Active Stocks
Mon Mar 18 2024 15:55:53
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 149.60 5.69%
  1. Tata Motors share price
  2. 972.20 2.75%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 417.40 -0.51%
  1. State Bank Of India share price
  2. 730.70 -0.18%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,082.00 0.32%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Mint-on-sunday/  Letter from... liberated Manbij
BackBack

Letter from... liberated Manbij

The world is complicated, too complicated for the simplistic philosophies of bigots

A file photo of a rebel-held town in Douma, Syria. Photo: AFPPremium
A file photo of a rebel-held town in Douma, Syria. Photo: AFP

Bigotry is not a nuanced thing. When people choose to hate other people for their race, sexual preferences, the colour of their skin, their religion and whatever else, they usually do not exercise an eye for detail. Bigots can’t tell the difference between Muslim, devout Muslim, orthodox Muslim, radical Muslim, Islamist terrorist, software engineer Hindu, pensioner Sikh and so on. The bigot can’t. 

Bigotry is not an exact science. In fact, inexactitude is fundamental to most bigotry. The moment a bigot turns a discerning eye towards the victim of his hatred, and begins to engage with him or her, he begins to undermine the cesspit of intellectual excrement whence his ideology emerges. 

This is why for bigotry to achieve scale and focus—to turn into a knife from a mallet—it requires the collusion of some form of state involvement. But even then, as we have seen at American airports recently, things fall apart spectacularly. 

The problem for bigots is that the world is much too complex for their simplistic philosophies. In fact, sometimes their bigotry is a desperate attempt to deal with the complexities of the world around them, and the inability or unwillingness of their leaders to explain this complexity to their constituents. Because ‘maybe’ is a bad word in politics. 

But you see, the world is complicated. This is because people are complicated. People don’t easily fall into the typologies that fuel simplistic discussions. 

Take the case of Muslim women and head coverings. 

Nine months ago Syrian Democratic Forces, then backed by the US, liberated villages on the outskirts of Manbij. Manbij is a city in Aleppo province that had been under ISIS control for about two years from 2014. As soon as ISIS fighters were pushed out of these villages in the middle of 2016 something happened that is quickly becoming the visual signature of a people liberated from the brutal organization’s control: women began to rip off their all-black niqabs. 

Photographer Rodi Said of Reuters snapped photos of a woman flinging off her niqab, revealing underneath a purple hijab and brilliant, life-affirming floral print dress. Videos showed women using cigarette lighters to set their niqabs on fire. 

In November last year, as part of Mosul began to be liberated from ISIS control, more such images emerged. Women took off ISIS-issue niqabs and flung them on to a fence

And then earlier this week a fresh instalment of images emerged of liberated Syrian villages. The exact location of this village appears unclear. In these videos niqabs are ripped off, set alight and then some of the older women proceed to light up cigarettes. 

Now all war-time videos always have an element of propaganda in them. Especially when the conflict is of such a multi-polar nature. 

Having said that, there is an interesting aspect to these images that highlights the problem with simplifying the way in which people, in this case Muslim women, approach their faith and the tenets of that faith. 

Each of these three sets of visuals has pictures of women being liberated from the grip of brutal ISIS control. And what do they do with that freedom? They rip off their niqabs and revel in their freedom to wear what they always did: fabulous lungi-fabric dresses and hijabs. 

But wait. Why are they wearing hijabs? Why don’t they rip them off as well? After all they are free of radical Islamic control. 

Or could it be that your definition of freedom is women never having to wear anything on their heads, while their definition of freedom is wearing whatever they want to? 

Now before you get incensed, I am not suggesting that Muslim women are free everywhere to wear whatever they want. That would be a ludicrous assertion to make. But I am suggesting that a hijab is not a niqab is not a burkha is not a chador is not an al amira is not a shayla is not a khimar. 

And wearing any of these things does not automatically suggest that these women are objects of oppression or representatives of oppressive cultures. In the same way that women in Thrissur who never wear anything but polyester sarees even when it is the 42 degrees in the shade are not all oppressed. (Though some of them no doubt wish they could just wear denim hotpants and a t-shirt if they could.) 

But of course, none of this is new information. Anybody who is at least partly sentient knows that judging people by the clothes they wear is nonsense. And yet many bigots do. Because this is easy. Because it absolves the bigot of having to engage with ideas, people, their characters and their value systems. 

So the bigot says, why don’t you dress like the rest of us? As if that is the problem. The bigot says, why not have a drink like the rest of us? As if that is the problem. The bigot says, why not get a job like the rest of us? As if that is the problem. 

Listen to me. The bigot will always find a reason to shoot you. 

The rest of us have to deal with a complex world with complex issues and complicated people. A few videos of villages liberated from ISIS can help though.

Letter From... is Mint on Sunday’s antidote to boring editor’s columns. Each week, one of our editors—Sidin Vadukut in London and Arun Janardhan in Mumbai—will send dispatches on places, people and institutions that are worth ruminating about on the weekend. 

Comments are welcome at feedback@livemint.com

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 25 Feb 2017, 11:52 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App