I have often heard that it is our “obscene system of seclusion” that obstructs our development. When I meet with highly educated sisters face-to-face, they often tell me to give up the “burka.” But what is this thing we call development? Does it dwell only outside the burka? If that is the case, then are we to understand that fishwives, hide-tanners, and corpse-clearers are more developed than us?
Yet it is our belief that there is no excessive conflict between seclusion and development. A high level of education is of course necessary for development. Some say that a high level of education necessarily requires relinquishing purdah and attending a university for FA or BA examinations. This is not such bad reasoning. Why? Is it impossible for there to be a self-governed university and women examiners for us? We can still keep going even if there is no such arrangement and no knowledge that earns a grade.
The system of seclusion is not natural – it is ethical. Animals do not have this rule. As humankind gradually became civilised, it learned many non-natural practices. For instance: it is natural to travel on foot, but mankind has produced various types of wagons, palanquins, and suchlike for the advantage of human transportation. It is natural to swim across a pond, but mankind has produced all sorts of watercraft. With their aid, even those who cannot swim may traverse the great oceans. The women’s inner quarters are themselves a product of the results of this “non-natural” human civilization.
The uncivilised peoples of the world live in a semi-naked state. We learn from history that in the past the uncivilised Britons lived in a semi-naked state. Prior to this semi-naked state, they daubed their bodies with paint! As they gradually became civilised, they learned the usage of clothing.
Now, vaingloriously civilised European ladies and Brahmo Samaj sisters go all over the place entirely covered up except for their faces. And the Muslims of various countries (when they go outside the home) have brought to this mode of covering a full (perfect) development by adding one more cloth screen (burka) for the face itself! Those who do not use the burka cover their heads with a veil.
Some object to the burka by calling it heavy. But the comparison has revealed that our burka is no heavier than the gigantic hats worn by Englishwomen.
For us, purdah signifies that which is undisclosed, a covered body, et cetera – not just remaining within the four walls of women’s quarters. And we call insufficient covering of the body “be-purdah.” There are women who appear before their maidservants in a semi-naked state indoors. By contrast, when they depart fully clothed outdoors, to the marketplace, they observe correct purdah.
In the present era, our European sisters have ascended to the very limits of civilisation; who can say they do not have purdah? No one can enter their bedchambers or even their sitting rooms without permission. Is this a reprehensible system? Of course not. But unlike Europeans, the sisters of this country who relinquish purdah to imitate English civilization have neither a personal bedchamber (bedroom privacy) nor the burka like us!
Some have said, “As anyone who has seen it knows, it is a ridiculous thing to cover a lovely body from head to toe with a hideous kind of veil such as the burka and dress up like some bizarre being” – and so on! That’s right! But it is our belief that no respectable woman wishes to attract hordes of gawkers as she waits on a railway platform. Therefore it is no loss if we arouse the contempt of onlookers by dressing as an unsightly creature. Well-bred womenfolk will instead think it discreditable to attract crowds of public spectators with the sight of a lovely face.
English conventions of decorum (etiquette) teach us this: that gentlewomen should wear unostentatious (simple) clothing. In particular, when out walking on foot they ought not to wear dazzlingly glamorous outfits.
If going out to keep an invitation, etc., womenfolk usually make use of their most excellent outfits and precious jewellery. A plain (simple) burka is essential to keep those lovely garments hidden from the sight of coachmen, footmen, and others when disembarking the carriage. If travelling by train, a veil or a burka is necessary to protect oneself from the public gaze.
From time to time my European sisters also ask me, “Why don’t you break off purdah?” So annoying! Can humanity actually give up purdah? They understand purdah merely to signify staying in the inner quarters. If they only realized that they themselves cannot do without purdah (i.e. privacy) then they would never talk like this. Their clothing clearly does not completely observe purdah – the evening dresses are especially objectionable. Yet this is still better than the one insubstantial sari so many women wear.
Then there is the issue of abandoning the inner quarters – we fail to understand what development there would be in leaving the inner quarters. The aforementioned independent women themselves have another form of inner quarter in the shape of their bedchambers.
In sum, we can see that every civilised people has some form of seclusion system. What distinction would remain between humans and animals in the absence of a seclusion system? We cannot comprehend the intention of those who say that such a salutary system of seclusion is “obscene.”
Civilisation itself has extended purdah in the world. Formerly, people would simply fold their letters and send them off; now they cover their letters with an envelope. Peasants do not cover their rice dishes; by contrast, civilised people put their multiple food containers on a large tray and cover them with a special lid; the yet-more-civilised cover each dish with an individual lid. We could give many more examples of this kind, such as tablecloths, bedcovers, pillowcases, etc.
Our sisters still walk barefoot today, while their own relatives, well-educated (enlightened) sisters, now cover their feet with the shoes and socks of civilisation. Gloves were eventually produced to cover the hands. It is thus evident that there is no conflict between civilisation and a system of seclusion.
