Patriarchy, misogyny, orthodoxy

Jama Masjid’s bid to ban girls was born of outdated thinking

Delhi’s Jama Masjid has done well to withdraw its recent order banning the entry of “unaccompanied” women into the mosque. The mosque attracts hundreds of visitors every day, including devotees and tourists of both sexes and all ages, and a restriction of the kind imposed by its administration had no genuine reasons. It reeked of a patriarchal mindset and attracted serious backlash from various quarters and the intervention of Delhi Lt-Governor V K Saxena.

The Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to the Imam of Jama Masjid. The reactions probably led to a rethinking and finally good sense prevailed. It was claimed that the decision was occasioned by complaints about increasing cases of improper behaviour on the masjid premises. But why should only girls be banned entry in the premises on that ground? If there was dating and outings and shooting of videos, both boys and girls would have been involved. It is wrong to ban the entry of only girls for that. If maintaining the sanctity of the place of worship is the intention, all visitors have the responsibility for that.

The Jama Masjid’s restrictive decision arose from the misogynist thinking that denies freedom and agency to women and blames them for the crimes committed against them and for incidents which are considered unacceptable by society.

This happens in all areas of life like religion, society and politics. Women’s presence, appearance, dress and behaviour should all conform to the notions of correctness and acceptability that society and its leaders, mostly men, hold. Otherwise, they are inviting trouble to themselves. Such entrenched notions are present in all religions and societies, and they lead to ill-treatment of and discrimination against women. The discrimination is considered natural and taken for granted. Excuses like traditions and conventions, the possibility of occurrence of untoward incidents or the safety of women are often cited in support of many regressive decisions, but it is not explained why the onus is only on women.

Orthodoxy expresses itself in other ways, too. Last week a body of preachers belonging to the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama warned fans and youth against “football craze”. They cautioned them against missing prayers while watching World Cup matches and against hero-worshipping stars like Messi and Neymar because only God is to be worshipped. The raising of cut-outs of stars was frowned upon and the wearing of jerseys of countries like England and Portugal was criticised because they were colonial countries.

These are wrong ideas that mix sports with religion and should have no place in a modern society. Religious leaders were wrongly trying to curb the freedom of individuals with their call on football.