Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed his party’s youth outreach programme ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Pune on Saturday (22nd August). As expected, Gandhi used the platform to settle political scores. In the name of raising women’s issues, Gandhi attacked BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and the RSS, by accusing them of having an anti-women mindset.
However, what stood out during the programme was an ironic moment that happened on the stage when a woman participant spoke to Gandhi about difficulties and societal restrictions she faced in her efforts to pursue her studies. The woman, pursuing a course in cyber security, came from a lower middle-class family. She said that since no scholarship was available for the course she was pursuing, she worked as a receptionist in a hospital to manage her expenses.
While the woman worked hard to overcome financial difficulties, she said that she faced harsh societal judgment and restrictions. She said that even though her parents are supportive, they bow down to societal pressure. As a result, she is allowed to step out of her house only after wearing a headscarf.
This is where the irony emerged during the interaction. The woman was complaining about being forced to wear a headscarf before Gandhi, who advocated against a ban on the hijab (head covering worn by Muslim girls/women) in educational institutions in Karnataka. The Congress government in Karnataka revoked a 2022 government order that effectively banned the hijab and other religious attire in schools and colleges. The government order banning the hijab aimed to promote inclusivity and student welfare.
Entirely overlooking students’ welfare, Gandhi and his party chose appeasement politics over Muslim girls’ right to bodily autonomy, which the hijab ban protected. The regressive dress code imposed by the Muslim community on Muslim women is no secret. The ban on hijab in Karnataka’s educational institutions provided Muslim girls, who did not want to wear the hijab but could not resist it, a reason to avoid the regressive clothing by citing the government order.
But Gandhi and the Karnataka government couldn’t care less about the freedom of Muslim girls. They chose to please their vote bank at the cost of young Muslim girls who could have experienced some degree of personal freedom because of the hijab ban. Rahul Gandhi and his party’s stance on the hijab ban exposes their hypocrisy and appeasement politics.
Had Rahul Gandhi really cared for women’s rights and their freedom, he would have used the opportunity to ban the hijab and call out the regressive Islamic laws that suppress women by controlling their bodies. But instead, Rahul Gandhi stood for what he cared for, and that is Congress’ vote bank.
Gandhi blames ‘Manusmriti mindset’ for suppression of women
In furtherance of his appeasement politics, Rahul Gandhi engaged in selective outrage in the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Pune. He quoted a verse purported to be from Manusmriti to take a sly dig at the Hindu community and the Hindu religion. He claimed that the mindset of suppressing women comes from the Manusmriti. He further claimed that the BJP and the RSS promote this mindset and want the country’s girls to remain caged.
While Rahul Gandhi could have found similar quotes in religious books of other religions as well, he chose to point out and link misogyny with Hindu society and Hinduism. This leaves no doubt as to his real agenda in the guise of calls for women’s empowerment.
