[Reader-list] Pratibha Patil's "views" on Purdah system

[Yousuf]

End the veil system: Pratibha 
Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: 

Rajasthan Governor and UPA Presidential candidate
Pratibha Patil on Sunday left historians and Muslim
social activists astounded by her remarks that the
purdah (veil) system was introduced in India to
protect women from Mughal aggressors. 

Addressing a function marking the 467th birth
anniversary of Maharana Pratap at the Nagar Parishad
Auditorium in Udaipur, Ms. Patil said though Indian
culture always respected women, the veil system began
during the Mughal rule to "save women from Mughal
invaders." 

Ms. Patil said: "Today we are citizens of free India.
There is need to put a stop to such practices. That
alone will ensure real respect for women. When women
are progressing in every field, it is our duty to
discontinue such practices." 

Historians said the veil system was prevalent much
before the Mughal invasion. "There is evidence of
construction of separate `zanana' chambers for women
in the Chittaurgarh fort in the 11th century," said
Varsha Joshi of the Institute of Rajasthan Studies. 

Dr. Joshi said women were not allowed to take part in
the coronation ceremonies of Rajput rulers, and they
were mostly confined to home. "To argue that purdah
started because of Mughals amounts to taking a very
narrow view of history." 


State president of Jamat-e-Islami Hind Mohammed Salim
said the opinion that women adopted the veil because
of the fear of Mughal rulers reflected the distorted
view of history taken by the Sangh Parivar. "It is
unfortunate that Ms. Patil found the communal forces'
views convincing enough to incorporate them in her
address." 

"Factually incorrect" 


The State secretary of the All-India Milli Council,
Abdul Qayoom Akhtar, said Ms. Patil's remarks were
"factually incorrect and historically untenable." 

"We have been listening to such comments in the false
propaganda of Sangh Parivar earlier. It is surprising
that Ms. Patil has chosen to agree with the Sangh's
line of thinking," he said. 

However, Congress spokesperson Param Navdeep,
contacted by The Hindu, defended Ms. Patil's remarks,
saying they should be seen in the light of the life
and times of the erstwhile Mewar ruler. "There should
be no controversy about it. It is an established fact
that women were the target of aggression during the
Mughal rule," she said. 




       
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