Muslim Women Can Be Part Of The Solution.

In response to our posts on Women Maoists and Dalit women, a friend of our blog drew my attention to issues in a way only a woman could. There is a reason why so many of our deities are, for lack of a more appropriate word, women. Kanyadaan is deemed grace. Mothers are put on a pedestal. The land that nurtures us is referred to as Motherland. Why is that? It is because our religion instills in our culture the extreme importance of woman in the society. Those hands do rock the cradle of our civilization and it’s future. They deserve a lot more than what the country has done for them.
Another point to be made here is that we in India are all in the same boat. The Muslim dream of converting Bharat into some sort of a dar-ul-Islam is as un-achievable as the Hindu dream of an Akhand Bharat. That is the reality, whether we like it or not. Now if we want to make India achieve her full potential, we all have to work together. Muslims have to decide for themselves if they want to be part of the solution or the problem.
Why am I only talking about Muslims now? It is because the Muslim population has been misled by Muslim leadership, Congress and other pseudo-secular parties into believing that the India of their dream and the real India whose soul is still Hindu are anathema.
In the recent by-election in Gujarat, majority Muslims voted for BJP because they benefit from CM Modi’s policies. This shows that we can all work and prosper together.
It is also my fervent belief that any change in the direction of Islam will be brought about by women. You have to read articles by Taslima Nasreen, Ayan Hirsi Ali and Nonnie Darvish. These brave women are picking up a fight that seems impossible in the face of all the fatwas, Al Qaeda, Taliban and pretty much all of the Islamic world. We need to identify such women in India and help them in any way we can. We have to start engaging women like Najma Heptullah and start ground based programs for educating Muslim girls. Aware and educated Muslims women are not going to control the birth rate and take better care of their children. Maybe they can instill better senses in the heads of their sons. Instead of opening another AMU, which is nothing but a hotbed of Muslim radicalism, we need to open up schools for Muslim girls. This is easier said than done but attention needs to be paid to this angle of the issue as well. Being a Hindu man, I can only talk in general terms. Maybe Ms. Najma Heptuallah, who is now in the BJP can start thinking on these lines.
The following is an old article but it is very relevant.

Muslim Women in India : Seema Kazi
On the other hand, the appropriation of Muslim women's issues by a vocal and politically influential male Muslim constituency for political purposes poses a considerable challenge to Muslim women's legal empowerment. This was highlighted during the Shah Bano case and the passage of the Muslim Women's Bill in 1986. In a context where the Shari'a is used to justify women's subordination, it is imperative for Muslim women in India to enter the discourse on the Shari'a with reference to personal law, and challenge their historic marginalization from religious knowledge. Furthermore, it is crucial for Muslims "women and men" to debate among themselves the possible reasons and remedies for their poor status as citizens of India.

The article can be read at:

www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=130