HIJAB - The Issue that needs a Re-Look from Different View Points !!

The recent spate of agitation over the Hijab or Burkha as a religio-cultural essential garment to be worn by girls and women following the dictums of Islam, has gripped the country by storm. It has become a point for discussions and debate on the television media; an opportunity to political leaders to maneuver through the elections; a set of trolls on Social Media voicing their anguish/ their rights/ their discomfort etc etc – infact it certainly is a war of words that I witness in everywhere be it in while travelling in a metro, or on train, or at the workplace, or at tea stalls at the end of the street. Each person has his own views that are floating on lines of Right to religion or on the lines of appeasement a particular community is getting or on lines of the voice of majority not being heard etc etc. But everybody is waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision. What started as a candle flame has now turned into a wild forest fire, disrupting the very peace in the minds of people.
 
While I pondered over the entire situation looking into the events that unfurled from a simple town of Udupi (known for its brahminical ways of living, Udupi Hotels known for delivering quality vegetarian food that has the taste of home, the place where Krishna showed his presence to Kanakadaasa with absolute no discrimination what so ever … the list pertaining to its history – spiritual, religious, cultural, educational etc is awesomely endless) and the agitation spreading across the whole country and beyond. Much so that other countries (leaders or commoners) are expressing their solidarity to the agitators and offering advice to our countrymen on how to deal with this situation. Well, I am not here to do a post mortem of the entire issue, but I am here to share a view to the entire world from the perspective of a common man, a working corporate person and an educationist which perhaps allows all to look at blind side that has evaded the students & all others involved in it till now.
 
When we look through the eye piece of a COMMON MAN, it should be understood that he is looking at a fully safe and secure environs for him to lead his life. He also needs to have a peaceful possession and rightful use of his property (in-case he leases it out to anyone or lives there himself). He is also concerned on the unidentifiable and unscrupulous people vandalizing his property or causing grievous harm to the life and livelihood of him and his family too. There are many elderly whose children stay in a different place or a different country – the children are constantly concerned on how his elderly parents are – their safety, their health, their well-being and their day to day activities to ensure this they set up CCTV cameras or equipment within and outside their house to monitor all alleviate their fears and concerns regarding their parents. Some also go to the extent of involving a beat police to have rounds to ensure that their parents are safe, alive and peacefully living. In-fact as per Article 21 of the Indian Constitution Right to Life - Protection of Life and Personal Liberty is a Fundamental Right that is most essential and of paramount importance to any person so that that person is capable of enjoying the other fundamental rights – in simple terms The RIGHT TO LIFE means the person has the right to live his life without fear, injury and without any external danger. Even the individual himself does not possess the right to take away his own life. It is hear that I wish to bring to the sane thinking of the agitators –

1.       Will you feel secure when any person knocks your door or enters your property completely covered– head, face to toes are covered and wishes to enter into your house on any pretext?

2.       In-case an untoward incident happens with you or the inmates of your house by some hooded or fully covered miscreants hoodwinking the security cameras due to the attire worn (can’t identify the people due to their masks worn on their face or their face & body covered that can also hide and not show the weapons being carried within the dress). Will it aid in the investigation of identifying the perpetrators to the crime or committing the vandalizing acts?
 

Perpetrators are always HOODED !!

3.       What would happen when untoward incidents such as kidnapping, chain snatching, robbery or attacks on the life were to happen to you on the roads or at any places by fully covered & hooded perpetrators – would you be able to know or identify or recognize the people who have committed such acts on you? Would you now feel safe to even travel or even go on your morning walks on the roads?
 
4.       There are at times when some hate driven minds or criminal minds stealthily have placed explosives in public places unknown to the shoppers or people and then it has claimed lives of large numbers. These criminals to hoodwink the security system can wear face covers and hooded clothing so as to go scot free and untraced. I expect people to imagine if such an act of terrorism were to happen to you or your near dear ones who innocently were there shopping or enjoying the day, what pain would you experience and believe me the pain will be even more should the perpetrators escape due to them being unidentifiable? What would you do in such a case what would be your state of mind?

  

The PULWAMA issue !!

Should the agitating youngsters attempt to answer the questions keeping their parents, their near dear ones or themselves on the pedestal, they will certainly realize what they need. Despite this if they still tread on the lines of agitation then I wish to quote an old proverb “as you sow, so shall you reap” – where todays boon (that you think is) should not unfurl into a curse tomorrow (when you are old). It is therefore imperative for each one of you to sow the right seeds that strengthen your future safety & security rather than put your entire survival, livelihood and life in jeopardy or at risk at a later stage.
 
