The 23-year-old physiotherapy student, who was gang-raped and assaulted on a moving bus on Dec. 16, is still battling for her life. This gory crime has sparked national outrage and turned Delhi into a war zone with disparate groups agitating against the horrific incident. Succumbing to the tremendous public pressure for deterrent laws against rape, the government is seeking a review of the present laws “so as to provide for speedier justice and enhanced punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault.” At present, the maximum punishment for a rape convict is life imprisonment but now the government is seriously considering the death penalty in the rarest of the rare cases of rape.
The question that comes to mind is why everyone has joined the chorus of applying that repressive draconian punishment which was once the aspect of the broader campaign against Islamic “repressive draconian rule.” I express my deep distress over the recent shocking event but caution that though the death penalty over the ghastly incident is justified but mere punishment is no solution. If Islam gives very harsh punishments for crimes like that it also dictates that women are fully covered in public realm.
After looking at the recent protests it appears that the time has come to debate the place of the veil in the modern secular society. There is a whole psychology behind this veil. It prohibits adultery, secret affairs, illegitimate children, rapes and it gives a big “no" signal to all those people who have any kind of evil in their hearts.
We need to have a public debate over covered or uncovered? Whether women dressed in handkerchief skirts and bikini blouses were appropriate role models?
The irony is that the images of sleek, bare women in Indian and Western popular media also represent a major offensive against the health of women and girls. Even if we take religion out of the debate, still we may see that Western values and sexually expressive culture put the physical and emotional health of future generations at stake all over the world. — Israrul Haque, Jeddah
