KT posted on Facebook under the title Hijab, nun dress and courts. A nun is on the scene with a reply to Jalil MLA. Jalil’s remarks came in the context of the Supreme Court’s dissenting judgment on the Hijab ban issue in Karnataka. This is followed by the response of Sister Sonia Therese DSJ.
‘Teachers who teach children what they shouldn’t understand don’t understand the contradiction of being scarred. It is puzzling to say that where nun teachers are allowed ‘hijab’, female students are not allowed the same right.
In many colleges and universities, girls are studying as nuns. No one has ever objected to it. No one has gone to court. No court has intervened in the matter.
Then what is the commotion only about ‘Hijabi’?– Jalil had asked in the note.
Sister Sonia Therese has come up with a reply to this note. “First of all, a loving reminder to former minister Mr. Jalil that the hijab worn by young Muslim women should not be compared with the veil (veil) worn by Christian nuns. Because the headdress of Christian monks is not something that anyone slaps on at a young age. The sister’s note begins, “No one who is a Christian nun wears this veil or monastic dress until she is 19 years old.”
‘When Christian monks go to study in any college, if that institution stipulates that they should not wear monastic clothes, none of us will ever insist that I can study there in monastic clothes. Or none of us bothers them with provocation and marches saying that they should break the law in an institution where 3000 children study for a nun. In an institution with a uniform code, if the law of the monastic church does not permit the adoption of that uniform, one will study at some other institution. Sister Sonia Therese says in the note, “We don’t have the degrading style of gathering people and rioting for a uniform.”
Full text of Sister Sonia Therese DSJ’s Facebook post
Former Minister Shri K. T. Jalil yesterday on Facebook ‘Hijab, nun dress and courts’. A nun’s reply to a post titled:
First of all, a loving reminder to former minister Mr. Jalil that he should not compare the hijab worn by young Muslim women with the head covering (veil) worn by Christian nuns. Because the headdress of Christian monks is not something that anyone slaps on at a young age. Christian monastics No one wears this sun or monastic garb unless they are 19 years old…
If a young Christian woman wants to become a nun and goes through the steps of a monastery, she will be told, ‘Inna apadu? The authorities of a sannyasya will not say, ‘It is enough for you to wear this sun and clothes and live here from now on.’ Because there are some hurdles she has to cross. That is, for at least 5 years, one should clearly learn what sannyas is in the light of God’s word. Sanyasya is a way of life that she chooses only with complete freedom (not under the coercion of anyone) only if she has a firm conviction that she can follow what she believes in life after clearly learning what the rules of the Sanyasha are and what is the dress code of the respective Sanyasha and why she wears it.
More than 420 Sannyas Sabhas (including various provinces) exist in Kerala today, living different spiritualities. Among them there are those who wear a headscarf along with an ankle-length or knee-length dress, those who wear only a saree without a headscarf, those who wear both a headscarf and a saree, and those who wear only a churidar. The dress codes of each monastic order are different. We don’t hesitate to be a little flexible according to time, land and culture…that is, we move forward, not backward.
In this country where any woman who has completed the age of 18 is free to marry (I remember reading a few months ago that there are more than 20,000 young women in Kerala who are forced to marry from the age of 15 even though the constitution says 18) today it is a green truth that not even a Christian woman takes vows as a nun before the age of 19. reminding And among the nuns who take their first vows at the age of 19 or 20, none of them do the Nityavratam before the age of 24.
During the 6 years from the first vow to the eternal vow, the new nuns have every freedom to leave the sannyasin if they feel like it. Even if a nun does a daily fast, if she feels the desire to leave the sannyasi and marry, no one will force her. Likewise, no one beheads them or chop off their limbs…
“According to the Indian Constitution, adopting a preferred mode of dress is not wrong. You have written in your post that it is a fundamental right. Then why are you so angry and grumbling at the Christian saints..? Kerala High Court has ruled that even the government has no power to change the uniform code of individual institutions.
When Christian monks go to study in a college, if that institution stipulates that they should not wear monastic clothes, none of us would ever insist that I can study there in monastic clothes. Or none of us bothers them with provocation and marches saying that they should break the law in an institution where 3000 children study for a nun. In an institution with a uniform code, if the law of the monastic church does not permit the adoption of that uniform, one will study at some other institution. We don’t have the classy style of rioting over a uniform…
We do not cover our faces in any way even when we wear long clothes and head coverings. Because hiding the face is tantamount to erasing that person’s personality. And then
Christian nuns don’t wear monastic robes and headscarves out of fear of anyone’s lustful eyes. Instead, the long sleeved robe has been worn by unmarried maidens and princesses for centuries. (Judeo-Christian tradition, did you hear?) These long-robed nuns are a testament to the millions of people running around with only sex and sensuality in mind. That is the testimony that there is another life beyond the pleasures of this world. A reminder that the gains and pleasures you gain today are just futile… No nun who knows this reality ever wears a monk’s garb as an ornament. It has not been forgotten that in this last day some people wear the Christian monk’s garb as an ornament for the sake of name and fame, attacking the Catholic Church…
Horrible protests are taking place in Iran today against the mandatory dress code enforced by Iran’s sovereign, who came to power in the 1979 revolution. Perhaps it is not a news that none of the protests in Iran get the attention of the Kerala media. There was a lot of pain when the Western media showed the bravery of hundreds of young people who braved death to say that they would not allow their freedom to be suppressed. Dress should not be imposed on anyone, regardless of religion or lifestyle. And for an adult to grumble and blame a life partner who has chosen with complete freedom is an encroachment on her fundamental freedom. So with a reminder that we can learn to respect each other
affectionately,
C. Sonia Therese d. S. J.
KT Full version of Jaleel’s Facebook post
Hijab, nun dress and courts.
Hijab (head covering or headscarf) should not be made compulsory on anyone. Do not ban. In a country where half-naked and three-quarter-naked are allowed, those who wish to forget all other body parts except the face and forearms should be allowed to do so. Or as it is called injustice. One should not be seen as freedom and the other as unfreedom.
Deciding what to wear and what to wear is anti-democratic. What one eats and what one wears is not a matter of concern to another. It is a shame that many women have to fight to hide their breasts in a country where the fight to forget the breast has taken place.
According to the Indian Constitution, adopting a preferred mode of dress is not wrong. It is a fundamental right. Hon’ble courts have to look at the matter according to the constitution. Not personally.
If it is true that the authorities have banned wearing hijab (headscarf, scarf) in a private aided school in Kozhikode, it is completely unfair. It is up to the parents of the children studying in that institution to react against it. If they have no complaints about the management action, there is no point in the outsiders going and making noise.
It is not right to impose conditions different from government schools in government paid institutions even if they are private.
Teachers who teach children what they shouldn’t understand don’t understand the contradiction of being scarred. It is puzzling to say that where nun teachers are allowed ‘hijab’, female students are not allowed the same right.
In many colleges and universities, girls are studying as nuns. No one has ever objected to it. No one has gone to court. No court has intervened in the matter.
So why the uproar only in the case of ‘Hijabi’?