Lynne Cheney
and the Freedom to Shed the Headscarf
By Siddique Malik
President
www.spreadfreedom.com
Years ago, British prime minister
Margaret Thatcher, during a state visit to Saudi
Arabia wore an awkward, long and thick dress that
looked more like an overcoat. The sight of her
being covered in this manner, in the desert heat,
coupled with a semblance of a headscarf to which
she did not look accustomed, made her look outrageously
silly. It sent an uncomfortable signal (from freedom
lovers' point of view) that even the iron lady
had to surrender to the bigotry and chauvinism
of the men of Saudi Arabia.
Contrast this with the December 2004 visit to
Afghanistan by Lynne Cheney who accompanied her
husband, the Vice President of the United States
of America, to the ceremony in which Afghan president,
Hamid Karzai, took the oath of his office. We
at www.spreadfreedom.com were delighted to see
her on the TV, seated next to her husband and
in the midst of some of the world's most rigid
and chauvinist men, without any symbol of hypocrisy,
appeasement and enslavement on her elegant personality.
If a woman on her own freewill (and no other factor)
wanted to wear a headscarf, we would get on the
top of the Himalayas if we had to, to scream for
her right to do so. We condemn Turkish law that
forbids female government employees to wear a
headscarf while at work. Likewise, we condemn
French law that prohibits female students to wear
the similar garment while attending classes at
French public schools. In our opinion, there is
no difference between these laws and Iranian and
Saudi Arabian laws requiring women to wear these
garments; all these laws usurp freedom, God's
greatest gift to humanity.
However, the tragedy is that a vast majority of
Muslim women who cover themselves from head to
toe, do so to cater to the insecurities of the
men in their families and show solidarity with
other such suppressed women. They would prefer
to shed this 'yolk of slavery' but don't have
the courage to risk a reaction, and understandably
so. This reaction, in backward societies, e.g.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's northern areas
and its villages, Afghanistan, Jordan and most
of the rest of Middle East, often, is their death
at the hands of their parents, brothers, uncles,
neighbors, fiancés or husbands. Such reactions
have been attempted even in Europe's Muslim immigrant
communities.
Even in America, from New York City to Elizabethtown,
Kentucky, some Muslim women are under terrible
social pressure, not just from men but also from
fanatical Muslim women, to dress up excessively.
For those who cherish freedom, it is disturbing
to see women relinquish their freedom, self-esteem
and dignity, in this bizarre manner.
We hope that Mrs. Cheney's appearance in Kabul
fired up a desire among Afghan women to reclaim
their God-given freedom to dress as they please.
Being able to do so freely is perhaps the first
step towards claiming one's freedoms. Well done,
Mrs. Cheney, and long live freedom.
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