Merve Kavakci: No to Secular Fundamentalism

#1 ``Secularists only seem to tolerate those who subscribe to secularism themselves. Another example is that of Shabina in the UK who was refused an education by her local school because she chose to wear the `jilbab` (Islamic dress for women).``


This girl, Shabina, deliberately disobeyed her school`s dress code and dressed in a manner that they considered inappropriate. She could have gone to another school that allowed her to dress in her ``Jilbab`` but instead chose to sit at home for 2 years and is now whining that her previous school denied her of an education. I`m sorry, but that is just rubbish. Have you seen the outfit that she was trying to go to school in? I am afraid that there are no other word for this ``Jilbab`` than creepy and frightening. I`m not surprised that this school did not want a student dressing like that. Many years ago, even the school I went to in Pakistan did not want girls covering their faces while they were in class. It makes it very difficult for teachers to gauge what a student is actually absorbing and thinking while they are teaching them and it`s a perfectly reasonable demand. I am sure that the same school would not want students coming to class in bikinis and thongs. Most schools require some sort of balance and conventionality when it comes to the way they expect their students to dress. If you are someone with an extreme way of dressing (say, for example, you are a nudist who refuses to attend school while clothed) then it is up to you to find a school that allows you to dress in this unconventional way.

``With 98% of population as Islamic - and without knowing the split between Shias and Sunnis - the question of secularism is non-existent in Turkey. ``

Absolutely spurious statement.....any one making it has NOOOOOOO idea about Secularism..........and what is this ``Secular Fundamentalism`` it reminds me of BJP`s ``Psuedo-Secularism``..........instead of enforcing some uniform dress code secularist need to devote their energies against those who want to impose Shariah or want to conform the civil laws with some ``Islamic Principles`` in different countries.................infact this dress code thing is becoming a sort of a negative propaganda against secularists...................

With 98% of population as Islamic - and without knowing the split between Shias and Sunnis - the question of secularism is non-existent in Turkey.

If secularism in Turkey means irreligion then, of course, some in the population will justifiably resent the absence of self-deluding religion`s escape providing qualities.

If secularism means control of fashion then the subject is beneath the minimum dignity needed for discussion.

Rakesh Mani,

The true veil of a woman subsists in her heart. Attempts by our government to ban the “chador” in Turkey have received well deserved boos and catcalls. Cutting to the heart of the matter: You may unveil a woman’s head. You will never unveil her heart.

Years ago I recall attending an event where our President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who is avowedly anti-Islamist whimpishly stayed away because the headscarf-swathed wife of Bulent Arinc, our parliamentary speaker, sashayed in as the event`s host. Many prominent Turkish women now sport headscarves. Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s wife is a noteworthy case in point. Allergies towards the chador in Turkey are indicative of the symptoms but give scant prognosis of a deeper malaise rooted in Kemalism.

In Turkey our version of secularism is sui generis, inseparable from the authoritarian creed of Kemalism. So long as the Kemalist fingers continue to restrict the AKP`s marche de maneuvre, the governing party`s avowed enthusiasm for democracy and EU accession will be questioned.

Secularists in Turkey duplicitously utilize a double rhetoric to super-impose social claustrophobia on Muslim women. In Turkey’s gritty socio-realistic context, a landslide electoral victory of the AKP, which emerges from the ashes of an anti-Western tradition, has renewed a debate about the volatility and vicissitudes of human rights observance in Turkey.

I feel that we Turks must espouse to an organic ``Turko-Islamic synthesis`` and radically modernize official Kemalist nationalism which denies women their freedom of choice. How to institutionalize a Turko-Islamic synthesis is something you could perhaps explore in another discussion.

Till then the khaki generals in Turkey and their secular-fascist cohorts will cry wolf.

What does secularism mean? It means that no region, whatsoever, will be regarded more highly than any other. It does not automatically lead to tolerating the individual religious fanatics to subvert an equitable secular if it is set up somewhere.

That would be suicidal for any system. Of course, then also it does not mean that religious adherents are to expelled from the country. It means that they are allowed to pursue their aims in a completely unobtrusive manner.

If there are various groups that want to live their lives base on unverifiable assumptions they can do that as long as they pay taxes just like anyone else and abide by the mutually acceptable legal code of behaviour.

I agree that Turkish secularism is way overboard. People should be allowed to wear whatever they want.

Perhaps there is something that Merve Kavakci forgot to explain. She caused an uproar when she walked into parliament with a headscarf, that is not the reason she was denied her seat. It was discovered that she had obtained US citizenship without having relinquished her Turkish nationality. So, Turkish authorities stripped her off her Turkish nationality. And no non-Turk could be a Turkish MP.

Ms. Kavakci should be a little more honest.

Rakesh,

Great write up!

It always amazes me how secular people I have interracted with are intolerant to views which are not held by themselves. It is similar to the US saying to Hamas: ``you can only have democracy if you choose the leader that we like``.

Secularists only seem to tolerate those who subscribe to secularism themselves. Another example is that of Shabina in the UK who was refused an education by her local school because she chose to wear the `jilbab` (Islamic dress for women).