Recently, Muslim bigots viciously trolled Indian cricketer Mohammad Shami for posting a photograph of his family – his wife Hasin Jahan, they said, wore un-Islamic clothes. The trolls – Taliban style – demanded to regulate what ‘their’ women should be allowed to wear, and sought to shame Shami for failing to discipline his wife’s clothing and make her wear a hijab like Irfan Pathan’s wife.
 
‘Are you a Muslim?’ ‘Aren’t you ashamed at your wife’s exposed neck?’ ‘Your wife is very cute but better not keep her in western clothes’ – were some of the milder comments.
 
One said “We hate you shami. .. apni aurat ki izzat ki nilami mat karo Bhai…" (Don’t auction off the honour of your woman), another told Shami “This beauty private property of u..dear …not showing 4 others…"  
 
The moral police clearly felt no hesitation in declaring that Hasin Jahan was her husband Shami’s ‘private property’; and that they, as self-proclaimed custodians of Islam, had a right to dictate how Muslim women chose to dress.  
 
The trolls were outnumbered however by saner democratic voices who expressed contempt for the moral police and support for the right of women to dress exactly as they wish without being judged and shamed and controlled by others.
 
On previous occasions, I have noticed that some Muslim men who would appreciate my social media posts against communalism, would get indignant at posts of mine directed at patriarchal dress codes – even those imposed by Hindutva brigades. They would post comments justifying moral policing and telling me that women’s revealing clothes made them unsafe.
 
I would ask them: “You are able to recognize that it is fascist to tell Muslims they are asking to be beaten and attacked if they eat beef or wear a skull cap and beard. How come you can’t recognize that it’s just as oppressive to tell women they are asking to be raped if they wear a dress of their choice?”    
 
In the context of the Shami trolling episode, I wrote a piece on the patriarchal codes that are shared across religious, social and political lines. In that piece, I shared an anecdote where Dalit young men were very conscious and aware of the ways in which dominant castes do not “let them dress in modern clothes, use bikes or play loud music or move freely on the main streets and public spaces of the village or town.” But the same young men found it entirely natural on their own part to prevent young Dalit women from dressing in modern clothes, moving freely with head uncovered in public spaces and so on!  
 
In that piece I also shared how even on the Left, there are deep-seated patriarchal prejudices and suspicions about women’s freedom and autonomy. In the last paragraph, I also asked the Hindutva trolls to recognize their own mirror image when they looked into the eyes of the Muslim fanatic trolls.
 
In the responses to that piece I noticed there were several who demanded to know why mention Hindutva moral police at all in the context of an incident involving the Muslim moral police?
 
By doing so, they alleged, I as a ‘commie feminist’ was being soft on the Muslim fanatic patriarchs. In reply, I would ask, don’t we ‘commie feminists’ routinely compare the Hindutva moral police (when they impose dress codes etc) to the Taliban?
 
To take just one instance, here is a statement  issued by my organisation AIPWA on the February 2009 Mangalore pub attack, referring to the Sri Ram Sene, Bajrang Dal and similar outfits as the “saffron Taliban.”
 
By making that comparison with the Muslim fanatic Taliban, were we being ‘soft on the Hindutva moral police’?!
 
Not at all: rather, our statement sought to underline that the patriarchal assault on women’s freedom and autonomy is what needs to be recognized and resisted – whether it is by the Taliban in relatively remote Afghanistan, the saffron brigades in India, or even the so-called ‘secular’ party leaders who condemned ‘pub culture’ instead of condemning the attacks on women.           
 
The problem with patriarchy is that we can often see and recognize it only in ‘others’ – in our own homes, communities, cultures, it looks ‘normal.’ But the most crucial anti-patriarchal struggles have to be waged in the comfortable spaces – in our own homes, communities, and cultures. One useful test to apply to ourselves when condemning attacks by those of ‘other’ communities on the rights of women, is to ask ourselves if we would condemn identical attacks by those of our own community?
 
This is not whataboutery. If we have not yet recognized or resisted patriarchy and sexism by ‘our own,’ it does mean we must not condemn the same by ‘others.’ But recognizing it in others can help us recognize and resist it in ourselves. That is why, even in articles condemning the patriarchal remarks or ideologies of Sangh leaders or Muslim fanatic trolls, I as a Leftist often make it a point to reflect also on how similar patriarchal tendencies are seen even on the Left.
 
