The Evolution of The Burqa

Re: Ms. Shah`s post

Hey! Progress! Sadna also posted and this increased the number of female posters on this topic by 33%! Now thats progress!

BTW, I agree with you that, on this topic at least, I would like to hear from more women and fewer men. However, I recall reading that Touraeg men veil themselves, so if there are any Touraeg out there, feel free to give your two cents worth.

Kindest regards.

PS: Have you considered an article on what it feels like to be male in America?

Mostly people I knew did or didnot wear a head scarf, but I`ve travelled in buses with women in burqas, and that was the closest I got to them. Generally they were middle-aged women, who didnot mind putting the face covering back over their heads and showing their faces. Given the number of nuns I`ve seen around in India with different standards of `covering up`(even wisps of hair forbidden from view, long robes), the burqas never seemed out of place. But the most intriguing was this young woman in totally covered in black with her face and even her eyes covered a net?, who would board the crowded bus into the women`s section every day in a whiff of perfume. And when she bought her ticket, you would see very elaborately manicured hands and this very American accent asking for a single to Double Road..

Reminded me of a Malayalam movie I once saw where all you see for most of the movie of the beautiful Muslim wife are her beautiful bejeweled hands at the window and the soft sweet voice. Until the end, when she rushes out in panic to save her husband in a village quarrel and the villagers who had also always seen only her hands stop their fighting to unite in being dumbstruck at the unique sight :). And how about Mere Mehboob. Not to trivialise the issue but burqas as a social artefact can be part of the variety of life and can make for good movies, thanks.

Having said that, I am ready to be called to battle :).

Dear mr. Qadeer

Welcome to chowk. It was a well balanced factual article free of political undertones of an agenda. May be that is also the weakness of this article. A balanced unbiased point of view is not tolerated at Chowk. You have to be on one side, in the Mullah land or the land of progression where women travel to the moon if they wear kachchi.

Unfortunately, the dress is not a personal issue anymore, it is a political issue. This is the politics of inequality. It is alright and progressive to look down upon burqa or headgear but somehow it is not okay to scoff at short skirts. I dont think either side is ready to analyze objectively whether it is the short dress of a women that enables her to reach to the moon or is it education and equality through law. Can women get education and equality through law without baring herself. I dont think we are ready for this discussion. Our political agendas are too preciuos to be open for a debate.

the sweetest person in the world #28,

you`re right, i apologize to mr. qadeer for my sarcastic tone. it won`t stop me from doing it again, but i apologize nevertheless. i like to see you happy AAmir. say hello to Studebaker for me and my love and regards to AeishA.

My greetings to Binifer and Scout, the only two women on this board...what can I say? Yet another man writing about an experience that has come to be known as an essentially female experience with all its political, social, and religious ramifications.

Chowk editors, I`m going to submit an article entitled ``When I Was Black in America``. I expect flowers and kudos!

I am amazed that people are slamming the author for this article - I dont think he has written for/against the burqa. I found the article informative and dispassionate.

As a guy, I have always found western clothes oppressive (for men!). While western women are free to wear whatever they want (including men`s wear), men are supposed to cover themselves up fully. A guy cannot come to work unless he is fully covered up from toe to neck, wearing full pants and full sleeves shirt. He can only display his palms and neck upwards. On top of this, the man has to wear a suffocating noose around his neck, which is really oppressive. The western man at work is not allowed to display ankles, legs or whatever. Only on Friday, forearms can be displayed (wearing T-shirts)...

In contrast, an Indian man (particularly in the South) is free to wear what he wants. Men dig ditches in their loin cloth, wearing nothing else. Others wear a dhoti or a lungi which they are free to fold in half, showing off their legs and allowing `circulation of air`.

Mohammad,

Thank you for an interesting article.

I was struck by the following sentence:

``When a family rose on the social scale, e.g. sons/ daughters became clerks, teachers, mechanics etc, or husbands /fathers were successful in business, its women started donning the Burqa.``

It is similar to the statement that Elisabeth Bumiller makes in May you be the mother of a Hundred Sons, about women in India. As families moved up the social ladder, the freedom of women decreased. While the lower class women in the village were free to move about, shop, even work, the middle class women were forced to stay at home. It would have hurt the husband`s social standing, otherwise.

re: rsridhar

{{A muslim woman wears a burqa because it is cultural and not because she has been forced to do so by men.}}

how do you know? are you a muslim woman?

{{They would have liked Afghan women to come out in mini-skirts showing off their shapely legs for

public view after the defeat of Taliban.}}

afghan women have shapely legs? amazing...i thought it was only the dutch women...

{{Western mindset mistakes consumerism for culture. I see only consumerism in America . There is no culture. Burqa is part of islamic culture, just like wearing a bindi by women is part of hindu culture.}}

quintessential NRI comment...

Quadeer,

Hello, the pakistani chair professor of burqa at the queens college, here is news for you. In kerala many muslim do not wear any burqa or hijab, they put the pallu of their sari over their head, whic even the hindus do when walking in the sun. I was told that the muslim put sari over the skull because according to islam, if the head is exposed, their destiny might change. It is the kerala belief the distiny is something wirtten on the skull, destiny literally translates into ``wring in the head`` in malayalam.

Now prof is it true that there are jokes about what is under the burqa, like what is worn under the kilt.

Well written but I hope to see an article called
``The Permanent Demise of the Burqa`` (and not in the realm of fiction)in my lifetime.

Ras

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Reply Binifer # 19

“One hijabed woman I was acquainted with in college was so unbelievably rude, it was inhuman.”

Nahin, dekhiye – it’s just that she was wearing hijab and so you could notice nothing about her but her manners. I’m sure that there are MANY unbelievably rude women out there, but you get distracted from that by their criminal fashion sense – polyester outfits, loud clashing colours, white shoes in winter, etc. not to mention other misfortunes. Possible?

“You could tell she was doing this to make sure you wouldnt forget her the next time you saw her.”

Or maybe she was wearing the hijab in the vain hope that she wouldn’t be held accountable for her social lapses, poor thing? We should always try and see the good in a person’s motivation. Perhaps she couldn’t help it? Are you sure her rudeness was intentional?

ali1 #25:

...sha`ir khoob hay...ab zara mazmoon per bhee ik nighah-e-ghal`t dal dijiaye....

rgds,

t

Haven`t read this one, but anything that can irritate our chala hua kartoos as it did (#1) must be good.

temporal # 1, hazrat, agar Islam se itni bezari hai to ``barbadi-e-dil jabr nahiN Faiz kisi ka, voh dushman-e-jaaN hai to bhula kyoN nahiN detay``?

very refreshing and informative article, looking forward to your next venture. maybe you can tell us why Mullahs wear their pants six inches above the ground and dye their beards red. i`d also be interested in finding out the origin of Saleem Shahi shoes and the reason behind their pointed toes. perhaps you can tell us who Saleem Shahi was?

and if that fails, maybe you could write an article about the retrograde evolution of the male brain.

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