“Low Voter Turn Out” - No longer an Urban Aberration - It reflects Nation’s Apathy towards ‘Opportunistic Politics’
by RK Misra
On May-1st, the proverbial heartland of Indian democracy, UP polled just 45% in the 3rd phase of polls on 30th April. It seems that most politically active and significant state, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is slowly but steadily losing interest in politics.
The high profile constituency of Lucknow voted just 34.5%. I spoke with few friends and family in Lucknow, who went to vote early fearing long queues but were surprised to see empty polling booths. Second largest city of UP, Kanpur voted just 39%.
The ssituation is same in neighboring Bihar where average polling in the first 3 phases has been 44%, 45% and 49% respectively Compare this with average 58% in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. This is despite all round praise for Nitish Kumar who brought Bihar back on developmental map of the country.
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat which went to poll on development & good governance agenda of their respective chief ministers too failed to excite the electorate with MP polling just 45% (48% in 2004) and Gujarat 50% (45% in 2004).
Maharashtra too is averaging 45% compared with 48% in 2004. Greater Bombay (10 seats) was 43.5%, even lower than 47.5% in 2004. This is really shocking given high decibel celebrity campaigns, voter awareness programs and emotionally charged environment post 26/11.
The above trend shows that in all large heartland states of the country, voters have lost interest in elections due to their apathy towards political class, which pursues corrupt and criminal brand of politics devoid of issues which concern the average citizen.
Political parties are responsible for this apathy as they field criminals and moneybags as their candidates, as these are supposedly winnable candidates. Party loyalists on their death bed are give tickets, sons and daughters of political families are other favorites apart from cine stars and venom spitting religious blokes. These worthy souls might win the election, but political class looses the respect and confidence of genuine voter who wants to believe in democracy and cares for the nation.
Current election distinctly lacks focus and debate on pressing national issues of worsening economy,crumbling infrastructure, security threats and most importantly governance and development.
Instead of educating and informing electorate about their manifesto and development agenda, political parties are busy snapping at their opponents and digging their past. They are more interested in highlighting what their opponents have not done, rather than discussing what they will do, if elected to power.
In my opinion, media is the biggest culprit, given that people expect them to be the voice of the civil society. In the race to garner TRP ratings, they have resorted to highlighting only sensational and meaningless issues.
Late evening talk shows (they call them debates) on national news channels have become a joke where anchor seems to believe that his decibel level is directly proportional to the TRP rating of his channel. Developmental and governance agenda is rarely discussed in the media, which is obsessed with quotable quotes from Varun, Priyanka, Maya and Modi.
Media has let civil society down and has completely failed in its responsibility to highlight pressing issues and force the debate among political class.
Low voter turnout is no longer an urban educated elite phenomenon, it is a reflection of all pervasive apathy of voters across the country towards political class. This is the biggest threat to our democracy which relies on the participation of the informed electorate to choose the best among available options. People have lost faith in the elections because they don’t see any merit in the process.
Political parties need to work at the grass root level, engage with the civil society, grow their cadre and practice internal democracy if they want to regain the faith and confidence of the electorate.
Media too needs to introspect and stop insulting their viewers/readers by dishing out sensational and silly make-believe stories in the garb of the news.
Comments
32 Responses to ““Low Voter Turn Out” - No longer an Urban Aberration - It reflects Nation’s Apathy towards ‘Opportunistic Politics’”
I 100% agree with the view that the responsibility completely lies with the media, find below a similar view expressed here -
http://jindagi-ek-pathshala.blogspot.com/2009/05/cynical-of-democracy-whom-to-blame.html
Should media be allowed to conduct these kind of debates during elections ar say anytime? True we have certain fundamental rights, but is media not exploiting those rights? I guess there should some curb imposed on them and they should be made realised what are they for… its not that what they are doing.
If BJP can only win 165 seats in this election then it is a failure for BJP> What BJP campaign managers have been doing for last 5 years.? At least BJP should win 200 seats then it would be called as success. If Delhi BJP candidates needs modi’s help to win then there is serious problem with BJP. Either BJP Delhi unit has not been able do its job properly in Delhi or simple BJP is incapable of convincing people of Delhi. Or if BJP loses more then 3 seats in Delhi then people of this country has serious problems. I still believe BJP should win 5 seats from Delhi. Delhi people are different from rest of the country and they should vote differently this time as these are national elections. I expect BJP to be lot different then Congress in terms if their planning , execution and strategy. If India gets hung parliament or congress gov then I would blame BJP as well. I still do not see the issues which will have wider impact on village voters.
- TRP’s is one issue for the media. But, there is a distinct bias towards status quo. Of finding it hard to let go of the power structures (and buddy network) that have existed over the last 60 years. These power structures (read Congress and other Hate-Hindu parties) were comfortable in the vote-bank politics. Not one bothered about development. So it is difficult to expect the media to forget their masters. As someone said, a dog with a bone in its mouth will not bark.
