The Hindu Business Line : `Gudiya' ka khel

Watching the Gudiya episode, one cannot help concluding that all this brouhaha is because a woman is at the centre of the story, and almost all the protagonists deciding on the outcome are male.

The manner in which the marital status of Gudiya, the young Muslim woman who has found herself caught between two "husbands", has been bandied about in front of the whole world, is shameful to say the least. Add to this the fact that she is in an advanced stage of pregnancy and her discomfiture and humiliation is complete.

In 1999, barely 10 days after marriage, Gudiya's husband Mohammed Arif, an army man, was asked to report for duty in the Kargil sector. After the Kargil war was over, he was found missing and subsequently declared a "deserter", along with another Indian solider, by the Indian army. This would have been torture enough for the young wife living in a small village (Mundali, near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh), as she and Arif's entire family would have been looked upon as "traitors" by the villagers.

Gudiya waited four long years after this charge had been slapped on her husband before her family got her married to Taufiq, a cousin of hers. But a few months into her first pregnancy, news came out that Arif was not a deserter but a prisoner of war in a Pakistani jail.

As Indo-Pak ties improved he was released and returned home to a hero's welcome last month. But it was a sad homecoming as during the five years of his incarceration, his mother had passed away and his wife was no longer his wife. At first it appeared that the trio would accept whatever had transpired in his absence as "fate", as most Indians are wont to do, and allow status quo to prevail.

But in India, especially in villages and particularly where it concerns a woman, your life is rarely your private business. So the village councils and everybody else in the two villages of Mundali and Pataudi (Taufiq's village in Haryana) got into the act, examined threadbare the issue of whether Gudiya's second marriage was legal according to Muslim law. With a television channel playing an eager and willing sponsor, a trial of sorts was conducted in which the village elders, aided by Islamic clergy and "scholars" decided that as Arif had neither died nor divorced Gudiya, there was no question of her marrying again. Even if she did, that marriage was not valid, and she continued to be legally married to Arif.

A reality show was conducted on Zee TV and after everybody and his brother had given their views, ostensibly Gudiya was asked to make her choice. But by then the damage was done and the woman meekly echoed the village elders and others when she agreed to go back to Arif, saying meekly: "Who am I to question the Shariat?"

But all through this drama, through words stated and not stated, and through her body language, Gudiya has made it clear that if given a real choice she would rather stay with Taufiq, whose child she has been carrying eight months, than go back to Arif with whom she had anyway lived only for 10 days before he was called for duty.

As far as the Muslim law on marriage and divorce is concerned, there is a clear difference of opinion among theologians. The village councils and the ulemas ruled that as Arif had not divorced Gudiya, her second marriage was illegal, and the first one still valid, so all she had to do is go back to Arif's house and resume her life. As simple as that!

But there is another section of opinion in the Muslim community, which is exactly the opposite, that says that when the husband is missing, the woman has to wait for four years, after which she can marry again. "In this case, the kazi who performed Gudiya's nikah with Taufiq went by the rule book because four years had gone by since Arif was missing. Not only that, the Indian army had also declared him a deserter. But now, even if Gudiya's family, or the woman herself, decides that she should return to Arif, Taufiq should first divorce her and the nikah with Arif must be performed once again. If this is not done, she will be living in adultery with her first husband," says a Chennai-based Islamic scholar, who adds that very often decisions are taken on such delicate issues without proper knowledge of Islamic laws.

But while the arguments continue, what is heartrending is Gudiya's plight, and that of her unborn child. What has completed her humiliation is the fact that those who argue that her marriage to Taufiq was illegal have even gone to the extent of calling her unborn child "illegitimate".

This is atrocious to say the least and one wonders who has given them the right to pass this judgement. To add insult to injury, both Arif and Taufiq have rejected the yet-to-be-born child. Taufiq says he doesn't want the child without its mother and Arif had initially made it clear he didn't want anything to do with the child, but later, and rather reluctantly, agreed to bring it up for a few years.

As for Gudiya, the trauma that she must be undergoing, while the media gives newer twists to the tale with each passing day, can well be imagined. One caught a glimpse of it in her response to a question on the fate of the child. A PTI report quoted her thus: "Who knows what will happen to me? I may die or the child may also die. No one can say anything on it." Is there a more direct way of saying one wished oneself dead?

Watching the entire drama with extreme discomfort, one cannot help concluding that all this brouhaha is because a woman is at the centre of the story, and almost all the protagonists deciding on the outcome are male. Because a woman is the pivotal point, it is somehow presumed that she cannot, or should not, decide for herself and needs the help of elders/experts (read men).

To raise a hypothetical question, what if there were two women and one man in this story? Would he have been advised by all and sundry on what choice to make? Would he have been humiliated in the same manner as Gudiya has been? Hardly... he would have been given the space to make his choice.

The story is not without its uglier shades either. There are reports that money and social status have also tipped the scales in favour of Arif. For one, he has got his salary for the five-year period he was in a Pakistani prison. And the Indian army too has given him extra "incentive" as compensation for wrongly declaring him a "deserter".

When the camera lights disappear and the media finds more juicy stories to chase, Gudiya will surely be left licking her wounds, and wondering in some corner of her heart if she had made... or had been allowed to make... the right choice.

Let's have no doubt about it... this woman must be hurting badly... and will perhaps continue to do so for a long time. And the child, for no fault of his or hers, would be separated from at least one parent.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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