Viewing from the CORPORATE PROFESSIONAL’S perspective, it becomes all the more important to recognize that the corporates are economic drivers to the nation. They not only produce products and provide services to the wide public but are also the places where they provide opportunities of work to those who qualify and deserve. At all times the leaders of the companies are evaluating options to reduce the cost of production and reach a stage of nil wastage or zero scrap. A lot of thinking and efforts go into working towards lowering their costs such that the profit margins can improve. The profits are then shared with the employees in the form of salary hikes or perks etc. This is the inside story of the corporates, but off late companies, organizations, shops/ showrooms and establishments etc have witnessed an increase in losses due to theft and pilferage. The security guards have had a harrowing time in nabbing the thieves who under the garb of a customer steal or loot the products from the establishments. The CCTV footages have also confirmed that these thieves or looters or robbers are fully masked and covered from head to toe at the time of the crime. This is not a religious dress that they wear but a combination of flexible clothing that can help them in their getaway. Some also use comfortable clothing to hide the stolen articles and conveniently getaway hoodwinking the guards (but sometimes they are not able to cheat the cameras that have revealed the crime).
 
If one were to assess the losses incurred by an establishment such as shops/ showrooms/ Malls/ other establishments research has revealed that “every month a store lose between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 Lakh per month to retail theft “and “India tops the list of the highest number of retail thefts in the world” where it is also mentioned that “woman outnumber men in this regard”.

Attack on Shop Keeper !!

 

How much can the HOOD ACCOMMODATE !!

How much can fit under the VEIL!!

Unidentifiable Robbers & Vandals

1.       Now look at the number of retail stores in our city or state or country can you comprehend the losses that would amount every year. It will perhaps go in thousands of crores of rupees which can possibly fund the education of a million unaffordable children. If you were to be a store owner or an entrepreneur would you absorb the losses of your store running to such large amounts?

LOSSES BY RETAIL THEFT: INDIA TOPS 

 2.       In the event of an explosion that would have ripped through your constructed place can you comprehend the losses – be it lives of people, be it damage to property, be it the products & goods destroyed – it would be a multitude of losses that is perhaps hard to comprehend. Now if you were to be the owner of such an establishment, can you visualize your helplessness, the pain at the losses staring before you, the legalities that innocently you will have to face and look at the state of your mind – that pain, the anguish, the unforgettable memories? How long will you take to recover?

Smart Smuggling !!

 Whether you are an entrepreneur or the owner of the establishment/ or stores – corporates seldom allow the thief to getaway but should a thief get away in any case, the losses due to the theft are recovered from the wages and salaries of the staff because the stores cannot afford such large losses to be written-off. Sometimes they get relief from the insurance companies but that again is relative to the mishap. So the actual sufferer is the employee of the store/ establishment. The videos herein enclosed could perhaps open your eye of humaneness such that our country can proudly say “it is a country of honest customers”.
 
Life is never complete without education. Education is not just a fundamental right but it is discipline that helps people evolve into better human beings. We all send children to schools with a firm belief that it’s a temple of learning. But are we aware of the efforts invested by the teacher and the team to make our child a better human being and a worthy individual to the society. To understand this better it is essential to look from the eyes of the EDUCATIONIST. The educationists have the most difficult task of making students understand what is being taught, assess his retention, evaluate how much of what he learnt dues the student apply and how positively beneficial is the student to the society or the corporate world. However a lot happens in the classroom that is highly physically and mentally stressful to the educationist. It is important that the agitating students look into these, such that they respect the ways adopted by the educationists to overcome the difficulties in meeting their responsibilities. 

School Issues !!

1.       Face is the index of the mind – The facial expressions, gestures and body language of the students are the only sources that communicate whether the student has understood the topic or the subject. It also communicates the emotional status of the student which is indicative of the willingness to learn or whether disturbed or distracted or in doubt or under fatigue which are disablers to learning – the facial gestures enable the educationist to adopt and change ways in his methodology or re-teach or explain it in a way understandable to the student. This maneuverability and flexibility in instantly adopting a teaching methodology based on the student’s state of mind to receive, accept and understand is not possible in the event of the student completely covering his face. It would be appropriate to the agitating youngsters to look at whether they want a teacher to explain the topics to them or be like information en-screened by Google? By disabling the teacher in adopting different means to better explain the topic, would it help in your learning or enhance in your understanding? Due to the corona pandemic when online classes were in vogue, many parents and students have complained to the schools to get rid of the online classes as their children are not understanding as much as they when they were learning in school – this is evidential for all that is mentioned above as to what was the main disabler. Don’t you people think that it is the right of the teacher to ensure his students understand the topic or the subject better and one should not disable him in his duty or responsibility in this regard?
 
2.       Dealing with Proxy – Each day the security personnel at the school gates have a harrowing time in allowing the right students of the school to get into the campus. To this security guard the face of the Student should match with that on the identity card so as to enable him to permit the student inside the campus. It also ascertains whether the student has entered the campus or not or whether the student has gone out or to find the student (when needed) in the vast campus. Now to the agitating youngsters –

Identity Issues - How do you understand Gender & Deal with Proxy ???

a)      Is there any identity other than the FACE OF THE INDIVIDUAL that can help the security guard to effectively attend to this duty with ease?.... 

b)      With a completely covered face and body, should an outsider enter the campus and create mischief (by causing breakages or theft or molest someone) and get away. Would it be possible to identify the mischief monger in such cases? Who would get penalized for it? Don’t you think that the security guard’s job is at stake in the occurrence of such an incident?

c)       In the event of examinations where students from many colleges come to the school examination centre, the same issue gets compounded as identity match is critical to overcome students coming in as proxy or imposters. Can you imagine how difficult it is to the invigilators to ensure that the right student is writing the exam? If you are the invigilator in such a centre would you allow a student who comes completely covered to write the exam when he refuses to remove his face cover to prove his identity on the Identity card?

d)      In the classroom too some students are so loyal to their friends that they give proxy attendance to the student who is absent. What can the teacher in such an event do when a section of the students are covered up? Would it be possible to identify the gender of the student sitting in the class dressed in completely covered attire that hides his face?
 