- Funnily, all the parties that are anti-Congress are pro-development. TDP, BJD, JDU. And, all those who have aligned to the Congress RJD, LJP, Samajwadi, BSP, CPI’s all are anti-development and pro vote-banks (read secular)! All you guys who get onto these media debates should bring up these points.
I would suggest that senior leaders of the BJP should come on such useless debated to explain their point of view that such debated are pointless and then leave the debate telling that this is a waste of their time.
One should not feed the news channels if they cant work hard enough to know the issues that affect the common man
RKs article is excellent, media has gone all time low!!! they are openly supporting one particular party, I think people will switch back to good old Doordarshan, where viewers are spared from the antics of the anchors…
Ordinary Indian citizens had great expectations from the media which was opened to private players and advent of 24×7 news. People in India, tired of the government mouthpiece Doordarshan expected “people’s” voice to take precedence.
However, television channels and print media have let down people by showing a distinct bias towards Congress and Gandhi family in particular. BJP leaders are ridiculed in media debates. While the Gandhi family is spoken to with so much awe. It is ridiculous to read Rajdeep Sardesai’s latest blog on ibnlive.com glorifying Priyanka Gandhi. As a noted jouralist of his stature he should avoid glorification, rather highlight issues related to development and welfare of common citizens.
The biased media has turned out to be a huge curse in our democracy. India deserves a NEUTRAL media.
Eternal vigilance and participation is essential for success of a democracy. Apathy is a sign of unhealthy democracy. Unfortunately, the media which is to nourish and sustain people interest and participation in their governance is killing the very same thing.
Shame on partisan media for killing the spirit of democracy!
BJP Campain Managers are not functioning
In brief Americans are successful in stopping the development of
aggressively like the Leftists. We have written a number of letters
asking the party to respond with a fitting reply to the Congress party
whose leaders have been repeatedly raising the same issues against
the BJP.
It is not understood why BJP is always taking a defensive stand in
the case of Ayodhya, Babri Masjid demolition and Kandahar episode?
So also the allegation that BJP is communal is met with silence.
When Babri Masjid was demolished, it was the Congress Party which
was ruling the country. If they were really interested in stopping the
demolition, they should have imposed President’s rule in UP. They
failed to do so. This shows that Congress party was in favor of
demolishing the structure. BJP should lay the blame on the Congress
party, rather than accepting the blame. Recently, after Lalu Prasad
accused the Congress party of also having a hand in the demolition of
the masjid, Congress is not raising the Babri issue. For the last so
many months I was asking BJP to give the same rebuttal to the
Congress.
Similarly the Kandahar episode was the result of the inefficiency
of the Congress Govt which kept the terrorists in jail for a long
period without taking concrete action, like in the case of Afzal
Guru. None of the BJP spokesmen ever replied to the Media
stressing these points.
Similarly, why is BJP not bringing up the Oil for food scam?
Regarding the Nuclear Deal BJP is talking in a round-about way. Why
the party cannot place the issue in front of the learned public in a
straight- forward manner? After studying this issue for the last two
years I have found the following lacunae in the Nuclear Deal:-
123 agreement with USA is of no use to us Indians due to the following reasons:-
1) USA has not given the permission to re- use the highly radioactive,
spent fuel after reprocessing in the uranium reactors. Every three
years of the operation of the reactors, the uranium fuel has to be
reprocessed, or use new enriched uranium fuel to run the reactors
in full capacity.
2) Like in Tarapur, we have to spend crores of rupees to store the
spent fuel. In the case of Tarapur, the reactor capacity was 350 MW,
whereas as per the new agreement we have to purchase reactors having
capacity of 1000 to 2000MW to increase the generating capacity to
8000MW.
3) American reactors are three times costlier than French & Russian
designs and our scientists and Engineers have no experience of
working on the reactors of American design.
4) Our scientists and engineers are conversant with heavy water
reactors and have mastered the technology to run it safely.
5) It is a fact that Ex- PM Vajpayee ji had initiated the talks with
USA for a nuclear deal because it was found that we do not have
sufficient uranium to produce weapon grade plutonium to run the fast
breeder reactors developed by India beyond 10000MW. But the conditions
laid down by USA were not favorable to us. Further, explosion of
nuclear devices is only a secondary issue. There are more serious
issues involved in this Deal.
6) To run the fast breeder reactors the main fuel is thorium which is
available in abundance in India. But initially it requires some
amount of plutonium to initiate the nuclear chain reaction. Only by
reprocessing the spent uranium fuel we can get weapon grade plutonium.
