Dawoodi Bohras are a Shia
sect who settled down in India primarily in Gujarat. Significant numbers of
Bohras live in Yemen, Pakistan and East Africa. Large numbers also live in
Europe, USA & Sri Lanka. The community itself is small numbering 10 lakhs
[1 million] or thereabouts. One feature of the community is that they have a
leader. He is the 'Da`I al-Mutlaq' or
'Syedna', the sovereign leader of the Dawoodi Bohras and guardian of the Fatemi 'D`awah' (religious mission). He
is the religious leader, temporal guide and both spiritual father and mother to
the community
I am reasonably
familiar with Bohras. By some curious twist not only have I had Bohras friends
from school since 1970, but, over the years almost all my advisors have been
Bohras. Two of my 1st standard friends, my architect, my accountant,
my financial guide, my jeweler, the guy who maintains my web domain; are all
Bohras. . !
As is the case
everywhere, my Bohra friend come in all shades of orthodoxy or conservativism
or tradition. Some are “full on” with prayers many times a day, beards and caps
and strictly maintain dietary restrictions. They attend many community
religious gatherings and, of course, fast thru Ramzan. Others are more relaxed and
pick and choose from the large plate of Bohra orthodoxy at will. Still others
are “emancipated” almost totally, enjoying a sausage, glass of white wine and
an after-dinner cigarette. “Emancipation” too has facets with some abjuring
pork or not smoking and otherwise being totally unreligious and without wearing a beard or cap.
By and large the Bohras
have been a peace-loving community and have been widely accepted in the
mainstream. There was a period during the 1970’s and early 1980’s when a
reformist movement was started. From what I understand this movement protested new
diktats that said all properties owned
by Bohras (including mosques) belonged to
the Syedna. However, this movement lost steam and a fragile equilibrium was
once again in place.
Over the years,
especially with the rise of fundamentalism, and, following the death of the
previous Syedna with the new Syedna taking over, the Bohras have become
somewhat more aggressive, and there has been a rise in fundamentalism. At
least, their version of fundamentalism.
I am aware that I have
used the word “Fundamentalism”. Many would like to use the word “Orthodox”. I
tried to find what each meant and came across this rather good explanation. It
says that “Fundamentalism is orthodoxy gone cultic.”
The following passage,
in my mind, beautifully bring out the difference. It is used in context of
Christianity, but, the principles are absolutely rock solid. My Bohra readers
will understand this in a flash. Concepts of social ostracization are as old as
the hills and have been used consistently:
“Fundamentalism is (among other things): adding
secondary and even tertiary beliefs to basic Christian orthodoxy as NECESSARY
for authentic Christian identity (e.g., premillennialism, biblical inerrancy,
young earth creationism), insisting that salvation depends on belief in a long
list of doctrines including ones NOT PART OF basic Christian orthodoxy, and
refusing Christian fellowship with other Christians who are “doctrinally
polluted” or “doctrinally impure” because they do not believe everything on the
fundamentalists’ long list of essential doctrines.”
In recent years,there
has been a fair deal of disquiet in the Bohra community over the practice of
Female Genital Mutilation [FGM]. Suddenly you had reports that this was being
done. Reports of doctors in the USA being arrested as they had performed FGM on
young girls in USA. Similar reports from Australia. Further reports referring
to an organization calling itself the Dawoodi Bohra Women’s Association for
Religious Freedom [DBWRF] where the DBWRF claimed that FGM was an old and recognized
Bohra practice and stopping it would impinge on their religious freedom. Here is a link to the DBWRF website.
Over 9th to
11th July 2018, there has been a lot of reportage in the press
relating to the practice of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM]. A Public Interest
Petition was filed by Sunita Tiwari in the Supreme Court seeking directions
that FGM should be declared unlawful and should not be permitted. The Petition
is aimed squarely at the Bohras. If you like, you could read the Petition here. Reading it made my skin crawl.
Reading reports of what
transpired during the hearing of the Petition made me sick and angry.
First, what amazes me
is the stand of the DBWRF. This organization consists of women who insist that
FGM should be performed on women! This really beats me hollow. As a woman
should you not be outraged by FGM. To inflict it on a child, and to insist that
you have the right to so inflict it, is frankly, beyond the pale for me. Not
that I would in any way agree nor would my stand change, but if it were a male
dominated organization demanding FGM because in their twisted logic it may keep
their wives in check, I would have thought that it is somewhat in tune with today’s
fundamentalist times. But a women’s organization demanding the right to perform
FGM. Sigh!
Second, what in
retrospect does not come as a surprise to me, is the fact that Abhishek Manu
Singhvi appeared for the DBWRF in the Supreme Court asking for the DBWRF to be added
to the Petition so that the stand of the DBWRF could be made clear. For those
who do not know, Abhishek Manu Singhvi is a Senior Counsel and a senior member
of the Congress Party. Thus, in effect, the Congress supports what the DBWRF
stand for. I know that every liberal will be up in arms reading my conclusion
regarding the Congress stand. However, in this case, they will find it
difficult to justify how the Congress could support this. Actually, if you do
read the papers, or follow social media [the home of every liberal who is
permanently outraged] you will find little or no reaction to this. They have
gone silent. The "middia", by which I mean TV with its daily screaming matches of Nikah Halala, Triple Talaq and Sharia Law have nothing to say on this matter.
The Congress stand, is, as
I written earlier, not surprising. It is almost certain that the Congress will
run to defend every attempt at impinging rights of the Muslims. Frankly, there
is nothing wrong in this approach, but doing it unthinkingly or as a simple
knee jerk reaction is what is sad. I cannot believe that outlawing FGM would do
any harm, while if the practice is allowed to continue, it can only be a gross
wrong. There are several instances when the Muslims have been truly oppressed,
and many more will occur in future. The Congress should join those Petitions.
Why this one?
It is possible, thought
very sad if true, that the Congress has decided to join this Petition on behalf
of the DBWRF [basically an organ of the Syedna] to curry favour with the
Bohras. You may recall that in the early days of PM Narendra Modi’s foreign
travels, especially in the UK & USA the Bohras were distinctly seen in
their caps and beards, forming a significant part of the audience. Joining this
litigation may be a cut your nose to spite your face attempt by the Congress to curry favour
with the Bohras.
I am also surprised at
the line of arguments taken by the DBWRF and consequently their counsel
Singhvi. This may be a bit technical but stay with me for a moment. The prayer
in the Petition is as under
Directing the respondents [That is the Union of
India among others] to place a complete ban on the illegal and inhuman practice
of Female Genital Mutilation or Khatna, as the same being violative of the
fundamental rights
including Articles 14 & 21 and Article 39 (directive principles of state
policy) of the Constitution of India.
The DBWRF has instructed
Singhvi to argue among other things, and I quote from the DBWRF website; that:
“Khafz/Female Circumcision as
practised by the Dawoodi Bohra community is not Female Genital Mutilation and
is completely different from Female Genital Mutilation, which is condemned by
the Dawoodi Bohra community;
Now, if the submission
of the DBWRF extracted above is to be taken at face value, what possible
objection could the DBWRF have if the Supreme Court grants the prayers and
declares FGM illegal. The DBWRF contends that what they do is not FGM.
This case is yet to
conclude.
I sincerely hope that
the Petition is allowed and made absolute as we lawyers say, and, FGM is
consigned to the garbage bin.
