, while speaking with a former editor of a Marathi
newspaper, he told me, ' Ye Katwe (an extremely derogatory term for
Muslims as their men are circumcised) Saare Haraam Ki Aulaadein Hain (they're
all bastards). Imagine, a former editor is resorting to this type of execrable
language for a community.
The
socio-political equations in Maharashtra are also lopsided, thanks to the
current political dispensation. Muslims are being side-lined and condemned.
Even a prestigious News channel like Times Now is playing to the gallery and
maligning Muslims in no uncertain terms.
Recently, it
claimed that more than 200 Hindus of Daund (near Poona) are being converted
every year. This raised eyebrows. What on earth police, government and local
machinery doing? There's no satisfactory answer and explanation to this
shocking phenomenon (if at all this has been happening).
So, in such
polarised times, a poor Muslim girl's innocuous acts and antics make her a Fahisha
(Urdu for a whore; derived from Fuhash). And when a political party
is involved in casting opprobrium on her, it becomes an obvious case of
Hindu-Muslim divide.
----
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/urfi-javed-muslims-condemned/d/128899
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