7) In this 123 agreement we cannot reprocess the spent fuel, and at
the same time through Hyde Act they put a restriction on further
production of plutonium. As per the Hyde Act, India should inform
USA the amount of plutonium produced by India and it should not go up
beyond the level at the time of signing the agreement.
our Fast Breeder reactors to use thorium as fuel.
9) Only India has developed the technology to use thorium as fuel in
the reactors.
I have prepared this write -up in brief so that a large number of
people will be interested to read.
HARI OM
T.C.Govindan,
tcgmenon@gmail.com
Guys can moderator ensure that all the above concerns are fwded to Mr. LKA and Mr. Jaitley ASAP before it is too late. They really need to act fast bring front people like Shotgun, Mr. Jaitley, NAMO and others to communicate effectively and shut media’s and pseudo secular leaders mouth? Mr. Jaitley it seems you are not reading the views raised by youths. Seems like you just forgot to look into this website after creating it…
Hi All,
I wanted to share my experience.
Congress particularly Manmohan Sing and Sonia Gandhi were raking up Kandhahar issue again and again to corner BJP. To my opinion it’s response to this was defensive. Looking at this I forwarded the link http://www.jethmalaniblog.com/ to the administrators of Friedns of BJP on facebook and requested them to see this argument and bring this to the notice of BJP functionaries. On this site Mahesh Jethamalani has beautifully made an argument to take wind out of this false information campaign by media and Congress. But I was surprised to observe that BJP functionaries were not aware of this info even though Mahesh Jetahmalani is their candidate in Mumbai. After that BJP went on some what offensive to counter the argument saying that the Congress was also involved in the said decision and during the decision process Congress never said that they do not mind if 200 people in the Aircraft get killed but NDA should not consider releasing of terrorists.
But I would like to say that I had to forward this to so many people to reach at appropriate decision making people. The problem in India is even if the email is available people do not read it and if at all they read it they do not respond immediately.
Similarly, I have expressed my views about the need of Media strategy to counter anti Hindu Media. But so far I do not think BJP has made any progress in that direction.
Similarly, I have communicated with Mr. Nalin Kohali BJP’s media Cell Chief that they should have a Media Archiving system through which BJP should be able to pull up important debates, incidences and Media’s irresponsible comments to keep them in check. Mr. Nalin Kohali has agreed that they will put a media archiving system as early as possible. Let us see how it works out.
Similarly, I have sent a email to rssonnet.org to consider about having a presence in electronic media. Can we not have our own electronic media presence? Is it so difficult? I
do not think so. Many regional players in South India have successful electronic media channels. Even Baba Ramdev has one. Even Mulsims/Arabs have a Al Jaljeera channel which counters American/Christian propaganda. Then why can not RSS, BJP have a one?
I have summarized the suggestion I have made on various forums or through emails. I will appreciate if somebody from “friends of BJP” takes this up with BJP functionaries. If the need arises, I will help them in this effort.
Regards,
Nitin Nimkar
The last five years of Congress led UPA rule was full with inefficient decision making and flawed policy adoption. Surprisingly, the BJP is not going all out at Congress on those issue where they failed miserably. I dont believe BJP leadership are unaware of these issues but it raises suspision in my mind as why the BJP leaders are not aggressively taking up these issues in media and attacking their Congress counterpart? WHY?????
Media is puppet of 1 party and is about the nationalists avoid watching and boycotting India’s dorky media.
Who am I?
I am liar and extract money from foreign govt to pursue their agenda. Who am I?
I use and abuse Hindus. Who am I?
I ensure two Hindu’s fight among each other so my sponsorer get the benefit. Who am I?
In my debate shows I call 1 BJP person and crticize him before he speaks. Ofcourse I call 4 other spokesperson and they also crticize BJP. My job is done. Who am I?
I dish our positive news of 1 party and negative news of another party. Who am I?
My opinion polls are biased and are anti-BJP. Who am I?
I crticize BJP for failing to get justice for 2002 riots but will never question why SIKHS aren’t getting justice for 1984 as I don’t care for Sikhs as they support BJP. Who am I?
I know Q got money but will tell viewers to give up as it is old case.Who am I?
I agree with Mr. Govindan that BJP is wanting in effectively countering false propaganda by the Congress. Jawant Singh should have made his comments when Cong raised the issue and not after a month. I think the party should take the help of Arun Shourie to tutor the BJP candidates about the issues so that they can communicate to the electorate. This should be done urgently.