3.       Any educational institution is a place for people from all religion, caste, creed and economic status to come under one roof and get educated without any discrimination. It becomes all the more mandatory for every student to accept and respect each other from whatever the socio-religious- economic-cultural status other classmates come from. This means that students who may be Sanatanis, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Parsees etc share the same platform by respecting each other’s beliefs, their practices, their following etc without any regret or remorse. It is therefore pertinent here for the agitating students seeking to look into this aspect very carefully before
a)      If allowed to wear HIJAB permitted by the educational institution implementing the rule as per law or as an implementer of secular institution then the institution should equally respect and accept another student who is from another religion following the principles of Digambara Jainism – will you comfortably without any opposition accept them to be attending and sitting in your class and respect their belief, culture and right to adhere and follow the dictums of their religion?
b)      There are children coming from other tribal areas who have their own customary attire to wear – As an educational institution head would you permit them in their attire to be seated in the same class of a multitude tribes who vehemently stress on their Right to freedom of religion that allows them to practice and propagate what they believe in & follow OR will you specify on uniformity where you will stand by equality?
 
It is time that the students from the agitating or non-agitating groups to seriously look at each of the situations mentioned above and ponder over the answers to the questions posed. This is because at some point of your life you will be playing the three roles and will come across such situations where you will have to look not only at is right for you but also what is right to others too. It is high time that each student realizes that RIGHT TO RELIGION is to ensure that you elevate spiritually and RIGHT TO EDUCATION is to ensure that you earn a good livelihood. When one uses both these rights in a manner it should then he will definitely become an ENLIGHTENED HUMAN-BEING.
 
Looking at another view point, HEALTH is seldom looked at by people these days and these youngsters too are not serious about it. In-fact vitamins are critical to good health and their deficiency can cause a lot of health issues some of which may not be reversible. Among all those vitamins there is one which helps in regulating the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the body. This vitamin is extremely essential to keep the bones, teeth and muscles healthy. Its deficiency can be very disastrous to the body which can result in bone loss or cancer or depression or cardiovascular disease or multiple sclerosis or type 2 diabetes or a combination of all these. This nutrient is VITAMIN D which is absorbed by the body from to exposure to sunlight. This is the safest way and the least expensive way of obtaining Vitamin D – research has inferred that many around the world are deficient in Vitamin D due to non-exposure of the body to the sun which is least expensively available. They are indeed required to take Vitamin D supplement that is expensive and pinches the pocket. This is another reason that completely covered bodies can make your body deficient of this vitamin that can hamper your growth and health as well.
 
By bringing the entire system to a standstill and also bring the country on its knees is not a great achievement it only points at the lacunae in looking at the big picture and flawed thinking in looking at universal good. Bharat has always given enough space and comfort for each religion of foreign origin; followers of different cultures & tradition; and people from all walks of life to thrive and lead a worthy life. Bharat understands the need for tolerance and has since time immemorial stood living & breathing with tolerance. It also says that vested interests emerge from insecurity in their minds and these vested interests are never universal in bringing good and happiness to others. It is high time that the educators should learn to reason out with students to avoid the candle sized flame into becoming a forest fire. Just by posing their difficulties as educators, corporates and common man could have diffused the young minds from such agitation and through press releases the educators could have prevented the hijack of the young minds by some groups who are uncomfortable with peaceful coexistence. Well, I guess that is what the responsibility of the educators is – educate all towards universal good.
 
It is time that the leaders irrespective of any regional or national political parties, to start looking beyond boundaries of their personal gain & myopic growth/ myopic benefit; but focus on bigger achievements that lay a firm foundation for universal betterment. As leaders representing the people you have a greater responsibility to look and study from the eyes of the common man, the corporates, the students or customers and from the health perspectives too. It would be wise for the leadership at all levels to refrain from poisoning young minds with motives that can be impediment to the growth of the youngsters and the future of the nation – because you need to understand todays youngsters will be benefactors tomorrow of what we create today or what we sow today – AS YOU SOW SO SHALL YOU REAP. So let’s sow the right seeds and groom visionaries to make us proud.
 
 NOTE:

** The videos have been from the collection received via the social media

** Courtesy Pictures have been taken without any ulterior motive but to bring clarity to the points :- 

Delmarvanow.com (masked gunman tie up bank staff);; fbi.gov; 6abc.com;  Istockphoto.com (256 Bank robbers mask); wtol.com (Toledo); shutterstock.com (bank robbers putting their masks on) timesnownews.com (Mirror Now News Tamilnadu); horrorhomeroom.com;