To make a point about the daunting conditions that Muslim women exist in, 16 members of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan participated in the 5km fun run. A few of them ran while wearing burqas to highlight the need for a level playing field for Muslim women. Lia Caldeira and Bharti Shetty led the team representing BMMA, which has centres in 11 states and works for legal aid issues, Muslim divorce laws, community issues, wages, sanitation and health.
To make a point about the daunting conditions that Muslim women exist in, 16 members of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan participated in the 5km fun run. A few of them ran while wearing burqas to highlight the need for a level playing field for Muslim women. Lia Caldeira and Bharti Shetty led the team representing BMMA, which has centres in 11 states and works for legal aid issues, Muslim divorce laws, community issues, wages, sanitation and health.
Humeira Qureshi, 20, had worn black clothes beneath her black burqa, and admitted to feeling like being in an oven in the rising heat. "There are no sporting activities that can be done while in a burqa. If you wear it it's an issue, and if you don't wear it, it's an issue. I am training with BMMA and there is no religious or political angle to this. By participating in the marathon we want to say that Muslim women, too, can take a step forward," said Qureshi.
Shetty said that they have prepared a draft of the changes they would like to bring in with respect to Muslim personal law. "We want to do away with the triple talaq where a man can divorce his wife by just uttering or writing talaq three times. We want education for children and want to see that marriage takes places with the consent of both parties and is not forced upon anyone. We want to do away with halala, a custom in which if a man wishes to take back his wife, she has to get married to another man for a day, and if the man refuses to part with her after that, she can't go back to her husband," said Shetty.
Qureshi said that the partiality and the burqa both need to go. "If I wear a burqa everyday, it is my choice. But if I wish to go to my college farewell and wear nice clothes, I will have to hide it under a burqa because my family wants me to. Families do not give economic freedom to their girls when it is necessary. You can't even buy sanitary napkins because you don't discuss periods with male members of the community. Men should know that women need to spend on such stuff and be a little sensitive towards this. People don't spend anything on educating the girl child and are surprised when she has four boyfriends. If you limit her freedom to get education and live by herself, she will find other ways to rebel," said Qureshi who is currently in her third year of commerce studies and is thankful for having liberal parents.
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