An ordinary suuporter like me fails to understand
what was party’s preparations to tackle the biased electronic media in the election season.These channels are so shamelessly covering congress agenda that one is forced to conclude that these private channels have even surpassed the behaviour of state owned Doordarshan in 1988/89
which was misused by then PM Rajiv Gandhi to the highest level, post Bofors exposures.Entire electronic media is trying to brainwash the mind of younger generation by telling them supreme sacrifices of Mrs Indira Gandhi and Mr Rajiv Gandhi. only recently Rahul gandhi played an emotional card by reminding sacrifices of these two great leaders of the nation.it is sad no one in BJP is courageous to tell these first time voters that Rajiv gandhi was killed by Ltte as they believed that He has helped Lankan forces against them.I srongly condemn the gruesome murder of Mr Rajiv Gandhi but fundamentally believe that sending Indian peace keeping force to Lanka was totally wrong decision of Mr Rajiv Gandhi as Tamil people were convienced that IPKF
had worked against them.There were complaints from tamililians about the presence of IPKF not only to Indian government but to world leaders.It was evident that this IPKF had actually misfired but Mr Gandhi took his own time to withdraw IPKF from srilanka.No doubt nation lost a charming and good leader in Rajiv Gandhi but glorifying his death as supreme sacrifice is not seen in a good light by many
specially for winning some votes in the election time.As a BJP admirer I suggest all out efforts are neccessary to convey the first time voters about the past of congress rule of authoritarian nature and to inform them the history of BJP or erstwhile Jansangh as a lone crusader of free enterprise and librel economy in the era of socialism perpetuated by Jawahar lal Nehru.Party must make a documantry film and buy the prime time of these channels to send the massage to the young generation.
The biased media well used 26/11 to target BJP during the live coverage &whovever the leaders of BJP visited during the commando operation the media has well split the venom during the visit and the youngers got the TV coverge in national level, media has white washed the youngers brain tilt towards Congress and they won the Delhi/Rajasthan assembly election .
I want to share a talk show I saw on some channel called LEMON(!!). The host was interviewing a Muslim gentleman from Gujarat and the views of the latter were very revealing. Mr Jaffrey said that the Modi government has used the development platform to win back the Muslims into the main stream. After 2002 there was an exodus of Muslims from Gujarat but when they saw the economic and developmental reforms that were put in place by the Modi government they came back hesitantly at first and then in droves because they saw that there was no discrimination and the Muslims benefited as much as everybody else. The interviewer asked Mr Jaffery if he had ‘pardoned’ Mr Modi and Mr. Jaffery, a BMW car dealer in Ahmedabad, said something to the effect that we have moved beyond that; we see him as an enabler and that has helped us to better our lives. No wonder the Muslim vote share for the BJP has risen in Gujarat. Mr. Jaffery made another significant disclosure. Mahesh Bhatt asked him to tell Mr. Modi that development without justice will not work. Although Mr Jaffery was initially hesitant to speak this way to Modi at his first meeting, he actually conveyed the exact message and was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Modi listened patiently and assured him that justice would be done. I think such interviews must be circulated to a larger public…Hang the English Media Channels…they are all sub-sets of the original private channel NDTV and they cannot change their spots…like Swapanda says, the ruling party is extracting its media IOUs and we have to grin and bear it.
i liked V Rao’s comments a lot…Funnily, all the parties that are anti-Congress are pro-development. TDP, BJD, JDU. And, all those who have aligned to the Congress RJD, LJP, Samajwadi, BSP, CPI’s all are anti-development and pro vote-banks (read secular)! All you guys who get onto these media debates should bring up these points.
I have seen many comments, not only here, that keep asking what the BJP is doing in countering the media bias against it. It is not possible for a single organization to do everything. I think a more pertinent question is what is the person who is asking such question doing it. A political party is made up of ordinary people. It is not some electronic machine which will do what you ask you to do it. If you want your favorite party to do something or look like something it is your responsibility too, as the supporter of the party, to work hard towards that goal. If you are not happy with the blatant media bias, YOU should also do something about it
@rk mishraji you are also being a cynic very much like our p-sec media.. i have heard modiji’s speech at bangalore and trust me that for the 45 minutes he spoke he touched upon all issues which needed to be addressed he highlighted the govt’s failures he spoke of the BJP’s agenda of good governance development and security, he highlighted salient points of the party manifesto and the way forward..but sadly the media reported only pieces of the speech which suit their agenda so i feel its extremely wrong and cynical to blame political parties for not highlighting real issues but the blame lies squarely on the media which tries its best to ensure that these relevant issues raised dont reach the people as it does not suit its agenda and may be un-savory to its masters.. i am very disappointed with you for spreading so much negativism..and though your criticism is valid its grossly misdirected..
मीडिया का सफ़ेद झूठ
आज कल जितने भी न्यूज़ चैनल हैं सब यही साबित करने पर तुले हुवे हैं कि बीजेपी के पास कोई मुद्दा नहीं है .इससे बड़ा सफ़ेद झूठ और क्या हो सकता है .यही न्यूज़ चैनल्स बीजेपी के द्वारा उठाये गए विभिन्न मुद्दों पर आधारित विज्ञापन चला रहे हैं और कहते हैं कि बीजेपी के पास कोई मुद्दा ही नहीं है .क्या इससे यह साबित नहीं होता कि आज की मीडिया विश्वसनीय नहीं रह गयी है .
