Hijab and rights
The issue around hijab wearing has to be distanced from religion and looked at from the point of view of women’s rights. It cannot be denied that women’s expression and their communicative skills with other people will be only visible without the hijab. Its continuance leads to a loss of precious women’s rights.
The French government opposed the display of religious symbols as it was detrimental to peoples’ integration in society. Women wearing hijabs and covering their face cannot be compared to a Sikh wearing a turban or carrying a kirpan, for the reasons are different. Being compelled to wear a hijab denies women of their bodily autonomy.
The possibilities of the Bharatiya Janata Party capitalising on the issue should not deter the possibilities of banning the hijab. ‘More’ is lost on account of religion but ‘most’ is lost on account of the hijab which is symbolic of women’s subjugation.
N.G.R. Prasad,
Chennai
Lata Mangeshkar
The passing of Lata Mangeshkar is a reminder of days past when films and the music of that era had a classic halo around them and were insightful. One wishes that these pristine recollections of an age gone by remain in today’s world where vulgarity in the name of modernism has seeped into almost everything.
Gaurav Nohwar,
Agra, Uttar Pradesh
I have been an ardent listener of Lataji’s songs. I had the fortune of being the neighbour of a former Army man who used to play Lataji’s Hindi songs as 78 rpm records (available at that time) on his HMV gramophone. He later gifted all the old records to me, which I still play to this day.
P.M. Gopalan,
Kochi
