An event –sometime ago– where reportedly, a female Union Parishad employee was terminated for not wearing the hijab, brings to the fore the issue of religious misinterpretation in Bangladesh and the attempt by a certain quarter to impose religious edicts which are dissonant to the moderate approach advocated and pursued for ages.
Also the very recent incident of a police constable insulting and physically harassing a female teacher for wearing a ‘teep’ on her forehead comes to mind. The teep is a dot in the forehead traditionally painted by all classes of females in Bangl;adesh as a sort of make-up. Females of all religious communities are seen painting teep as part of their facial make-up. Probably Hindu ladies do this more than Muslim ones. But teep is considered as a ‘common’ cultural and aesthetic expression of females regardless of their different religions in Bangladesh. The furore over the incident has been so much so that a female MP of the ruling party had to protest against the vile behavior of the police constable in parliament and demanded exemplary punishment for his high handedness.
In the above incident of the UP employee, who is also a female worker and college student, she was allegedly rebuked by the UP chairman for not covering herself with a shroud and she was described as going against the Sharia law by not doing so. While the Hijab is respected in Bangladesh it has never been made obligatory in the legal sense at public places. Thus, it remains very much a matter of individual choice where females cannot be coerced to submit to so called Sharia law overriding the laws of the land.
And there lies the core interpretation of religious values in this country that has distanced itself from forceful enforcement of religious edicts within the social sphere. However, from time to time there have been instances where, in the name of religion, abhorrent acts of medieval barbarity were committed and young people were stoned for having a relationship and mature women were paraded naked and beaten in front of people for being involved in amorous relations.
In some cases the courts stepped in at the right moment and saved the victims but other incidents were noted where radical punishments were handed out and enforced brutally by local mullahs and their blind followers , leaving a scar on the face of the otherwise sensible and law abiding people of Bangladesh.
It was reported that the woman in question was humiliated publicly over the Hijab issue and her character was brought into question because she allegedly refused to bow to relentless harassment from a relative of the UP chairman.
The whole matter is being investigated but the crux of the event is that the law and the general social environment of Bangladesh do not approve of forcing social mannerisms and this is consistent with the basic fabric of a tolerant and harmonious existence. The Hijab is worn by millions in Bangladesh and the tradition goes back centuries and, while a woman willing to wear one is accepted in general circles with open arms the same attitude should be shown also towards ones who opt to come out without it. And this is the ideology that needs to be espoused at all levels because once this moderate stance is compromised seeds of extremism and fanaticism will begin to grow recklessly like wild weeds.
A few years ago, the decision of a college in Natore to compel its students to wear the Hijab was overturned by a court with the order that no such edicts can be passed and this, above all, speak of the urge for establishing of civil liberty and individual preference in a democracy.