Why BJP could not cultivate media support, despite six years power in Delhi and ruling many states? Either they didn’t understood the role of media in political business or they have no competent people.
Although Delhi english media play very little in influencing voters, still BJP needs media to channelise their views properly. It seems, BJP simply depends of BJP-basher media, as they have no other alternate.
When Congress harp of Kandhahar, BJP can reverse it with emotions. Who will support not to release terrrorists to get their near and dear ones back? BJP need to tell the people, Congress is sad as BJP saved the life of 160 Indians, read Hindus. Congress wanted body bags of these 160 Hindus. But, BJP seems have no clue how to convert an issue in their favor.
Only Modi can do that, but one man can’t do everything. Why Congress didn’t harp on recent Supreme Court direction to SIT to investigate a particular case? Congress feared, Modi will create emotion out of it. I saw IBN and NDTV put big headlines of it, after a while they compplete removed it from sites. As they got insturctions from Congress.
And there are several politically correct BJP leaders, they want to be in good books of media and opponents. They are simply self-seekers, not leaders.
कांग्रेस +मीडिया = कांग्रेस
जब से चुनाव की घोषणा हुवी है तब से मैं देख रहा हूँ कि शायद ही किसी मुद्दे पर मीडिया ने कांग्रेस को घेरा हो और सवाल जवाब कर
कटघरे में खडा किया हो . मीडिया के जितने भी सवाल होते हैं वो बीजेपी के मुद्दों से सम्बन्धित होते हैं .ऐसा लगता है कि जैसे पिछले ५ सालों से बीजेपी ही केंद्र की सरकार चला रही थी .जनता की अदालत में कांग्रेस को न खडा कर मीडिया बीजेपी को खड़े करती दिखती है.ऐसा बहुत ही कम अवसर आया है जब मीडिया ने कांग्रेस की किसी मुद्दे पर आलोचना की हो .कांग्रेस पक्षपाती मीडिया का ये हाल है कि जब भी कोई मुद्दा लेकर बीजेपी कांग्रेस पर हमला करती है , ये मीडिया ऐसी प्रतिक्रिया करती है जैसे बीजेपी ने उसी पर हमला किया हो .कांग्रेस पर हमले से मीडिया जैसे तिलमिला जाती है .कई ऐसे न्यूज़ चैनल्स हैं जो इसी तरह व्यवहार करते दिखते हैं . मीडिया के इस रवैये से ऐसा लगता है जैसे मीडिया मीडिया न होकर कांग्रेस पार्टी हो गयी हो . इसीलिए यह कहना पड़ता है कांग्रेस + मीडिया = कांग्रेस .मीडिया को यह समझना चाहिए कि भैय्या ——”ये पब्लिक है सब समझती है कि तुम क्या बोल रहे हो और क्या कर रहे हो .”
If BJP does not have proper media control(I do not mean leader talking with Barkha Dutt) they are doomed to play second fiddle.
Look how they are playing to aliniate Nitish from BJP.
Its wake up call.
Yes yellow Journalism is there, and it will always be there. It is the responsibility of the think tanks of the party to use yellow Journalism in favor of the party.I still think 210 seats of BJP and sensing re-election soon. I am preparing for the next election compaign with Mr. Modi PM in waiting.
Congress is playing now with Nitish… i wonder what Lalu has to say about this…all these days they were quiet when Lalu used to support them, now he is not gonna get enough seats, so Congress will dump him…. NDA shouldnt lose any of its allies and should concentrate on development and development only…
Media is shamelessly biased. Narendra Modi is absolutely right when he says that they are all “News Traders”. Most of them don’t want BJP to win. I don’t think we need to blame BJP, we just need to ignore these channels and watch a movie or cricket. BJP is a good party and it shall prosper, irrespective of Media
@ Vibhass
They are not only news traders but news manufacturer also.
IF NOT ISLAM, THEN WHAT? a world without Islam—admittedly an almost inconceivable state of affairs given its charged centrality in our daily news headlines. Islam seems to lie behind a broad range of international disorders: suicide attacks, car bombings, military occupations, resistance struggles, riots, fatwas, jihads, guerrilla warfare, threatening videos, and 9/11 itself. Why are these things taking place? “Islam” seems to offer an instant and uncomplicated analytical touchstone, enabling us to make sense of today’s convulsive world. Indeed, for some neoconservatives, “Islam fascism” is now our sworn foe in a looming “World War III.”But indulge me for a moment. What if there were no such thing as Islam? What if there had never been a Prophet Mohammed, no saga of the spread of Islam across vast parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa? Given our intense current focus on terrorism, war, and rampant anti-Americanism—some of the most emotional international issues of the day—it’s vital to understand the true sources of these crises. Is Islam, in fact, the source of the problem, or does it tend to lie with other less obvious and deeper factors? For the sake of argument, in an act of historical imagination, picture a Middle East in which Islam had never appeared. Would we then be spared many of the current challenges before us? Would the Middle East be more peaceful? How different might the character of East-West relations be? Without Islam, surely the international order would present a very different picture than it does today. Or would it?
