The first time I remember seeing a 'burkha' clad,fully veiled Muslim woman was when I was nine, and lived in India. I was with my mother, who gestured towards the woman's voluminous clothes and whispered 'bundh gobi' (Hindi for cabbage). I was filled with a horrified fascination, fuelled by my Hindu mother's feelings towards Muslim 'others'. My fantasies were many. If I was naughty, would i be captured by the 'bundh gobi', bundled up in her skirts, and taken away to a distant land of the faceless?
I learned, subliminally, that these were women who were oppressed and fundamentalist. My mother spoke-without speaking- of other symbols of oppression and fundamentalism. I heard, yet again, of how my father had been disowned and disinherited from his Sikh family for cutting his hair.
In post-colonial, independent India, my parents and their circle of friends prided themselves on their liberalism and a part of the espoused liberalism was to oppose fundamentalist religious practices. However, in the context of 'multicultural' U.K, the issue of removing the veil acquires a completely different meaning. Paradoxically, it demonstrates a lack of tolerance that could have the effect of hindering, rather than fostering community relations.
Many have objected to the veil on feminist grounds, on grounds that 'it takes power away from women' (Rushdie). To my mind, this is an inherently dangerous position. It reminds me of the impassioned social worker who urges the Asian woman to leave her oppressive marriage, cut off relations with her extended family and live in a refuge, while she gets her life together. Who are we to judge whether a particular woman is oppressed or not? Surely, within certain families and communities, the veil could add power to a woman's role? Even if we are dealing with an oppressed woman who would like to remove her veil, it may take a long time for her, her family and wider community to accept her wish to do so.
If we are to live harmoniously in a multicultural society, we have to be prepared to tolerate, if not accept difference. We have to allow people to exercise agency and make their own choices about religious and cultural practices.
Reenee Singh
Director, Centre for Cross-Cultural Studies, Institute of Family Therapy.