Dr. Sarita Singh
Assistant
Professor
Department of
English
Maharaja Bijli
Pasi Govt. PG College
Aashiyana,
Lucknow, India
Abstract:
For all the feminist ideology, there still persists exploitation
of women in all its possibilities. Thus, exploitation becomes the sole
predicament of women, of any colour, age, caste, race, nationality, financial
status or of holding any position in the society.
One such thought-provoking fearless portrayal of women
exploitation is witnessed in Rashid Jahan’s one-act play, ‘Parde ke Peechhe’,
translated in English as, ‘Behind the Veil’. It is a strong attack on the
practice of giving birth to too many children, early marriages, polygamy, and
the way a wife is treated as only a body to satisfy one’s physical lust. The
play strongly condemns misconstrued religious constraints that make a woman
suffer incessantly in a patriarchal society.
This paper is an attempt to decipher how through a
conversation between two Muslim women, Rashid Jahan conveys the acceptance of
their exploitation as a normal routine at the hands of patriarchy. They seem to
be totally oblivious of the fact that they are living a life of use and abuse.
They complain at times during the conversation, but that complain lacks
cohesion and assertion.
Keywords: Feminism,
Religious Constraints, Patriarchy, Family Planning, Marital Sex
Dead or alive, chivalry, in whatever sense is
interpreted, is a man’s inclination to defend a woman against everyman but him.
Thomas de Quincy writes that chivalrous good intentions in the male are fatally
undermined, so that the woman, in spite of everything, meets her destined
fate.For all the feminist ideology that exists or has existed, there is a
continuous lurking idealism of hearth and heaven, where ever and whenever, a
woman is discussed. This refuge is mostly violated, the household wrecked, not
by social interference from without but by suspect guardianship from within.
Thus, exploitation becomes the sole predicament of women, of any colour, age,
caste, race, nationality, financial status or of holding any position in the
society.
This is the 21st century, yet we are being witness to
horrendous stories of Nirbhaya, Asifa, Disha (rape victims), Nisha Sharma,
Gitanjali, Deepansha Sharma (dowry victims), Lakshmi Agarwal, Reshma Qureshi
(acid attack survivors), and cases of triple talaqs, even when a legal bill has
been passed against it. All this, accelerated by filed and unfiled numerous
cases of molestations, work place harassments, eve-teasing, and domestic
violence, agonise our hearts at the pitiable condition of women, in an age
where we are talking about exploring lives on another planet.
With this background, I intent to begin my paper, which
offers a critical commentary on Rashid Jahan’s one-act play, ‘Parde ke
Peechhe’, translated in English as, ‘Behind the Veil’. Though the play was
written almost ninety years ago, yet the issues raised and protested against,
in this play are still prevalent and continue to corrode the inner fabric of
various feminist stances, like termites. This short play is a strong attack on
the practice of giving birth to too many children in a Muslim household,
without caring for the health of the woman. It also criticizes early marriages,
polygamy, non-consensual marital sex and the way a wife is treated as only a
birth giving machine, with no access to contraceptives. Furthermore, it
highlights the gruesome fact that in order to keep his wife’s body prim and
proper to gratify his incessant sexual arousals, the man does not even hesitate
to succumb her body under a surgeon’s knife again and again. She boldly raises
the issue of sexually transmitted diseases, a taboo topic in almost all the
sections of the society, irrespective of their religion. The play strongly
condemns the ways through which Maulavis and others manipulate Islamic
religious verses as constraints that make a woman, nonetheless a wife, suffer
in a patriarchal society.
Before I embark upon my journey to critically analyse various
facets of, ‘Behind the Veil’, it becomes a necessity to dig into the
psyche of Rashid Jahan, that produced such a thought-provoking fearless
portrayal of an elite Muslim family. One must mark that she herself was never
subjected to the patriarchal subjugation in her life, yet she took the
initiative and did what is expected of each and every individual who receives
proper education; for the purpose of education is not solely to solve one’s
livelihood issues but also to enlighten and ameliorate the society. This
liberalism that fuelled her passion was not just an outcome of her family
environment and education but was hereditary as well, as her father, Sheikh
Abdullah, himself was a great advocator of women education who established the
renowned Women’s College in Aligarh. She completed her medical degree as a
gynaecologist from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. Having joined the
Provincial Medical Services, she moved from city to city.
Her audacity eventually got reflected and noticed when
her short story, ‘Dilli ki Sair’ and a one-act play, ‘Parde ke
Peechhe’, was published in a collection of literary works of several other
male writers, by the name, ‘Angaarey’ in 1932. Through her
contributions, she tried to expose the religious dogmas, challenged the
religious hypocrisy of the Maulavis and to share a glimpse of what
happens behind the curtains, that are hailed as the keeper of women dignity, in
any Muslim household. Her motive was always didactic and to bring about a
social change rather then become the cynosure of all eyes for her defiant ways
of expressions. Her bold and fiery manner, irked the consciousness of many
‘intellectuals’, religious conservatives and self-proclaimed ‘guardians’ of
Islam. It is interesting to note here that in 2006 again we have another Muslim
woman writer, though not from India, Tasleema Nasreen who too gets ‘Fatwa’
issued; this once again confirms the hollowness of the discourse of female
emancipation.
