Female Genital Mutilation in Any Form Should Be Banned
FGM Is the
Violation of a Girl's Right to Life
Main
Points:
1. Female
Genital Mutilation is a pre-Islamic practice.
2. It is
practiced in 90 countries.
3. It is
practiced in every Muslim community including Bohra community.
4. Bohra
community calls it khafz.
5. African
religious leaders have recently opposed the practice.
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By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
20 February
2023
Syedna
Taher Fakhruddin | YouTube, Fatemi Dawat
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Female
Genital Mutilation or FGM is a practice that exists in all Muslim communities
of the world. It is practiced in 90 countries. Many women's rights activists
have been running campaigns against this inhuman practice that is in vogue in
Arab, Africa and Asia since the pre-Islamic era. The practice is a legacy of a
patriarchal society that was worried about female sexuality and wanted to control
it. In the Dawoodi Bohra community of India too this practice continues with a
different name, that is Khafz. The Bohra Syedna (religious head) calls
it Khafz and claims it is not FGM. But WHO says that Khafz is
also FGM.FGM is known by different names in different countries. The common
purpose of this is to ensure that the women's sexuality can be controlled. This
entails suppressing the women's sexuality.
The issue
came into prominence recently with the Syedna of Bohra community writing a
letter to the Prime Minister of India to ban FGM but allow Khafz as an
option for girls. He claimed that Khafz was not FGM. Practically, Khafz
and FGM are the same. WHO has declared Khafz a form of FGM.
The Bohra
community and other Sunni Muslim communities practicing FGM claim that it is a
religious practice and so comes under religious freedom guaranteed by the
Constitution. But the practice is not enjoined on either by the Quran or by the
hadiths. It is a pre-Islamic practice of Arab and Africa which was imported to
Asia with the spread of Islam. The early Arabs were a trading community and
they travelled to far off countries as far as India and remained away from home
for long periods. They performed FGM on their women to ensure that they do not
go astray in their absence.
In India,
this practice exists in Bohra and other Sunni communities. In Kerala, this is
largely practiced among Muslims. Organisations like India Lead have advocated a
ban on FGM. In African countries, of late religious leaders have spoken against
it. The scholars of Al Azhar University and other scholars have demanded a ban
on it. But in the Indian subcontinent and other Asian countries, it is still
practiced. Religious leaders have been an obstacle in this reform.
There have
been demands and PILs from activists in India demanding a ban on it. But the
religious bodies claim that it is protected under Article 25 of the
Constitution that guarantees the right to practice one's religion.
May 2017, a
public interest litigation (PIL) case was raised in India's Supreme Court. The
case was filed by Sunita Tiwari, a lawyer based in Delhi, and sought a ban on
FGM in India.
An advocate
for the petition claimed the practice violated children's rights under Article
14 (Right to Equality) and Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution of India,
while an advocate opposing the petition argued that Khafz is an
essential part of the community's religion, and their right to practise the
religion is protected under Articles 25 and 26.
The problem
is that the government of India does not have data on FGM in India and so
cannot take a decision.
The
Ministry of Women and Child Development reported in December 2017 that
"there is no official data or study which supports the existence of FGM in
India. Earlier, in May 2017, Maneka Gandhi, the then Women and Child
Development Minister had taken a tough stand saying that if the Muslim
community did not stop FGM voluntarily, the government will ban it.
In April
2018 India's Attorney General K. K. Venugopal asked a bench of the Supreme
Court to issue directions regarding the case, saying that FGM was already a
crime under existing law. The bench adjourned the case and issued notices to
Kerala and Telangana, having earlier notified Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Delhi.
In
September 2018 the Supreme Court referred the PIL to a five-judge constitution
bench at the request of Venugopal and the counsel for the Dawoodi Bohras. In
November 2019, the Supreme Court decided that the issue of FGM be referred to a
larger seven-judge bench and that it be examined alongside other women's rights
issues. The court said it was a "seminal issue" regarding the power
of the court to decide whether a practice is essential to a religion.
A practice
that has a cultural background and exists in the society for centuries cannot
be stopped like child marriage by force overnight. The society needs to be
sensitised over the ills and false grounds or roots of the practiced. Religious
leaders need to come to the forefront of the campaign and the laws should be
formulated in such a way that encourages not enforces to do away with the
practice.
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Bohra
Muslim Leader Wrong to Say Khafz Isn’t Female Genital Mutilation. Let Modi Govt
Ban It
By Masooma
Ranalvi
13
February, 2023
The
International Zero Tolerance Day for Female Genital Mutilation is annually
observed on 6 February. It is a day to galvanise people all over the world to
raise awareness and take action.
Despite
efforts to end FGM, over three million girls and women are at risk each year. Ending
this practice will take everyone raising their hand and voice. In this context,
the story published by ThePrint holds importance.
It carried
news of a letter written by Syedna Taher Fakhruddin, claimant to the title of ‘Syedna’ or head of the Dawoodi Bohra Community,
addressed to the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and principal secretary
PK Mishra. Syedna Taher Fakhruddin asked the PM to ban FGM.
