Turkey’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of two different measure that will ease the ban on wearing hijab in Universities. It voted 403-107 for providing equal treatment to all citizens from state institutions and 403-108 for providing access to everyone to higher education.
Headscarf ban has been an emotive issue in Turkey where an authoritarian secular military and judiciary is pitted against a powerful observant middle-class. The fight has been played in Turkish University campuses and courts and spilled over to the European courts too.
In October 2006 the European Court of Human Rights upheld the university ban, rejecting a complaint filed by a Turkish university student. Earlier, in June 2004, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against a petition by a Turkish student who was banned in 1998 for wearing a headscarf at Istanbul University. In 2000, a court in Turkey sentenced Nuray Bezirgan to six months jail for “obstructing the education of others,” for wearing a headscarf at her college final exams, which led to disturbances. [Wikipedia]
On the face of it lifting of headscarf ban seems a no-brainer. Most western nations allow their citizens and students this liberty. While the ban was in place in Turkey, women who wanted to wear headscarves either discontinued higher education or went to western countries to study. As a matter of fact, daughters of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan studied in USA to get around the ban. So, shouldn’t women be allowed to dress the way they want to, even if it is a religious dress, since other women have the freedom not to do so?
The issue looks simple but is it? Opponents of lifting of ban argue that it is yet another step for the Islamic leaning AKP to turn Turkey into an Islamic state. And they don’t have to go far to find examples. Neighbor Iran is a great example where women are forced to wear headscarves. Across Persian Gulf is Saudi Arabia where not only women can’t travel without a mehram (guardian) but they are not allowed to drive. 15 young girls died in 2002 in a fire when the religious police prevented them to be rescued because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress. Obviously some fears of secularists in Turkey seem to be far-fetched but it is difficult not to sympathize with them with such horrendous examples existing nearby.
Then there are subtle subtexts in this debate. What would you call headscarves? Islamic dress. Then by default the women without headscarves suddenly start adorning “un-Islamic” dress. As the number of hijabis increases in the campus, there is a definite danger of being seen these non-hijabis as deviant. I have seen it happen in the conservative Muslim campus I went to in India where wearing jeans for girls was a taboo. Then there is the whole issue of the type of hijab. What if women want to cover their face too? What if they cover their eyes? What if a professor wears it? A lot of European states are grappling with the problem unable to find a common ground.
In this blogger’s opinion, this is a complex issue that can’t be solved by constitutional amendments or judicial interventions only. Already there is a talk of challenging these amendments in courts. Turkey has resisted a free-wheeling debate on the issues for many years but it is inevitable now. Ultimately it has to be the Turkish society that will decide the direction it takes. Democracy in Turkey, even though skewed towards the military with overdose of secularism, is still seen as an example to emulate by many across the world. The onus is on the proponents of lifting of ban to allay the fears of secularists that it is a legitimate case of freedom of expression and not a step of towards turning Turkey into an Islamic state. Any attempt to dilute the secular character of Turkey will further exacerbate the Islam-West hyphenation.
Photo: Statue Of Attaturk
Mohib,
I think this is relgious freedom ensured by the government, and that they have made the right move.
So the Turkish government is moving in the right direction; but one must hope they continue to do so – if there is freedom for Muslim women to wear headscarves, there also has to be freedom to build a church and preach the Bible, or to build a mandir for that matter. And freedom to speak Kurdish, etc. ,etc. And no tolerance of attempts on the part of various Islamist groups to suppress the freedom of other religions.
Since, at least per my understanding, most Turkish women DO prefer to wear the headscarf, those who do not want to, must be protected from societal pressure to dress in a way that they do not want to. That would be minority rights, essential to democracy.
I think it’s too early to tell how this will play out. If they purse democratic reforms that are even-handed towards all, that’s really great. If they pursue democratic reforms only because they want to benefit Islam, but don’t apply the same democratic standards to those of other viewpoints, then the fears of the secularists will have proven to be justified. So, let’s see what happens.
In the U.S., the response to this move has been a positive one.
i dont understand the big deal about this really!! This was a step in the right direction and long overdue! Before people look at it from a secular or a religious perspective..they need to understand one thing – whether wearing the hijab is oppression or an act of freedom depends only one thing- whether people are forced to wear it or whether people are given the choice!! I think a ban on hijab is the same as the Iranian govt or Saudi govt which forces women to wear hijab..because now they are forcing people to NOT wear hijab!