Rights of Women in Islam : Hijab
Over the years, the dress code among Muslim women has been given great attention, especially in relation to the hijab practice in which is considered as a symbol of “oppression” towards Muslim women. While Islam is certainly not the only religion to introduce the practice of covering head, it continues to be the centre of attack and heavily discussed as the women’s right issue especially outside Muslim world. Furthermore, this has been included as a political agenda in some countries, which results in Muslim women being oppressed and their freedom to practice their religion was taken away. Sadly, we also see that some so-called “Muslim” secularists and hypocrites, under the false insinuation that wearing the hijab is oppression for women, make the ridiculous claim that the Quran “does not make a statement about covering the hair”. Obviously, this claim stems from their arrogance combined with their sheer ignorance on the matter. The purpose of this article is to answer these Critics’ claims to show them that their lies do not hold water.
In the Quran we read the following injunction about the hijab:
“Oh Prophet! tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surah al-Ahzaab : 59)
In the above verse, women are required to cast their outer garments for them to be recognised as a decent woman, and further to avoid any harassment in any way. The word used in the verse, jalabib (plural of jilbab), refers to an outer garment which covers the body completely, and so this is also an argument in favor of covering the hair. While the above verse does not specifically mention what is the right dress code applied (apart from the fact that women should cover their body), it clearly shows that the basic underlying concept is modesty. It is widely agreed that women who dressed and behaved modestly are respectable, and it helps in having respectful relationship with other women and men in their daily life. This is the most important reason behind the rules set in Islam, in which it gives total respect to women with regards to their body and preserve their dignity, and at the same time act as a guard and protection to them, at least to a certain extent, from being physically and emotionally harassed.
We have a general concept that Hijab is only for women and men are free from this limitation but this is not true. There is more restriction on men. They are asked to put there eyes down and they are not allowed to see a woman delibrately. If you read the Quran – before the mentioning of the ‘Hijab’ for the women, the Quran mentioned the ‘Hijab’, for the man. It is mentioned in Surah Nur, Ch. No. 24, Verse No. 30, it says to the believing man, that:
“He should lower his gaze and guard his modesty”. (Surah Nur : 30)
Such a just religion can never be found… except Islam, because it is the religion of Allah. The next Verse, Surah Nur, Ch. 24, Verse No. 31, says:
“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof, that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husband’s sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hand posses, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye believers ! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.” (Surah Nur : 31)
Again, the main subject behind the Islamic dress code is modesty. Coupled with a number of hadiths, this verse being the only verse within the Quran to mention about wearing veil to be included in the package to safeguard women’s dignity. Besides these, she should maintain the Hijab. The criteria for Hijab in Islam, can be found in the Quran, and the Sahih Hadith.
There are six criteria – 1st is extent, which is the only difference between a man and a woman. For the man, he has to be covered from the naval to the knee. For the woman, her complete body should be covered – the only part that can be seen, is the face and the hands up to the wrist. If she wishes to cover them, she is most welcome, but it is not compulsory that she should cover it. Otherwise the full body should be covered. This is the only criteria which differs, between the man and the woman.
The second criteria is that, the clothes she wears, should not be so tight, that it reveals the figure.
The clothes she wears… third point – it should not be so transparent, so that you can see through.
And the fourth point – she should not wear glamorous clothes, or he should not wear glamorous clothes, which attracts the opposite sex.
The fifth point is that a person should not wear cloth, which resembles that of the opposite sex – like you find men wearing earnings. If you wear one earring, it signifies something else – if you wear two earrings, it signifies something else. It is prohibited in Islam.
And the last criteria is, you should not wear clothes which… that resemble of an unbeliever. These are the six basic criteria of Hijab, in Islam.
If we analyse the society, the maximum number of crime that takes place in any country, it is in America. According to a report by the FBI in 1990, in the year 1990 ‘One thousand, two hundred & fifty five women were raped’. These are only the reported cases. And the report says ‘Only 16% of the cases were reported’. If you want the exact figure, multiply 1,02,555 with 6.25, and you get the answer – more than 6,40,000 ladies were raped in America only in 1990. And if you divide this by the number of days in a year, divide by 365, you get a figure of One thousand, seven hundred and fifty six women are raped every day, in America, in the year 1990.