Yet every rule does have its limits. In this country, our system of seclusion has become far too harsh. For instance, unmarried girls are compelled to observe purdah even in the company of women! For fear of a female neighbour’s imminent visit, a nine-year-old girl cannot go into the yard. Their health is damaged by always being imprisoned like this in some corner of the house. Secondly, the quality of their education is harmed. Since they may not see anyone besides the closest of family relatives, from whom will they learn? The unreasonable purdah of a new bride is also worth mentioning. For the first few months after marriage they are made to live as ornamented “dumb manikins”! Those who have suffered bodily through this kind of artificial blind-mute state will know just what it is like! It is said that once upon a time the new bride of a well-born family happened to be stung on the back by a scorpion – it was agonising. She bore it in silence! At the time of the ritual bath on the third day, the other women were dismayed to see the wound on her back! The old women of today make this bride a praiseworthy model! The scorpion was probably not very poisonous!
In any case, all this artificial purdah must be made more moderate. In many families, the womenfolk do not mingle with anyone except their closest kin. Because they are unable to mix with diverse kinds of women, they exist exactly like the famous proverb’s frog in a well. It would be good to multiply interactions between inhabitants of the inner quarters. We must continually encounter people of every social class in the way that men do. Of course, we will mix only with those we recognize as courteous and civil – no matter what their professed religion (Jewish, Christian, idol-worshippers or whatever). We really must abandon this observance of purdah with women of “alien faiths.” Our religion is not so fragile that it will be destroyed upon contact with women of other religious affiliations – what reason for this kind of fear?
We will relinquish unjust purdah and retain needful purdah. We have no objection to going outdoors in a headcover (aka burka) when necessary. The burka can come with us even when we go to improve our health through excursions in the mountains. Wearing a burka presents no inconvenience for movement. Of course that takes a little practice, but can anything be achieved without practice?
The burka is usually quite coarse in appearance. It will have to be made a bit better-looking (fine). It is urgent to develop the burka just as shoes and clothing have gradually developed in quality. That helpless item (the burka) came to this land from far-off Arabia – would we ascend the utmost heights of development if we abruptly deported it back?
We have of late become listless, anxious-minded, and fainthearted; this is not because we remain in seclusion – it is a lack of education. How our mental faculties have withered with this absence of enlightenment. The faintheartedness of womankind has gradually been passed on to young boys. When a five-year-old boy sees his mother faint at the sight of an insect, will he not think that a bug really is a terrifying thing?
Here I must add that the blame for passing out at the sight of maggots and insects is not simply our own. The highly civilised ladies of England are not without fault. In the book Gulliver’s Travels, we find an account of Doctor Gulliver’s terrified exploration of Brobdingnag’s agricultural areas. A Brobdingnagian lifts Gulliver in his hand to show him to his wife! On seeing Doctor Gulliver, the Brobdingnagian woman lets out a fearful scream in exactly the same way an Englishwoman would when petrified by an insect, a maggot, or a spider!! Because the Brobdingnagian giantess thinks the doctor is some kind of tiny worm! So the dread of bugs does not disappear even in those who have abandoned purdah!
To eliminate the dread of insects we need true enlightenment – through which the brain and mind will be developed (cultured). If we do not receive a higher level of education, society will not develop either. So long as we are not at the same level as men in the intellectual sphere, the hope of development is mere futility. We will have to exercise knowledge in all its forms.
Lacking education, we have become incapable of gaining independence. Because we have become incapable, we have lost independence. To preserve their petty self-interest, blinkered men have forever cheated us of education. Forward-looking brothers are now able to understand that this harms and oppresses them too. They are busying themselves to awaken and uplift. I have said this before: “Men and women are two parts of a single reality. If you abandon one part, the other is incapable of development.” I say this again and will repeat it a hundred times if necessary.
I now humbly submit this to my brothers – take the money they lavish to ornament their daughters in jewellery of gold and pearls and try to use it to adorn them with the beauty of knowledge. The satisfaction of reading a single book filled with wisdom is more than a hundred times greater than the pleasure of putting on ten pieces of jewellery. It is thus necessary to let go of body-beautifying decoration and extend women’s desires to the benefits of knowledge’s beauty. Here is a priceless ornament –
Thieves cannot take it by plunder,
Kinfolk cannot divide it,
In being given it diminishes not,
So it is said that knowledge is the greatest treasure
I add a few more lines to this:
Fire cannot burn it,
Waters cannot drown it,
Eternally indestructible, this priceless gem –
This grace remains with you lifelong.
So I say let the money for jewelry be used to set up schools for girls. But I am not confident that my sisters will easily abandon their jewellery for the benefits of school like this. It is sad to say – it seems my sisters have been counted as a species of domestic property! So just as a table is adorned with petals, curtains are adorned with garlands of flowers, beads, or other such things, a woman-householder thinks it essential to adorn her daughter-in-law with heaps of ornaments! Our brothers have still not given up the mockery of sometimes calling us “a kind of rack for storing gold and silver.” Then again, “thieves do not listen to moral parables!”
However that may be, purdah is still not a stumbling-block on the path of knowledge. At present we lack women teachers. If we fill this lack and have self-governed schools and colleges, we can obtain the benefits of a higher education and observe the rules of purdah. It is possible that no Muslim will advance into the educational field if we move below the level of purdah needed.
My hope is that now our highly educated sisters will be able to understand that on the whole the burka is not such a bad thing.
Excerpted with permission from ‘Burka’ in Spider-Mother: The Fiction and Politics of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, translated from the Bengali by Ben Baer, illustrations by Chitra Ganesh, Warbler Press.