It should totally be upto the woman whether she wants to wear it or not and the state should not intervene!! So this lift on the ban is a step towards democracy and freedom!
Cover Heads, Not Brains
If headscarves were a hindrance in the progress of women, Bahrain’s golden girl Ruqaya Al Ghasara, who competes in a body-covering suit and a scarf, would not have won a historic gold medal at the Doha Asian Games. Hijab never held back the 24-year-old sprinter. In fact, she says it makes her even quicker, encourages her and is not an obstacle.
There is no question of headscarves hampering women’s growth. Women who cover up are progressing in every walk of life. In the Muslim world, doctors, professors, bankers, journalists and even driving instructors go about their jobs with heads covered.
It is hardly understandable why the powerful Turkish army is so touchy about the issue. Turkey, where one sees a seamless amalgamation of the East and the West, has 98 per cent Muslim population and it is ridiculous to note that the country’s prime minister had to work so hard to have the draconian ban on headscarves in educational institutions removed.
That the Turks democratically elected a devout prime minister and a religious president was a clear indication that the nation wanted to practise its religion and hijab is part of it. The die-hard fans of Kemal Ataturk must realise that the times have changed. Lifting the ban is merely a question of individual liberty. Cultural and religious freedoms cannot be suppressed.
It was all the more important to do away with the unfortunate ban in Turkey as it barred thousands of women in hijab from getting higher education. It was appalling to note that hundreds of covered teachers had been suspended or fired.
In the name of secularism, the Turkish military imposed the ban as a barrier to the misconceived threat from Islam. Accommodating different forms of religious headgear does not suggest that the state endorses any particular religion.
Restrictions on women’s attire violate international human rights standards, and have repeatedly been criticised by Human Rights Watch. In the field of education, this ban undercuts individual autonomy and choice, a fundamental aspect of women’s rights.
Secularism also thrives in India, the largest democracy in the world. And no one dares to stop a head-covering woman from taking any office there. Former premier Indira Gandhi used to cover her head with her saree. So does the UPA chief Sonia Gandhi. Former governor of Tamil Nadu, Justice Fatima Biwi, kept her head covered with her pallu. Even the controversial BJP stalwart, Mata Vijayaraje Scindia, who advocated sati system, was never seen with head uncovered.
Almost all religions encourage women to cover heads in one way or another.
Sikhs believe that the head of every person is god. It is a must for men and women in gurudwaras to keep heads covered as a token of respect to their holy book Guru Granth Sahib and the gurus. Catholic nuns dress like they’re wearing hijab. Mary, the mother of Jesus, (peace be upon them both) is always depicted in Christian art with her hair covered. Until the 1960s, it was obligatory for Catholic women to cover their heads in church. Some Christians cover only in church or while praying; others cover their heads all the time. They refer to 1 Corinthians 11 (or custom) as the basis for their practice. When Pope Benedict held an audience with Laura Bush recently, the head of America’s first lady was covered.
Principally, the Jewish religion requires married women to cover their hair – they could uncover it only before their husbands – and it is not important what the covering is. Talmud and Midrash created rules for Jewish women to cover their hair as part of religious observation. By the Middle Ages Jewish women largely conformed to the custom of hair covering.
Traditional Hindu women cover their heads and at least partly obscure their faces in the company of unrelated adult males. Sometimes veiling is accomplished with a loose end of the saree, and sometimes it is done with dupatta (scarf). (Women should cover their head with their sarees and only then do Namaskar – Apastamb Dharmasutra 1.4.14.19) It is not for nothing that a large number of African women and almost all Russian and Central Asian women wear headscarves. Women with covered heads discourage street Romeos. Hijab automatically sends out the message that the woman is not “available.” It also helps a woman hide her physical attributes (or the lack of them).
Do headscarves pose a threat to public safety, health, order, or morals? No! Do they impinge on the rights of others? No! Are they inherently dangerous or disruptive of order and undermine the educational function? No! Headscarves only add to the grace and gravity of women. Covering brains is highly dangerous, while covering heads is completely harmless.