And the report says… ‘Every day One thousand, nine hundred ladies are raped’. It is the report of 1991. Now the Americans got more bold and the last report which came in Autumn, in 1993, it says… ‘Every 1.3 minute, one woman is raped’ - you know why? America has given the women, more rights, and more women are being raped. Out of 16% that are reported, only 10% are arrested. Means only 1.6% of the cases, are arrested. Out of that, 50% are let free before the trial – Means, only 0.8% of the rape cases, are held. Means, if a man rapes One hundred & twenty five ladies, the chances of his being caught, is one. Who would not like to try. One hundred & twenty five ladies you rape, and you get caught only once. Out of that, 50% time you get a punishment of less than 1 year… though the USA law tells you that… ‘For rape, you have got a punishment of life imprisonment’. But they say… ‘It is happened only the first time… the raqpist is caught the first time – so lets give him a chance, and a punishment of less than 1 year’.
Even in India, according to the National Crime Bureau report, which had come in the papers, on the 1st of December 1992, it said that… ‘Every 54 minutes, one case of rape is reported in India. Every 26 minutes, one case of molestation – every 1 hour 43 minutes, one case of dowry death. If you analyse the total number of cases of rape that are taking in our country, it will be… every couple of minutes, one case of rape. I am asking a simple question – if you ask every lady to do Hijab, will the rape case in USA remain the same, will it decrease, or will it increase? If you apply the Hijab for every lady in India, will the rate of rape decrease, will it remain the same, or will it increase?
You should understand Islam, as a whole. Even suppose, after that even, after a lady does Hijab, or irrespective a lady does Hijab, or not, a man is commanded: ‘He should lower his gaze’ - and if suppose after that, if a man commits rape… in Islam, he receives capital punishment – you call it a barbaric law? I have asked this question to several people. Suppose… I have asked this question to many of the gents. Suppose your sister is raped, and if you are made the judge – leave aside what Islam tells you, leave aside what Indian law tells you, leave aside what American law tells you – If you are made the judge, what punishment will you give to the rapist of your sister? And all have said… ‘Death sentence’. Few went to the extreme of saying… ‘I will torture him to death’. Want to ask you a question… ‘If you apply the Islamic Shariah law in America, will the rape case decrease, will it remain the same, or will it increase? If you apply the Shariah law in India, will the rape case decrease, will it remain the same, or will it increase?
So but natural, let us analyse practically. You say you have given women rights theoretically, but practically, you are degrading her to a status of a concubine and a mistress. Suppose two ladies… two twin sisters were equally beautiful – if they are walking down the street, and if round the corner there is a hooligan, who is waiting for a catch… who is waiting to tease a girl. Both twin sisters are walking, both are equally beautiful – one is in the Hijab… Islamic Hijab – one is wearing a mini or a skirt. Which girl will that hooligan tease? Which girl will he tease? But natural, the one in the short or the mini girl. If a girl is wearing a normal salwar kameez, with her head open… may be the salwar kameez tight, and the other girl is wearing a Islamic Hijab – Which girl will he tease? But natural, the girl who is not in Hijab. It is a practical proof, that Hijab is been ordained in Islam not to degrade the woman, but to protect her modesty.
While most Western societies often consider veil to cover women’s hair as a radical and violation to women’s right, Muslim women feel that veil gives them freedom. Different from the definition of freedom set by the West, a Muslim woman who follows Islamic dress code consider themselves free from being judged by her physical features, but rather to be judged by her character. What important is their intellectual and personality, and not the discrimination for their beauty. While women always emphasize on their beauty to fulfil the standard of attractiveness set by men, Muslim women set themselves free from being such a display object , but rather consider themselves as humans who have an exclusive right over themselves.
Following the Islamic dress code including wearing veil to cover women’s hair obviously has no effect on women’s social interaction. The rights of each Muslim woman to get proper education and enjoy equal right with other women and men is not denied although they are required to wear veil and cover themselves according to Islamic requirement. With that reason, the word “oppressive” assigned to Islamic women’s dress code certainly has no basis at all. Unfortunately, this has been a favourite issue for some countries to deny the right of these Muslim women from getting proper education and play a major role in the society, without realising that they give a heavy burden upon these Muslim women, and that is what we call oppression!
If these so-called “Muslim” critics do not wish to follow Islam, the world is full of many other religions they can choose from. Christianity, for example, will let you do whatever you want, eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, or wear whatever you want, as long as you accept the blood of Jesus to cleanse your sins. But if these same critics know that Islam is the truth, then please do not play games with it just because they do not wish to wear the hijab. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had stated that in later generations of his Ummah there would be “… women who would be dressed but naked and on top of their heads (what looks like) camel humps. Curse them for they are truly cursed.” (Sahih Muslim).
We would like to challenge these critics to find a single historian who will say that the Muslims in the time of Muhammad (PBUH) did not believe that wearing a head scarf was commanding by Allah and His Messenger. Just one, simple request… otherwise, desist.
