The Veil Issue, Once Again

Aparna,

I do agree with Ally that you have made some valid points. My grandmothers covered their heads when they went out, and they are not Muslim. It was not something my aunts or my mother chose to do. And if some of us did during the Zia era, it was to protect ourselves from being assaulted or slapped as that was what was happening to some women in Lahore that we knew of.

Having said all of that, we are talking about a veil that covers the entire face sometimes, not just the covering on our heads, and I believe Jack Straw made a valid point about that, for whatever reason. I responded to the veiling issue at a blog, and for me, not only is it uncomfortable to not be able to see who it is I am talking to, but as a child, it was uncomfortable just to see what these women had to deal with in 100+ degrees temperatures walking through the crowded Anarkali bazaar. It cannot be healthy to be covered not only with the veil but also the entire burqah.

I don`t know that wearing the burqah/veil is an affront to the entire Muslim community, but I do believe that it has to be a matter of choice. If women choose to do so then more power to them, but let`s not dismiss what Straw says and let`s cut out the fact that it is an article of faith. Veiling/head covering is more a cultural aspect that has been twisted into one of faith. It was when St. Paul said that women should cover themselves, and it still is.

I think women who are affronted by what Jack Straw said should be more concerned about other issues pertaining to women. And one could also argue that if it is true that what matters more is what lies beneath, then why wear the veil? Are women really any more protected under the veil than they are without?

my dear Aparna ji -- kaun jeeta hai teri zulf kay sur hone tuk -- it will take a century for the Hijabi women to get rid of their educated illiteracy in weirdom.

Aparna ji, I envy you. Had I a chance to re-enter the grad school and had I been intelligent enough to carry your course load, I would have chosen precisely your course of study.

---

Found your views regarding the Islamic veil fascinating. Look forward to learning more.

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Goraa says : Only those with ties can enter this restaurant
Ghulaams says: How cultured people these are


Goraa syas: All interviews in english in slavelands
Ghulaam says: English is important today but FORGETTING urdu is even more necessary. Look
now I don`t even count, multiply in Urdu! Look I can`t read urdu newspaper even! Am I not smart.



Goraasays: Bars, Nightclubs & gambling means you are free & liberal & NOT a fundamentalist.Get rid of this Islamic Republic nonsense.
Gulaams says: He is so right! How backward we look. How will ``tourists`` come [ as if promoting ``tourism`` based on Islamic culture & archeology is ``backward`]

Goraa says: Smoking is bad..it was great when I said so.
Ghulaam says: How smart of them. Paan is bad. cigar is good. BeerRi is bad bad. Kat is horrible. Chhaliaa stinks [ ever seen a goraa do that?]. Chewing tobacco good good ..see you not baseball players? Naswaar bad bad bad..the evil pathhans, bloody muslims!

Goraa says: Your food smells
Ghulaam says: Sir we have given up on mirchee. Its bad bad. Now I eat what daddi-jaan said were cat`s-farts & ammi-jaan siad Dog`s pee {mushrooms]. You eat it , you discovered & invented. we did not eat those & look we backward backward.

Goraa says: But I`m thinking, lately, of converting to Islam.
Ghulaam says: Sir I have taken reading up Qura`an myself. In it I read somewhere that one should be tolerant & nice to those who are bad to you. Sirjee, whtever you say must be true. Qur`aan indeed is a great book. My abba-jaan read it in arabic..maybe thet`s why he ate paan & smoked hookah......Jeesus! How confused am I these days.

Goraa says: Fcuk off you wimp! You are no muslim!

MAnto,

Aparna makes valid points, and kudos to her!

Dear Aparna...

I don`t think you fully appreciate the issue here...

Many Muslims believe and with a lot of justification that Burqah (and even Hijab) has nothing to do with Islam ... and those who makes these articles of clothing matters of faith are affronting the entire Muslim community.