Tackling ISIS and Extremism in India: Where Are the Women?

The Government is taking an inclusive approach to tackling ISIS, except not really.

In early February this year, Home Minister Rajnath Singh sought the advice of prominent Muslim leaders to help check the recruitment of Muslims by the Islamic State (ISIS), and to fight cross-border terrorism. Admirable, but...

Notice anything missing?

To counter the influence of a group whose most egregious crimes include the enslavement, torture and mass rape of women – behaviours they claim are supported by the Qu’ran – the Central Government did not consult with a single Muslim woman. Instead, it met with a delegation of self-appointed, male Islamic leaders who saw fit to leave 50 percent of their community unrepresented.

Given that women in India tend to be the primary carers of families and households – and that counter-radicalisation efforts seem to focus on Muslim youths – this seems like a glaring omission, particularly by a Minister who thinks the cooperation of families can be a big factor in tackling radicalism.

So what solutions might Muslim women have offered if the Government had bothered to ask? The Quint spoke with Zakia Soman, co-founder of Muslim women’s rights group Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA). Here are some of their recommendations:

A better understanding of the nature of Islam.

An understanding that calling for violence in the name of Islam is wrong.

An understanding of gender equality as per the Indian Constitution.

An understanding of India as a multicultural society.

According to Ms Soman, the mainstreaming of a more liberal, egalitarian reading of the Qu’ran could work to delegitimise fundamentalist viewpoints, since ISIS’ ideology is both “anti-woman, and anti-human”.

Ms Soman charges that it is a patriarchal interpretation of the Qu’ran that is currently applied to distort the texts, resulting in various misogynistic practices, from those practised by ISIS to those practised in India within Islamic communities. When divorced from patriarchy, the teachings of Islam are compatible with principles of gender equality guaranteed in the Constitution, she says.

A 2014 survey by BMMA revealed that Muslim women have been thirsting for reform of Muslim personal laws. Over 90% of women surveyed wanted practices like the triple talaq and polygamy banned. The BMMA and the many women who support it are calling for the codification of Muslim personal law to reflect gender equality. Importantly, 95.5% of the women surveyed had never heard of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, showing how far removed from Muslim women’s concerns this all-male body is.

When the BMMA calls for reform in Muslim personal law, they spread canards against us that we are calling for interference in divine law. The law is not divine [...] the Qu’ran is divine. The law is made by men. Unfortunately, the law is only made by patriarchal men. That is why the law is one-sided.

Zakia Soman, Co-Founder, BMMA

She had some choice words for Muslim leaders who contend that reform in personal law is un-Islamic:

They don’t have any perspective, they don’t have any competence, they don’t have any understanding. They are living in their little patriarchal world. [...] That’s why they are attacking us. But they don’t know that we are also going to fight. We are not going to be afraid of them and we are not going to take it from them. [...] As Muslims we are empowered, as citizens of India we are empowered, and we are next-to-none. So we are not going to tolerate this.  

So, Home Minister, if you are indeed serious about countering the spread of terrorism and extremist ideologies, maybe it’s time to start listening to Muslim women.

And Prime Minister, since you support a uniform civil code, will you listen to Muslim women who want to bring personal law in line with the principles of equality laid down in the Constitution?