Hijab and Burqa - choice and controversy || Acharya Prashant, at Delhi University (2023) - video Dailymotion

Acharya Prashant

Video Information: 31.01.2023, Hansraj College, Delhi  Context: ~ The Hijab controversy  ~ Is Hijab a cultural imposition or freedom of expression? ~ Is Hijab essential to Islam?  ~ Is Hijab an expression of identity or religion? ~ Can government decide what women should wear?   Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~  #acharyaprashant

Transcript

00:00Good evening sir, myself Nehu and I am doing my bachelors from Delhi University itself.

00:08So my question is recently there were huge protest going on in Iran against the imposition

00:15of hijab. There were many, many, many who talk about hijab as an imposition over women

00:23while others including women consider it that it should be their right of choice that whether

00:31they accept it or not. Now if you look at the bigger picture, so far six European countries

00:37have completely banned hijab and the reason they stated ranges from security purposes

00:43to women's preserving their secular culture. So sir what is the right way to approach this

00:50issue?

00:52See let people have the freedom to decide what they wear. When it comes to your relationship

01:06with the other, your responsibility ends at educating the other person. You can at most

01:14educate the other person to enable her to make responsible and great choices. Are you

01:28getting it? If you are there and I am there, then what is the extent to which I can really

01:36get into your life? My limit is that I cannot dictate your actions or your choices. But

01:51my responsibility is that I must educate you so that you make good choices. Are you getting

01:59it? I must be able to educate you to make good choices. But under no condition can I

02:07force a choice upon you. Unless your choice is harmful to the society at large, then I

02:18have a local standard, then I can say what you are doing is harmful to others, so please

02:22don't do it. Otherwise nobody has the right to dictate an adult what to do, how to live,

02:33what to eat, what to wear, no. You can counsel someone, you can educate someone. If you have

02:40love, if you have compassion, with great energy, with great determination, you can counsel

02:48the other person. And if you really are so concerned about the other person, then you

02:53must educate her right since her childhood and educate her well, so that as an adult

02:59she is able to make good decisions. But educating someone is one thing and forcing a choice

03:07upon someone is a totally different thing. Are you getting it?

03:14Hijab and Burqa. Even among these two there is a distinction, you see. The hijab covers

03:23the hair, the neck and leaves the face open. The burqa is a complete naqab. From head to

03:31toe, it is supposed to cover everything, though sometimes the eyes are left open through a

03:46slit here. The burqa can be a problem, though there are countries, like even in Saudi Arabia

03:54you know, since 2018 hijab is not compulsory. Women are free to choose whether they want

04:06to wear the hijab or not. But the western countries who have a problem, their problem

04:13is mainly with the burqa. And the problem is not religious in nature, the problem is

04:20social in nature. The problem is when you are in a social setting, if you are totally

04:26covered from top to bottom, how does someone determine your identity? That's the problem.

04:34So on that ground, it might be legitimate to ban the burqa in public spaces, especially

04:42when the social conditions are not proper. But when it comes to the hijab, I do not think

04:50governments have a locust and eye, dictating adult women what to wear and what not to wear.

04:57Do you understand this? See, this is not a religious question when it comes to the burqa.

05:07It is no more a religious thing. Any miscreant can don the burqa and do whatever he pleases.

05:15The CCTV will be ineffective, the police will be handicapped, you will just not know what's

05:21going on. And it's for this reason that the Muslim community itself must consider whether

05:30hiding the entire face in public places is a wise idea. I do not think it's a good idea

05:38to be in a public place and hide your entire face. It might be a socially troublesome thing.

05:48But when it comes to the hijab, let it be the woman's choice. Let the woman decide whether

05:53she wants to reveal her hair, her body, her neck and such things. Let the woman decide.

06:00The job of the government is to educate. If you are really concerned about women, then

06:07please educate them well and then leave them free. They will decide on their own.

Hijab and Burqa - choice and controversy || Acharya Prashant, at Delhi University (2023)

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