While this
came across as if there was renewed hope for our long-standing demand to end
Female Genital Mutilation, rampantly practiced in the Dawoodi Bohra community,
it was really just a classic case of using click-bait to draw media attention.
Also read:
‘Neither PM nor CM, I’m family’: In Dawoodi Bohra outreach, Modi recalls ties
since Gujarat days
FGM and Khafz—One
And The Same
The letter
defends Khafz as performed in the Dawoodi Bohra community. And adds that it
doesn’t constitute FGM. It further states that Khafz is analogous to clitoral
de-hooding. Moreover, the procedure is done to “improve a woman’s sexual
health.”
In reality,
Khafz and FGM are one and the same. According to the World Health
organisation’s definition, removal of the girl child’s clitoral-hood for non-medical purposes is
Type 1 and Type 4 FGM. WHO’s comprehensive definition of FGM includes all types
of the practice prevalent in the world.
Moreover,
the clitoral de-hooding performed in unhygienic conditions by midwives in many
cases leads to the cutting of more than just the hood, according to an
independent study. It narrates the psychological impact of this practice on women.
Making a
distinction between Khafz and FGM is a dangerous precedent and must be called
out.
The Supreme
Court in Australia had declared that Khatna/Khafz constitute FGM. The
verdict was passed in a case wherein a nurse and a mother along with a Bohra
leader from the local mosque were charged with performing FGM on two young
girls.
Globally,
FGM is performed in over
90 countries and is known by different names. In India, the Bohra community refers to
it as Khatna/Khafz, in Indonesia it is referred to as Khitan or Sunnat
Perepuan. Certain Sunni communities in India’s Kerala call it Sunnat.
Medicalisation
of FGM
The letter
states that “women can choose to perform Khafz under appropriate conditions
under medical supervision”. This is clearly treading on another landmine of
medicalised FGM. Pointing out the dangers of medical intervention for the
practice, WHO says that one in four cases of FGM is performed by a health worker. It
urges health professionals to never undertake such procedures. The need of the
hour is to do away with all types of FGM. Whether done hygienically with
medicalised supervision or otherwise.
The
official discourse on FGM varies from community to community. It is stated to
be exercised for numerous reasons. From the need for a girl to be “pure” before
she marries, to maintaining “hygiene,” to “improve a woman’s health” and for
the husband’s pleasure. The bottom line, however, in all communities is that
female sexuality has to be controlled.
Take the
Bohras for instance, which is a trading community. In earlier days, men
travelled far and wide for purposes of trade, leaving women behind. The
patriarchal mindset of controlling women and ensuring that they do not go
astray and have extramarital sex made a compelling argument to justify the
practice.
India and
the Spread of FGM
India is a
signatory to the December 2012 UN resolution on FGM which urges “countries to
condemn all harmful practices that affect women and girls, in particular female
genital mutilations.” Ending FGM is a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5.3).
At the recently concluded Universal Periodic Review (UPR) India received its
first recommendation from Costa Rica to clearly define FGM and
develop a national plan to eliminate it.
What is
also problematic is the timing of the letter. Syedna Taher Fakhruddin’s views
about making Khafz optional for those above 18 years of age and
distancing it from its terminology are not new. Syedna had publicised these
views in a press conference seven
years ago as well. Only this time, the letter was addressed to the PM. The letter
also coincides with final arguments in the ongoing Dawoodi
Bohra succession battle at the Bombay High Court.
Over the
last seven years, my organisation WeSpeakOut has been steadfastly
petitioning the government to do research on the prevalence of FGM and its
spread. At a recent meeting organised by us, which was attended by Civil
society representatives working in the space of women and children and the
United Nations Population Fund, testimonies of survivors of FGM from Kerala’s
Sunni communities indicated that the practice exists beyond the Bohra community
in India.
Religious
leaders are one of the most critical actors in the issue of female genital
mutilation due to the power they have over their communities.
In Africa,
several religious leaders have shown the way by shunning the practice and
influencing their followers to do away with it. A case in point are the Muslim
scholars of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, the Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa,
Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, Mohammad Salim AAwwa, secretary general of the
International Federation of Islamic Scholars, and many such Islamic scholars
who have articulated the false links between FGM and religious obligation.
FGM or Khafz
harms girls and women physically, sexually and psychologically and it is
crucial to stop it. Why can’t both the Syednas of the Bohra community Syedna
Muffadal Saifuddin and Syedna Taher Fakhruddin as well as Sunni religious
leaders take an unequivocal stand against this practice?
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Masooma
Ranalvi is co-founder, India Lead, at WeSpeakOut. Views are personal.
(Edited
by Ratan Priya)
Source: Bohra
Muslim Leader Wrong to Say Khafz Isn’t Female Genital Mutilation. Let Modi Govt
Ban It
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/female-genital-mutilation-banned/d/129147
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