The strong criticism of the book by the All-India Shia
Conference at Lucknow led to its ban and the Clerics even issued Fatwa
in her name. All this conglomeration of censure and condemnation forced the
government to ban this one act piece of raging thoughts. However, this strong
criticism could not deter her from further revolutionising her life when she
joined the Communist Party in 1933 and then later on founded the Progressive
Writers’ Association in 1936. Shaista Ikramullah acknowledges the contribution
of Rashid Jahan as deserving special merit and mention in her survey of the
development of the Urdu novel and short story (241.)
This one-act play, tells the tale through the
conversation of two elite class Muslim women, who accept their fate and the
exploitation as a normal routine; they seem to be totally oblivious to the fact
that they are living a life of use and abuse. They complain at times during the
conversation, but that complain lacks cohesion and assertion. It is as if the
they are just not aware of anything like women rights and decisions. For them,
the word and wish of their husbands, is their heaven and to think beyond that
or to refute that, is blasphemy.
Through the conversation of both of her female
protagonists, Rashid Jahan investigates marriage the most celebrated, hallowed and a perfect
structure for an edified social association and for the proliferation of the
species, in almost all the societies of the world, as an all-pervading tool to
dissipate various ways of patriarchy that aim at complete suppression of women.
This play in a very modest manner highlights the patriarchal determinants that
decide her code of conduct, her exclusion and inclusion in the family matters,
in a way that she begins to consider the four walls of her household as her one
and only existence.
The usage of the term, ‘veil’ also offers several
connotations in this regard. The ‘veil’ or the ‘purdah’ not only is referred to
as a piece of cloth separating the male quarters from the female ones, but it
is a metaphor for the constructed difference between man and woman. It is a
symbol of male dominance. The ‘veil’ ends up being a successful weapon to limit
the advancement of the Muslim ladies who are kept to their conventional jobs.
The ‘veil’ in this play hides the sufferings and the plights of Muslim women
leading a disruptive life. The men of the house act totally oblivious of this
suffering that they themselves bring about. Not only are they blind towards
their physical torments but also have no qualms about their emotional
requirements. The vanity of patriarchal veil not only blind their vision, but
also, numbs their sensibilities as well.
The ‘veil’ also presents what happens behind it, through
the conversations of both the protagonists of the play. The affluency of a
socially respectable Muslim family is ruthlessly and unashamedly laid open
through the heart wrenching chat between two female friends.
The play begins in a quarter restricted as ‘Zenana’
in a Muslim household, with all the regular paraphernalia that adorn any
upper-class Muslim quarter. We have two women, Aftab Begum, aged about 40 and
Mohammadi Begum, a bit younger than Aftab, as we are told later on in the play,
yet she looks quite old, and worn-out. Having been married at an early age, she
has been continuously bearing children every year, except once when her husband
was abroad and again when they had a fight. Due to continuous pregnancy, she
has become weaker and ill shaped and as a result her children are also
under-nourished. The high temper and quarrelling nature of her children is a
testimony that she is negligent towards them and her only purpose in life seems
just to be there for her husband. Her plight is visible when she confides that
her husband does not allow her to breastfeed her babies at it would hamper with
the routine to satisfy his insatiable lust, and so she has a number of helpers
or ‘aayaas’ to take care of her children. She even lost one of her
babies who contacted venereal disease from one of the maids. She further shares
that her husband often visits prostitutes to gratify his physical cravings and
the blatant way she speaks about it, shows that she is least worried about
that. She even had her tummy re-fixed twice to stay in shape, lest her husband
should remarry and even gets her teeth pulled out, because her husband found
breath stinking, due to pyorrhoea.
The mention of a lady doctor in the play with whom
Mohammadi Begum confides in about her husband’s insatiable lust, is very
important. Rashid Jahan, who herself was a doctor, is trying to show the
difference and change that education and equal opportunity can bring into a
woman’s life. She presents a comparison, with Mohammadi Begum on one side and
the lady doctor on the other. In fact, Mohammadi Begum praises her independence
that because she is financially independent, she can make her own decisions in
life whereas she herself who is totally dependent on her husband cannot do
that. Thus, Rashid Jahan very subtly enforces the idea that to change women’s
lot, female education is a must.
However, her suffering turns into torment when she comes
to know that her husband wants to marry a cousin of hers, Razia, who is as
young as their daughter, Sabira. This breaks her psychologically, and she seems
to be leading a life which is just waiting to be freed from its last breath.
