Pennings

If it takes a million ripples for waves to reach the shore and several droplets to form a splash of water, it takes little and consistent steps of courage to reach landmark judgments. If one comes to think of it, the idea of one’s rights is fairly clear and comprehensive to a rational mind. But muddle it with pressure, both societal and religious, that a very basic understanding of fairness, justice and rightfulness gets not only clouded but also flawed. And those who stand at the end of this long road of wrongness and unfairness are women. In India, this road is further paved more harshly if one is a Muslim woman, a Dalit woman or a Tribal woman.

It has been a few months since Haq was released – a film that marks the journey of the famous Shah Bano Case wherein, Shazia Bano as Yami Gautam takes the name in the film or Shah Bano fought for her right to claim maintenance from her husband who had divorced her. As a matter of fact, the issue is fairly simple and straightforward and anyone who have their sense of justice in the right frame, will know that an estranged or divorced woman should get maintenance from the husband. But the custodians of religion in India, when they come to protect and interpret religion for others, say otherwise as per the Muslim personal law or Sharia.

Caught in the tussle between Sharia and section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code in India, Shah Bano fought her case for almost a decade to secure a basic human right for herself and consequently for several Muslim women. As is portrayed in the film, those who interpret religion, the Maulana, the Qazi or the Muslim Personal Law Board, try to keep the Muslim personal law and the secular law of India separate. In this separation, the nuances of dignity, justice, fairness, equality and equity get lost, upholding only fundamentalist views that taper the wider definitions and concepts that religious texts – the holy Quran in this case, aims to instil in its readers.

An iconic scene from the film goes on to show how the defendant or Shazia Bano’s husband, Khan, links the need of upholding the Sharia to the 1947 Partition of India, thereby making a case for correcting the wrongs done to Muslims and letting them live peacefully in India. That very scene is then juxtaposed with another in which Shazia Bano advocates for the need of the almighty’s mercy on those who are the most vulnerable – women. She vehemently proclaims her identity as an Indian Muslim woman, disregarding the earlier manipulative arguments of her husband. Shazia Bano, in very clear terms, tells the Justice sitting on the bench that the soul of Sharia is in no contradiction with that of the law of the land in India and both in letter and spirit are meant to protect the weak, the deprived, and the vulnerable. If her husband fights his case with the confidence in victimhood, Shazia Bano speaks truth to power with her belief in morality – again something that forms the cornerstone of both the Indian Constitution and any religious texts in our pluralist nation.

Shah Bano’s case and its reopening through Haq bring to the fore an important lens to view religion and that lens, beyond any public interpretation of religion, is one that advocates knowing and understanding our religion personally, through one’s very own sense of morality. Standing on this foundation of one’s inner morality is belief and emanating from this belief is the faith one has in her religion that is above every conservative reading of it. Shazia Bano introduces us to ‘Iqra’ – the first word of the holy Quran, that means – ‘read.’ Thus, we do not need others to explain or interpret our religion for us. We can and should know our religion ourselves so that an unadulterated, unfiltered understanding goes to our hearts and if we are reading with the right eyes, in a country like India, the Constitution and the religious texts travel together to meet eventually.

The film also keeps highlighting the importance of responsibility in subtle tones and that any relationship be it a personal one or the one with our country is bound by responsibility. Responsibility or a sense of responsibility is what makes relationships real, honest, sincere and the building blocks of a sensitive society. Else, all is just a facade, kept in place only for the sake of things. It is high time, the moral order of our society is redefined with the concept of rights for women, before the burden of duties weighs too heavy. For gentle reminders, there should be films like Haq.