State, Clerics and Pandemic

(2 mins read)

A few weeks ago, one of the most famous religious scholar, Maulana Tariq Jamil was again in news. During the PM Imran Khan’s live telethon on the national television, he had held women of Pakistan responsible for the corona-virus pandemic. This invited a great wave of outrage a cross Pakistan. 

It’s not the first time that Tariq Jamil(or any orthodox religious leader for that matter) has blamed the women for bringing in a disaster. Earlier women were responsible for earthquakes and now a pandemic. 

Their version of religion starts and ends on women’s bodies but sometimes it serves as a mirror when you realize how women’s bodies have historically been used as a political tool against a whole segment of society. 

When Tariq Jamil or any religious/political leader calls women the nation’s daughters and puts the burden of modesty on their shoulders, it’s a reminder that the state has created an idea of womanhood and failing to adhere to that will result in otherness and one will be outcast-ed and there will be a need to control these rebellious women with force. 

State with the help of clerics like Tariq Jamil create these ideals of masculinity and femininity for the masses and if one dares to astray a little, he or she is meant to take responsibility for the collective misery of the nation. Women’s bodies are their favorite tool to play their power politics with, but the moment women start reclaiming their bodies, a war is waged against them and they are shamed for their very existence.