She admits that if it were not for her children, she would have died. She
vehemently opposes the re-marriage but then her husband threatens her with his
Shariya right to re-marry. Here, we see how men contrive religion to suit their
needs. The holy book of Quran states that “And for women are rights over men
similar to those of men over women”. (2: 228) She blows away the charade of
Muslim religious leaders. Islam gives an important place to women in the
society and there are several verses in the Holy Quran that implore men to treat
women with kindness and respect, for ex., “And live with them in kindness. For
if you dislike them-perhaps you dislike a thing and Allah makes therein much
good”. (4:19)
She is presented as a woman who is not allowed to have
any desire of her own, no dreams of her own, no say in the cruel torture of her
soul, mind and body, no decision in the manner of upbringing of her children,
no identity of her own, in fact, she is even denied the maternal pleasure of
breastfeeding her children. While the Holy Quran says, “Mothers may breastfeed
their children two complete years for whoever wishes to complete the nursing
[period]. Upon the father is the mothers' provision and their clothing
according to what is acceptable. No person is charged with more than his capacity.
No mother should be harmed through her child, and no father through his child.”
(2:233) Thus, misinterpretation of the holy verses has continuously been used
as a weapon to subordinated and terrorize Muslim women.
In fact, not only Mohammadi Begum, the other protagonist,
Aftab Begum, also shares the same acceptance of patriarchal authority and
advises her to conform to the fixed societal norms. Yet for once, she chides
Mohammadi Begum for allowing her husband to remarry only to remain with him. As
it is the time to offer their evening prayer, Aftab Begum takes her leave and
the play ends as normally and abruptly as it began, leaving the reader’s mind
in a flux of thoughts regarding the constricted life that women live behind the
purdah. Their exasperation and disconsolation are quite evident to us as
readers, though for them, the conversation might just appear to be a normal
sharing of one’s grievances. Dr Shweta Mishra investigates this conversation at
three levels, viz., first as a domestic talk between two women, second as
sharing of one’s suffering with another woman who could understand, involving a
feeling of sisterhood and third in pursuit of living a dignified life. (14)
Rashid Jahan enunciated this play to create a humane
consciousness regarding female wants, desires, decisions and health. She longed
to deliver the issues discussed by Muslim ladies in their regular talks so that
she can bring on to forefront the real issues that traumatize women. She
exploited her writing ability as an instrument of social change. She mocks the
ideologies that perceive of women as an inferior object. A woman’s status is
quite apparent in Oscar Wilde’s, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, wherein he
wrote, “My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They
never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the
triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over
morals.”
She has been a source of inspiration for the writers of
the next generations like Ismat Chughtai, and Attia Hossain, who craved to
establish a sense of identity for women through their works. She forced and
inspired the writers of the next generation to explore the forbidden areas of a
woman’s existence.
However, a pertinent question arise at this point, that
even after so many years, why we still have works like Anita Nair’s ‘Mistress’,
Tehmina Durrani’s, ‘My Feudal Lord’, Bharti Mukherjee’s ‘Wife’, Bapsi Sidhwa’s
‘Cracking India/Ice Candy Man’ and ‘The Pakistani Bride’, Shashi Deshpande’s ‘A
Matter of Time’ and ‘The Dark Holds No
Terror’ and Arundhati Roy’s ‘ The God of Small Things’? Somewhere, it shows
that women still are up against the same set of anomalies that they were facing
hundred years ago. All these have the subjects of feminine sensibility,
feminine aspirations and deprivations, feminine conflicts and resolutions and
feminine struggles and survival as their main themes. Their works penetrates
into the myriad chaotic layers of female consciousness to decipher their inner
turmoil and bring about an awareness of her desire for equality and
emancipation from patriarchal constraints. They bring alive the characters that
yearn for recognition instead of being victimized. Through their works, it
seems that the clarion call of Rashid Jahan still continues to wake and inspire
the sleeping beauties to rise to a new dawn of individuality, equality and
freedom.
Works Cited
De Quincey,
Thomas. Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers. 19 Nov 2002,
www.gutenberg.org/files/6148/6148-h/6148-h.htm.
www.hindisamay.com/content/1093/1/. Accessed on 12/08/2020.
“Rashid Jahan”. Jan 04, 2018,
www.alchetron.com/Rashid-Jahan
www.quran.com Accessed on 14/08/2020.
Ikramullah, Shaista Suhrawardy. A Critical Survey of
the Development of the Urdu Novel and Short Story. Longman Green, 1945,
p.241.
Jalil, Rakhshanda. A Rebel and Her Cause: The Life
and Work of Rashid Jahan. Women
Unlimited, 2014.
Singh, Madhulika. “Radical Writings on Women: The Work of
Dr. Rashid Jahan”. Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, Vol. 75, Platinum Jubilee 2014, pp. 729-735, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44158454. Accessed on 14/08/20.
www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-picture-of-dorian-gray.pdf. Accessed on 15/08/20.
Mishra, Shweta. “‘Angarewali” Rashid Jahan’s “Parde ke
Peechey”: As a Study of the Voice of Subjugated Muslim Women”. Research
Discourse, No. XXV, Oct-Dec 2017, p. 14.