There was no dearth of liberals in India in the past, and for that matter even now. But before we begin, we need to understand the concept of ‘liberalism’ or whom we can call liberals. There is a popular misconception among my friends regarding this. They tend to call each and every atheist person a liberal which is basically a fallacy. A theist person too can be a liberal with an attitude to examine any social phenomenon using rational temperament. Thus anyone who is able to think without any prejudices and draw an unbiased conclusion can be called a liberal.
Liberals in any society have their own role to play whenever there is an impasse. We have seen that almost all the movements in human history that broke the social taboos and stigmas to create a milieu of equality were initiated by the liberals. Even though they might not have a tag of ‘liberal’ on them, I am pretty sure they must have had the ability to think transparently and scientifically.
However, Indian liberals have remained biased when the debate around the Muslim community’s reformation arises. The way they refrain from initiating a mass movement for the rights of the Muslim community is quite surprising. For instance, Sabarimala had seen incidents of sporadic violence post the Supreme Court Verdict that allowed the entry of women of all ages.
Conservative outfits with narrow mindsets tried their best to stop the women from entering the temple, raising the concern regarding the living deity’s dissatisfaction with the entry of women into the shrine. Yet the women and the liberals fought tooth and nail to ensure the equal status for the Hindu women. Post-verdict, initiatives by the liberals encouraged women and others to stand in the same queues with the message of gender equality and justice.
But when it comes to the scrapping of an archaic practice like “Triple Talaq“, the same liberals choose to remain silent, which has resulted in the worsening of the Muslim women’s plight. None of the liberals including the ones who marched for the Hindu women on the streets with placards and banners during the Sabarimala issue supported the cause of Muslim women’s entry into the mosques.
Moreover, the practice of polygamy is still widely prevalent within the Muslim community, which degrades the status of women. They often end up killing themselves out of frustration and humiliation. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the so-called liberals of our country have apathetically turned a blind eye towards the plight of Muslim women, and the community in general. It’s time we realised that the principles of humanism and feminism transcend communities, religion, region, race, and gender.
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