The Hindutva trolls, not long ago, viciously trolled Tina Dabi for having become engaged to a Kashmiri Muslim colleague Athar Aamir-ul Shafi Khan. The All India Hindu Mahasabha even thought it was entitled to write a letter to Tina Dabi’s father saying, "This decision of your family will promote love jihad and thus the wedding should not take place at any cost.” In writing that letter, the Hindu Mahasabha displayed the exact same mentality that the Muslim fanatics trolling Shami did.
 
The Hindu Mahasabha treated Tina Dabi – an independent adult woman – as the property of her father; they declared that her choice (of life partner) shamed her father and her faith; and asked her father to protect Hindu honour by preventing her from exercising her choice.
 
Likewise, the Muslim fanatics treated Hasin Jahan – an independent adult woman – as the property of her husband; declared that her choice (of dress) shamed her husband and her faith; and asked her husband to protect Muslim honour by preventing her from exercising her choice. Making this comparison and recognizing the family resemblance between Muslim and Hindu patriarchies is important because doing so clarifies the issue.
 
The comparison makes it clear that the issue is not Hindu vs Muslim but that of women’s freedom vs patriarchy.
 
  
 

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IAS Topper, Tina Dabi, who broke multiple glass ceilings to receive accolades in a male world is facing the ire of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha: her decision to marry her colleague , IAS second topper, Athar Aamil-ul Shafi has attracted an offensive allegation of this being a case of ‘love jehad.’

Typically, this retrograde patriarchial outfit has penned a letter to her parents, not her!! The letter can be read here. In the letter, the national general secretary of the outfit, Munna Kumar Sharma states that while they are proud of her achievements in topping the IAS examination, her decision to marry Athar Amar-ul Shafi is “painful.” They have demanded that first Athar should be persuaded to undergo a ‘Ghar Vapsi’ (Return to Hinduism) and urged the father to give adequate thought to the proposed marriage. The outfit has also made out offensive allegations of a conspiracy of “love jehad” and appealed to Tina Dabi’s parents for permission to join the struggle against this “conspiracy.”

For proponents of the far Hindutva right, autonomy of choice, especially for the girl or woman is anathema. Within this parameter the fact that a successful and intelligent woman can choose of her own to break the caste and community barriers that are the bedrocks of this male gaze and worldview, is no surprise.

The post Tina Dabi’s Decision to Wed Athar Aamil-ul Shafi is “Love Jehad”: Hindu Mahasabha appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Bhakts tried to say Tina Dabi was Anti-Reservation, Tina Dabi Clarifies her Views on Facebook

Photo Credit: PTI

UPDATE:
In this interview with National Dastak Tina Dabi speaks of her great admiration for Babasaheb Ambedkar.

It all began he day before yesterday, May 15, at about 6.39 p.m. Tina Dabi the lively young IAS topper who crashed several glass ceilings to make it to the front pages of Indian newspapers  faced her real life media challenge. Thirty five or so fake accounts opened by many propagandists who seem to believe that Social media is the new mode of revolution –be it of the Hindutvawaadi or any other kind –tried to appropriate her as a pro-Modi (Modi bhakt some would say) anti-reservationist.
Vigilants on the other side of the ideological spectrum caught this move out.

Here are Tina Dabi’s own words after this sharp dose of Goebbelsian reality

Tina Dabi, 18 hrs ·
Hello Friends,
It has come to my notice that some anti-social elements have made around 35 fake facebook profiles and pages under my name and are posting obnoxious statements posing as me.
I want to clarify that none of the ridiculous statements being made under my name are my opinions.
Its really heartbreaking for me to see that a few anti social elements can't even allow a simple girl who has done hardwork to remain in peace.
I request one and all to kindly report all such fake profiles and pages made under my name as their sole purpose is just to tarnish my image.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

 
Apparently there are 35 false accounts of the UPSC topper!

Kavita Krishnan, the erudite writrer, political activist and feminist was among those who ‘exposed the fraud.’ Shilpi Tiwari it appears was the one guilty of this pseudo promotion. Zealous in her sangh inspired campaign, we are told that she assiduously circulated the controversial (and sic) video about Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) showing it to be a ‘den of vice.’

Here are some posts
Kavita Krishnan ने पोल खोली:
Same Sanghi Shilpi Tiwari who circulated fake videos of JNU, is circulating fake posts of ‪#‎TinaDabi, IAS topper, to show her as pro Modi, anti reservation. See Ms Dabi's real post expressing sadness at the fake profiles and posts.
Kavita Krishnan added 2 new photos.
7 hrs ·
Same Sanghi Shilpi Tiwari who circulated fake videos of JNU, is circulating fake posts of ‪#‎TinaDabi, IAS topper, to show her as pro Modi, anti reservation. See Ms Dabi's real post (ABOVE) expressing sadness at the fake profiles and posts.

