The politics over burqa is needless. One, Sri Lanka has taken a decision and it has every reason to. In fact, nearly 300 reasons if the death count in the recent serial bombings in the island nation are counted as reasons.
Three hundred is a huge number and if Sri Lanka thinks banning the ‘Niqab’ will help it thwart terrorists, so be it. For the Shiv Sena to ask for a blanket ban on the burqa in India is ridiculous. It has given the BJP one more reason to tom-tom its election slogan of ‘Majboot Sarkar’ and link it with ‘Majboot borders’.
True, terrorism is an evolving scourge and terrorists prefer to be as anonymous as any ordinary citizen, especially when they are on the prowl or when they set out to execute their nefarious deeds. The burqa is probably the best cover a person can wear to escape detection pre- and post-execution of a terrorist activity. But when terrorists come with explosive-belts to blow themselves up, then the burqa itself becomes a weapon!
Of course, then, wearing a ‘niqab’ does not matter. The fidayeen can keep the face uncovered and still carry out a fidayeen attack. The suicide bombing to death of Rajiv Gandhi did not have the fidayeen wearing a niqab. Her face was plain to see for everyone who set eyes on her, but nobody saw the explosive-belt Dhanu had strapped round her middle! In the Sri Lanka serial bombings, the suicide bombers walked in faces uncovered but shouldered backpacks with IEDs in them.
There is CCTV footage showing them walking into church and hotel with their faces plain for the world to see. In any case, when bombing a Christian church only an idiot terrorist will walk into the church dressed up in an Islamist burqa. And terrorists are not stupid. If anybody can build a bomb from scratch and keep the enterprise a secret than that bloke will have enough grey cells to hide a dozen sleeper cells.
The Shiv Sena is to the BJP what the explosive belt is to the fidayeen. The Sena is the explosive, the improvised explosive device that the Parivaar uses to drive its Hindutva agenda. Don’t forget the whole Ram Mandir thing was just months ago brought to the fore when the Shiv Sena challenged Narendra Modi to ‘Mandir Wahin Bannao’ or to face the music in Ayodhya and general elections 2019!
In fact, Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray went to Ayodhya to give force to the cry first voiced in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna. This time, too, with the ‘burqa’, it’s a similar modus operandi. A Sena editorial in Saamna! The editorial “welcomes the decision to ban the niqab or face veil” in Sri Lanka and demands that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “follow in its footsteps and ban burqa in India”; that Modi should take a decision in the “national interest.”
“It has happened in Ravana’s Sri Lanka. When will it happen in Ram’s Ayodhya? We’re asking this question as Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Ayodhya today,” the editorial said, adding that Sri Lanka President Maithripala has “shown courage” by making “wearing burqa in public places a crime.” But it seems, despite the goading and the inherent praise in the editorial, Narendra Modi is not prepared to take the risk in the middle of elections.
The Sena sought to egg Modi on to take the risk by linking banning the burqa to Modi’s claim to fame and success. Noting that there were no Mahatma Jyotirao Phule or Shahu Maharaj in the Muslim community, the Sena editorial said, “So, it has worked in favour of whimsical leaders like Shahabuddin, Azam Khan, Owaisi brothers and Abu Azmi. If such religious practices and traditions are coming in the way of national security, then they must be ended.”
Knowing that Modi is a glutton for praise, somebody who talks about himself in the third person and gloats about his achievements, the Saamna editorial concluded with these gems: “Modi needs to do all. It is an equally courageous work, like the surgical strike!” But, hey, wait. If we’re not mistaken, there were Sena leaders who took pot-shots at the surgical strikes when they were first announced!
Sushil Kutty is a freelance journalist. Views are personal.