Is this Indian Government really protecting India????
A) Is this Government really protecting us??!!
7/11 2006: Mumbai Train Blasts. 209 Killed.
25/8 2007: Hyderbad Blasts: 42 Killed
Oct 11 2007: Ajmer Blasts : 2 Killed
May 13 2008: Jaipur Blasts : 68 Killed
July 16th 2008: Ahmedabad Blasts : 57 Killed
July 25th 2008: Banglaore Blasts: 1 killed
Sept 13th 2008: Delhi Blasts: 26 Killed
Sept 27th 2008: Delhi Blasts: 2 Killed
Sept 29th 2008 : Gujrat Blasts : 1 killed
Oct 21st 2008: Imphal Blasts : 17 Killed
Oct 30th 2008: Assam Blasts : 40 Killed
Nov 26th 2008: Mumbai Attack: 180 killed
Every major city in India has been attacked consistently over the last two years.
Since 2004, 3850 Indians have died in Terror attacks in over 3000 incidents.
Is the common Indian on the streets really safe ?
Did you know that on the day of the Mumbai train blasts, the Government gave Rs 150 crores for earthquake relief in Pakistan ? Last year our Govt. has given Rs 3000 crores (600 Million Dollars) to Afghanistan? This, when victims of terror in India have not yet got aid? What’s going on?
B) Is this Government really secular ?
1) When Madrasas are being shut down in Pakistan, the Indian Government is giving them CBSE status !! It is depriving Muslim children in getting secular education. A Madrasa educated person can get a job in any government office without going through the secular education system. Can India afford to have fundamentalists in government departments? Why cannot the government shut down Madrassas and let Muslim children study with the rest?
2) Our Government has given 25 lakh scholarships ONLY to minority students.
What sin have the majority done not to deserve these?
Why cannot poor students of all communities be given scholarships instead of only Muslim children?
3) Thanks to the Congress led Government, out of 36000 temples in Andhra Pradesh, 28000 have closed down in the last five years. Do you want the same trend to continue in other parts of the country? Do you want a Nagaland type of situation in the whole of India? While government controls most of the Hindu temples, the minority community has had full freedom to organize their religious bodies. The minority communities now have the first right over resources. Is this not a blatant violation of fundamental rights of the majority community?
4) Why have the minorities in Nagaland, Mizoram & Kashmir not got the similar privileges like the minorities in other states? Why is the Govt following different rules for different religions?
C) Is this government really making friends or enemies for India ?
Thanks to a weak and visionless foreign policy, India has created enemies all around. By the Home Minister’s own admission : “India is surrounded by a circle of fire”. Rajiv Gandhi’s vision of a powerful “SAARC” is now defunct.
1) Today, India commands little respect from all its neighbours, despite being the largest democracy in the world.
2) Terrorism has engulfed the country from inside and outside. Of course Pakistan,the motherland of international terrorism continues to be a big threat.
3) China has territorial ambitions on India.
4) Nepal, is now being headed by a Maoist government and is ideologically more aligned to China. While India helped to dismantle the dynastic rule in Nepal our own Government surreptitiously supports dynastic rule within its own party.
5) Myanmar is increasingly aligning with Chinese forces with huge Chinese investments in that region.
6) Indian Policies in Srilanka have made Tamil Nadu burn. Will Tamils ever forgive India for encouraging military assault rather than facilitating peaceful dialogue on their north and north east regions.
7) Bangladesh continues to repeatedly aid and abet terrorism.
D) Is this Government really pro-poor?
The number of people living below the poverty line has increased by a horrifying 20 per cent. India had some 270 million people below the poverty line in 2004-2005, when the present Government took office. That number has gone up by 55 million, or 20 per cent!
E) Does this Government really care about the nation?
The Pakistani flag is now being hoisted in five districts of states like Assam where the Muslim population has gone up significantly. 92000 Hindu and 6000 Christians are now languishing in refugee camps. The government has turned a blind eye to this.
In the name of security, innocent people have been put in jails, whereas people like Yaasin Malik who has 23 murder charges on him, are moving Scot free and gathering their own strength. Is it acceptable to any patriotic Indian?
Can the Congress led UPA promise a non-muslim CM in J&K ? Reservation for a Hindu student in Nagaland ? If so, we wholeheartedly support them. Otherwise they should sit at home the next few years and rethink their policies.
Can our politicians stop stooping down to any lengths just for money and power ? Like Mr.Sharad Pawar, who first ditched the Congress and then ditched the people and aligned back with the Congress, just to be in power.
Don’t be deceived. What appears to be communal is not communal, and what appears to be secular is not secular. It is time we change our thinking.
Stand up for this most tolerant and ancient civilization and prevent this great nation from becoming a communal battleground. As citizens of India we must vote for change.