SOCIETY
Deoband, a small town of about 90,000 in, made history when it elected Zeenat Naaz, 32, who contested the municipal elections despite a fatwa issued by the Dar- ul-Uloom, one of Asia's oldest schools of Islamic studies. Sandwiched between Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, Deoband's only distinction is the presence of the Dar-ul- Uloom that it has chosen to defy.
Born into a middle class family in Zila Saharanpur, Zeenat whose father owns a workshop, is one of seven sisters and four brothers. She went to the local Muslim Girls School and the Munalal Degree College for Girls where she did a B.A. in political science. She tells frankly, "but I played a lot of games and took a very active part in college affairs. I was the NCC Commandant and president of the disciplinary committee. I even stood for selection for the post of president and came second. It must be in my blood." One particular memory is that of meeting Mrs. Indira Gandhi who visited the college and spoke to the girls of joining the Congress and working for the betterment of women. Zeenat was no doubt inspired and though she did nothing then the inspiration remains.
(She was) married to Mohammed Arshad, an amiable young man. She moved to Deoband where Arshad has a workshop that fabricates window frames and shutters and settled down to being a housewife and mother.
In 1989, she went to Lucknow and met several Congress functionaries. They enthused her and made her a member of the party's Labor Cell and a while later the president of the local Mahila Samiti. After that there was no looking back.
The following year Arshad decided to stand for the municipal elections and when he filed his papers he also filed hers. They campaigned madly. Zeenat was still in burqa.They drew crowds but lost. Zeenat, in fact, was disqualified for being underage. Undeterred she founded and funded a mahila samiti and relentlessly worked for the betterment of women and children. The samiti organized health camps, and adult literacy classes and took up the cases of dowry and dowry victims and those enmeshed in divorce cases. When necessary, she would even go to Saharanpur to meet bureaucrats and police officers to resolve cases.
It was about this time that she decided to drop the veil because "It was difficult to run around and meet people in a burqa". Her husband, a pillar of strength, agreed with her, so at the following Republic Day celebration in the town she appeared for the first time without it.
Actually there was no question of Zeenat not winning this election and the fatwa of November 5 which banned women from participating in politics on the grounds that it was anti-Islamic, was issued at the behest of Furqan Qureshi a member of the Congress-T and Qamar Kazmi, a Muslim Majlis leader because their wives Naghma Qureshi and Rehana Kazmi who were also in the fray and not doing well (and) withdrew.
During the campaign that followed Zeenat took care to stay off the fatwa issue but two of her offices were burnt as also some of her banners, perhaps with a view to provoking violence and a possible postponement of the elections. There was tension in the town and Zeenat was advised by the local bureaucracy to get security for herself. Meanwhile, people started to question the fatwa and ask why none was issued against Benazir Bhutto, Khaleeda Zia, or closer home Najma Heptullah and Mohsina Kidwai. All the local parties barring the Congress also questioned it. So five days later after an all night session the Mufti issued a second fatwa which allowed women to contest elections provided they followed the Shariat, in other words, wear the burqa,
Zeenat soldiered ahead without a burqa. And the town Hindus and Muslims alike veered around her. Money poured in from all around. "I spent nothing", she tells you and the rest of course is history. Zeenat defeated her nearest candidate Bhagvanti Devi of the BJP by over 5,000 votes.
The battle of course is over. The families have reconciled; the children have grown up. But much remains to be done. Zeenat's first priorities are to clean up the town and open a school for poor children.
And as for the future, "Well, it all depends on the people. Perhaps they will send me to Lucknow perhaps inshallah to Delhi.
(Source: The Hindustan Times, 3 December, 1995)
Videography Declared "Haram"
Many Muslim Jama'ats in Mallapuram district, Kerala, have decided that videography in the marriages of Muslims shall be condemned and declared "Haram".
It has been declared because of the fact that videographers, in order to picturize the inner scenes of the bridal room come into contact with the secluded ladies and bring them to screen.
Some videographers (also) employ the young and beautiful girls to work in blue films.
(Source: The Straight Forward News, Hyderabad, 20 November, 1995)
