Why I hate burqa?
Many Muslims think that because I hate burqa I am anti-Muslim and a ‘bhakt’ and a RSS man.
But then many Hindus think that because I eat beef ( where legally permitted e.g. in Kerala, Goa etc ) and have said there is nothing wrong in eating it, and that it is stupid to say that cow is our mother, I am anti-Hindu and a ‘sickular’.
What is the truth ?
I am totally secular, and my whole track record proves it.
When I was a Judge in the Allahabad High Court at a time when the BJP was in power both at the Centre and in U.P. I said in several judgments that Muslims had a right to build mosques, and no permission from the District Magistrate was required for this. I was almost transferred from the Allahabad High Court at the behest of some powerful political people because of those judgments.
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/578480/
In the Madras High Court, where I was the Chief Justice, I upheld the right of Muslims to take out their funeral processions through a public street.
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/872368/
I have spoken out against the hate speeches of Togadia, Sadhvi Prachi and Adityanath, and protested against the atrocities on Muslims in Muzaffarnagar, Ballabhgarh, etc, and against the lynching of Ikhlaque, and against the gau rakshaks, and those who compelled some Muslims to say Jai Shri Ram.
So how can I be called a ‘bhakt’ ? Does any ‘bhakt’ or RSS man eat beef and say there is nothing wrong in eating it ?
Whenever there were atrocities against Muslims my voice was one of the first to rise against it. I have repeatedly said that there should be no atrocities against anyone, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian.
At the same time, I hate poverty and backwardness. The worst thing in life is poverty and backwardness, and feudal thinking and customs which contribute to them. I want to see India emerge as a modern, highly industrialized, prosperous nation.
So when I attack burqa I am not attacking Islam, but backwardness. I have in fact praised Islam for its great message of equality, and providing social emancipation to the depressed and downtrodden sections of society ( though now all religions are outdated, and should be replaced by science ).
I hate burqa because it is a feudal, outdated, backward custom, and has contributed to keeping Muslims backward. This is the age of equality. Why should Muslim women be kept in a cage ? And I do not say women should go about nude. Surely a woman who wears a salwar kameez or sari is not nude.
Some people say it should be left to the woman to have a choice in wearing a burqa or not. I disagree. These people forget that though there may not be any overt compulsion on a Muslim woman to wear a burqa, there are social pressures on many Muslim women to wear it. And to say that a Christian nun wears a veil is forgetting that nuns are priests, and moreover they do not cover their faces, while Muslim women wearing burqa are not priests.
To those who say that it is one’s right to wear a burqa or not, I say : you have no right to remain backward. Too much freedom is also bad. Can a Muslim be permitted to say that he will not send his female child to school ? No, he must be compelled to send the child to school, and punished if he does not.
To those who say I should not comment about Muslims I say : Muslims are my countrymen too, and I have a right to comment on all our countrymen, whatever their religion, caste, or region.
The great Turkish ruler Kemal Mustafa Ataturk abolished burqa in Turkey, as he saw that such backward social customs have kept Turkey backward and become the ‘ Sick Man of Europe ‘. I am his admirer, and recommend all Mulims, particularly Muslim youth, to follow his example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk
So a law should be made, as in France, imposing heavy fine on women wearing burqa
