The social upliftment of Muslim women has never been one of the prime importance to the politics of the country or to even the so-called social reformers of the society who talks so much about the minority’s rights in India. But why is this so? Why does no Muslim wants to talk about their women and their rights? We all know about how Triple Talaq has been scraped from our society as a law but did it really help any Muslim women in the real upliftment of their lives and eradication of their problems? Is it something to do with their social system? Well, no one really knows about these answers in real as Muslim women still lead a very covert and deprived life away from social connections and progress. Barring a few who either belonged to such strata that helped them grow or those who dared to break norms of society have been able to found their real identity in society, we don’t know about their challenges which they must have faced in gasping the breath in their struggle.
Does society not require the participation of these Muslim women? In our country and especially in Hindu religion a woman is believed to be Laxmi and undoubtedly she is. A capable, educated and independent woman not only strengthens the house but also provides strength to the country. Now just imagine if society takes care of its women, how much they can add to the GDP of the country. This holds exactly true for Muslim women too who if given a chance can be of real strength to the country both economically and emotionally.
So, what holds them back? There could be two reasons to it i.e. preconditioning of Muslim women right from their childhood or too many imposed restrictions on them at the name of religion and social norms. If someone is made to believe the same concept every single day of his life and the same rules of living and leading life then the chances of him realizing the real objective of his existence fade away completely. Such is the case of Muslim society and thus of Muslim women. For their entire lives, they are being conditioned to follow religious rules at the name of Shariat which (even if we ignore) are proving to be hazardous for their growth but to their health as well that is at least her basic right. Not just this, even the law of Halala nikah is nothing but a perverse act that costs her self respect and dignity.
It is now the high time for the candlelight marchers, intellectuals or leftist groups who pretend so much to be worrying about Muslim lives and leave no stone unturned to run hashtags like #muslimlivesmatter should indeed stop using Muslims to their advantage and rather run campaigns like #muslimwomenlivesmatter to show their real concern towards them. They should rather stop using Nanis and Dadis of Shaheen Bagh for their protests who are now of an age to sit at home and take care of their health and children. Infact their acts and agendas completely lacks the compassion required towards these Muslim women. I am afraid if any one of them can come forward with one such campaign but they must also realize that there is no such hope that exists even for the future to grow at the desired pace without any social reforms in the lives of Muslim women.