Taliban and Hindutva Patriarchy
Dr Ram Puniyani
Taliban's Patriarchy and the Hindutva one: What is similar and what is different
Ram Puniyani
Government of India gave a red-carpet welcome to the Taliban delegation led by their Minister of Education Muttaqi. Gen Prakash Katoch asks , “Should India be seen deferring to the Taliban?
Taliban’s human rights record, particularly its regressive misogynistic policies are well known. No doubt developing relations with Taliban is a geostrategic requirement.” Women of Afghanistan who are deprived of human rights, particularly education and assembly must be feeling totally betrayed particularly after the women journalists were denied entry into the first press conference. Of course, due to heavy criticism in the next Press Conference women were permitted.
As Taliban came to power their edicts came as a shock to the world at large. This is the same group which had destroyed Gautam Buddha’s majestic statues, 53 and 35 meters tall despite the request from various powers in the World. World is watching the gross abuse of human rights, helplessly. It is the same Taliban which had imposed Jizya on non-Muslims.
Taliban is an outcome of the youth (then) who were indoctrinated in few Madrassas in Pakistan, including the famous Lal Masid in Pakistan. While now Taliban has not only assumed its own agency, the circumstances in which they came up need to be recalled.
Taliban has been indoctrinated in a particular version of Islam put forward by Maulana Wahab. When Russian army occupied Afghanistan, America was not in a position to send its own army as their forces were very demoralized due to their defeat in Vietnam. Kissinger doctrine was implemented which aimed to fight the enemy (Communists) by using Asian Muslim youth. The madrassas were promoted and funded by America. Mahmood Mamdani in his book, ‘Good Muslim bad Muslim’, on the basis of CIA documents, tells us as to how Mujahidin were indoctrinated and supplied with 8000 million dollars and 7000 tons of armament including latest stringer missiles.
These trained elements joined the anti-Russian forces and Russian army faced the defeat. America got total dominance through war against Afghanistan and Iraq in particular. The Islam they practice is most conservative version and resorts to violence on the people and cover themself with the Islamic label. Here Human rights concepts do not find any place and women and subordinate sections of society face worst violations of human rights and their subjugation.
This degree of patriarchal control and abuse of Human rights is not yet seen in the Hindutva nationalism, ruling India today. As such seeds of rigid patriarchy are very much there and concept of Human rights is gradually being replaced by ‘rights for the elite upper caste and rich’ and ‘duties for the poor and marginalized’, pushing them further to the corners. RSS, the parent organization of ruling BJP and Rashtra Sevika Samiti, dealing with women, is an exclusively male organization. It is based on Brahminical version of Hinduism, in contrast to the liberal and inclusive Hinduism of Mahatam Gandhi, the one who was killed by one seeped in Hindu nationalist ideology.
When Ambedkar was burning Manu smriti, second Chief of RSS, M.S. Golwalkar was writing eulogies for the books like Manu Smriti. After the Indian constitution was implemented RSS’s mouthpiece came out with scathing criticism of this book saying this has nothing Indian about it. “ Consider how Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, regarded as the most consequential head of the RSS, believed women were misled by modernity. . Citing a couplet that states that “a virtuous lady covers her body”, Golwalkar, according to Caravan, lamented that “‘modern’ women think that ‘modernism’ lies in exposing their body more and more to the public gaze. What a fall!”
When Laxmi bai Kelkar (1936) wanted women to be incorporated in RSS, she was in turn asked to start, Rashtra Sevika Samiti, a subordinate organization. In its very name the word Swayam is missing, which stands for self.
Later Vijaya Raje Scindia (the thenVice President of BJP) went on to glorify Sati (Wife immolation on the funeral pyre of Husband). Mridula Sinha of BJP also advised women to conform to the norms of family where Husband is supreme. (Savvy Magazine April 1994). RSS progeny has been opposed to women wearing jeans, and celebrating Valentine day.
As feminist movement came up it went on for reforms like abolition of dowry, female infanticide and other abominable practices against women. RSS never initiated any of these struggles, but also did not oppose these reforms. It was against Hindu Code Bill giving women some semblance of equality to some extent. As India has some democratic space after Independence, though it is going for a free fall from last few decades, the women’s admirable struggles did get them better place in the society. The march towards equality did take few steps. Today RSS has Rashtra Sevika Samiti, Durga Vahini and BJP women’s wing, there values derive from the core RSS ideology of graded hierarchy and gender inequality. Here Manu Smirti has an important place as their basic philosophy is rooted in understanding where ‘Muslim Man’ is the culprit while patriarchal values are not challenged.
It is true to the Taliban and many other Muslim countries affected by communal/fundamentalist Islam have the women’s condition which is worst and Taliban sits at the bottom of the list. In India as the grip of Hindu nationalism increases, the patriarchal ideology is not challenged by the RSS stable while the Feminist movement is doing its best to challenge to prevalent patriarchy. So currently the degree of Taliban Patriarchy is at the bottom, the Hindu nationalism has the basic similarity at ideological level, while women’s movement has made some significant yet inadequate strides.
What is similar between thee two is the seed of Patriarchy, while the degree of its social manifestation is very diverse. Every politics hiding under the cover of religion uses identity aspects of the religion to keep up the values of feudal times with the added spice of hate for people of other religion. Even Christian fundamentalism also propagates the same. Nazism, a full-blown fascist regime also defined the place of women in Kitchen, Church and Children.
While we condemn the patriarchy and non-recognition of the concept of human rights, we should be aware that every sectarian nationalism structured around identity of religion or superiority of one race, they share many of the despicable norms!