This was the fake post of Shilpi Tiwari

But that Shilip is part of the Modi Bhakt Gang can be seen from this post 12 hours ago

स्वतंत्रता दिवस की शुभकामनाएं।
८०० वर्ष उपरांत भारत / दिल्ली में भारतीयों का राज। १६ मई, २०१६ – नया हिन्दू स्वराज्य।Independence Day of wishes.
After 800 years in Delhi / India Indian Raj. May 16, 2016-new hindu swaraj.

The Image is here

There is also more juicy unauthenticated vitriol against both the Left and the Congress !

The post Appropriating Icons, Now Its Tina Dabi’s Turn appeared first on SabrangIndia.

एक लडकी ने आज से कोई डेढ़ सौ साल पहले पुणे के भिडेवाड़ा में एक स्कूल की दहलीज़ पर पहला क़दम रखा। स्कूल की टीचर फ़ातिमा शेख़ ओर सावित्रीबाई फुले ने उस लड़की का नन्हा सा हाथ थामा और उसके कान में पहले शब्द कहे- ए, बी, सी, डी। भारतीय समाज के लगभग ढाई हज़ार साल के इतिहास की यह सबसे बड़ी क्रांति थी।

अब ज़रा ग़ौर से देखिए। यूपीएससी की सिविल सर्विस परीक्षा की इस साल की टॉपर टीना डाबी वही लडकी है। उसने भिडेवाड़ा में 1848 में खुले देश के पहले गर्ल्स स्कूल में क़दम रखा और उसके बाद क़दम दर क़दम आगे बढ़ती हुई वह नई दिल्ली के यूपीएससी के हेडक्वार्टर धौलपुर हाउस में सिविल सर्विस का इंटरव्यू देने पहुँची और टॉपर बनकर निकली। आईसीएससी की 12 वीं की इस साल की टॉपर आद्या मदी भी वही लड़की है। स्कूल एक्ज़ाम में साल दर साल लड़कों से बेहतर परफ़ॉर्म करने वाली वही लडकी है। सैराट फिल्म के लिए राष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार जीतने वाली रिंकू राजगुरू भी वही है।

दरअसल, आपके पड़ोस की जो भी लडकी पढ़ रही है, नौकरी या बिज़नेस कर रही है, घर से बाहर निकल रही है, बाइक ओर स्कूटर या कार चला रही है, कला-संस्कृति के क्षेत्र में काम कर रही है, वे सब सावित्रीबाई और फ़ातिमा शेख़ की संतानें हैं।

और यह सब सिर्फ डेढ़ सौ साल में हो गया।

लेकिन 1848 में जब महात्मा ज्योतिबा फुले ने देश का पहला बालिका विद्यालय खोला और फ़ातिमा शेख और सावित्रीबाई फुले ने वहाँ पढ़ाने की ज़िम्मेदारी सँभाली, तो कुछ लोग थे जिन्हें यह पसंद नहीं आया। आज भी कुछ लोग हैं, जिन्हें लड़कियों का आगे बढ़ना, उनका स्वतंत्र हैसियत हासिल करना पसंद नहीं है।

1848 में वे महिला शिक्षिकाओं पर गोबर और गंदगी फेंक देके थे। शिक्षिकाएं थैली में दूसरी साड़ी लेकर जाती थीं, जिसे पहनकर वे पढ़ाती थीं। तब लोगों को लगता था कि लड़कियों को पढ़ाना धर्म और परंपरा के खिलाफ है। स्त्री शिक्षा को वे नर्क का द्वार मानते थे। इससे ब्राह्मणवाद पर संकट आ जाता है।

आज भी कुछ लोग हैं, जो स्त्री शिक्षा के विरोधी हैं। लड़कियाँ जब जींस पहनती हैं, तो उनकी संस्कृति ख़तरे में पड़ जाती है। वेलेंटाइन डे पर वे लोग डर जाते हैं और तोड़फोड़ करने लगते हैं। जाति तोड़कर प्रेम करने वालों की वे हत्या कर देते हैं। वे गर्भ में ही लडकियों को मार देते हैं। आरएसएस हम सबके बीच यह प्रचार करता है कि लडकियों को घर संभालना चाहिए।

सावित्रीबाई फुले और फ़ातिमा शेख की बेटियाँ उन पर हँसती हैं।

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