The Hindu Business Line : Leave her alone...

As the case of Imrana, allegedly raped by her father-in-law, takes all kinds of turns and twists, what has been compromised is Imrana's dignity and... privacy.

At first it was Gudiya whose life became a living hell when the husband she and everybody else, including the Indian Army, thought dead, suddenly turned up to find her married to another man and pregnant with his child. Led by the media, everybody got into the act to offer their two paise worth of opinion on what Gudiya should do. Finally, she was made to go back to Arif, her first husband with whom she had barely spent a few days after marriage. But not before her dilemma and pathetic plight had been discussed threadbare.

Now it is the turn of another Muslim woman — Imrana from a village in Muzaffarabad in Uttar Pradesh — to become the subject of intense debate and politicking. The 28-year-old woman and mother of five was allegedly raped by her father-in-law Ali Ahmed. This bizarre incident by itself makes her a victim, inflicting on her feelings of trauma, anger, disgust, humiliation and even shame at such a gruesome violation of her body.

Once again self-styled "religious" scholars — all male of course — have jumped into the fray to further traumatise the victim. The worst outcome of this story is that in her most horrific period of trauma and humiliation, Imrana has been forcibly separated from the one person best placed to comfort and support her in her moment of distress — her husband Noor Elahi.

At first it was the local maulvi who declared that since Ahmed was charged with having a physical relationship with her, she could no longer continue to be his son's wife. Another preposterous suggestion, which mercifully did not go beyond a bare mention, was that she should marry the rapist. This would make her the mother of her husband and grandmother of her own children. Can there be a greater tragedy, that too in the name of religion?

Now the Deoband school of theology (Darul Uloom Deoband) has issued a fatwa saying Imrana cannot live with her husband, having being allegedly raped by her father-in-law.

As organisations including the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board, the Muslim Political Council of India, the Shariat court, etc are coming out with fanciful pronouncements and naseehat (advice) on the affair, what has been horribly compromised is Imrana's dignity and privacy.

And nobody seems to care about what would happen to her five children; how Imrana would provide for them. Even if her husband continues to give her financial support... of course, no self-styled Islamic scholar has yet thought it fit to talk about this — what about the violation of their personal space at such a young age?

As the case and its repercussions are being bandied about in the media, what is the kind of trauma that the five children are being subjected to... in their neighbourhood, village, school, etc? What about Imrana herself? Has she received any psychiatric help or counselling mandatory for the victim of such a heinous crime? Is anybody bothered about what is going on within her?

Of course not. The learned members of the Muslim Personal Law Board are busy debating the finer points of how the Deoband school of theology belongs to the Hanifa sect, and how its interpretations of Islamic law (it has said that the rape victim's marriage stands automatically annulled because father-son relations are `sacred') could be different from other sects, such as the Shafai sect, etc.

What is worse is that Indian society has got so deeply divided along communal lines, particularly in the last 15-20 years, that religion and all things labelled religious have attained a larger-than-life status.

The web of religion has been spun so magically and so expertly around our lives by our mullahs, purohits or priests — not to forget our politicians who skilfully use religious divide to reap a rich harvest of votes — that the moment you mention Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, etc, the individual involved in any debate has to immediately capitulate.

Gudiya had said: "I'll do what Shariat obliges me to do... " and now Imrana has no other choice. She has unequivocally said: "Who am I to defy the Shariat?"

And who interprets what Shariat would say in such a bizarre case? Our orthodox — and, of course, male — mullahs in the realm of deen (religion) or their equally orthodox and inflexible equivalent in the realm of duniya (non-religious domain). And so the victim is further victimised.

But last Friday there was an interesting development. Surprise of surprises... Imrana didn't turn up before the Shariat court held in Muzaffarabad to present her case. Whatever the reason, this is an encouraging sign indeed. The right place to try such a case, or for that matter any criminal case, is the normal court which enforces the law of the land under the rules of the IPC and Cr.P.C.. These courts... right up to the Supreme Court... have jurisprudence over all the citizens of this country, irrespective of their religion.

Isn't Imrana an Indian national, like all of us? If she is, she is entitled to justice under the laws of the land, with these laws being interpreted by qualified judges and not some obscure maulvi who has grown up on and trained to propagate the myth that women are inferior to men and that they should be controlled by men in what they wear, how much they study, how they behave in the public domain, etc. Surely our courts will get it right that she is the victim and doesn't deserve to be punished further. If Ahmed has indeed raped her — in a bizarre twist a fact-finding team of the AIMPLB now claims that Imrana was never raped by Ahmed and it was a property dispute — it is he who is the criminal and has to be punished. No law of this country says Imrana should stay away from her husband. In the cacophony of sound that has gripped this story, one is yet to hear what her husband has to say about this affair.

And what do our politicians have to say about Imrana's tragic plight? Leading the pack is UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, often called Maulana Mulayam in deference for his great love for the Muslim community. The Indian Express (June 30) quoted him thus: "The decision that Imrana was haraam for her husband and that she should not be living with him was taken by religious leaders who are learned and who must have given the matter the necessary thought."

Look at the nuance; `Haraam (forbidden) for her husband'? Like a commodity... a sweet mango or a piece of chocolate cake that would be haraam for a diabetic or oily chicken curry haraam for a heart patient?

The BJP, of course, was delighted and spun out homilies on how Muslims should change their personal laws that are outdated. Some of them may or may not be outdated; perhaps it is the invariably male interpretation of these laws that are obscure or outdated. But the BJP is the last entity in the world whose opinion will be taken seriously by any Muslim organisation, however liberal or right thinking it might be.

CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat's view... that Imrana is a victim and should not be victimised further... are much more likely to have an impact. But the unfortunate part of the story is that yet again Islam has become a punching bag for its adversaries, including those from the Sangh Parivar.

Women's organisations are understandably agitated over the issue and the National Women's Commission and its chairperson Girija Vyas too have swung into action. But a Congresswoman and by that definition belonging to the `secular' sect, she has been quite guarded in her response and has not condemned the fatwa.

Also, one wonders why the zealous guardians of Islamic law have not recommended that the rapist be stoned to death. Because he is male?

But another forum is taking care of that. A panchayat of the recently constituted All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board rejected the Deoband fatwa against Imrana and said it would strive to invoke the IPC against those who issued such a fatwa. Its president Shaista Amber said that Imrana had the right to live with her husband and children.

While Imrana faces an uncertain future, what must be hurting the most is the media circus that is hounding her... TV cameras and scribes hungry for a juicy story. Yes, journalists have to cover and report incidents, but it won't hurt us once in a while to reverse the camera and the spotlights and direct them on ourselves. That will tell us how sensitive we ourselves are... or how fair and just, even as we demand justice and fair play for the wronged woman. Also, somebody needs to ask Imrana what she wants.

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

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