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FACES OF JAVA: THE WOMEN...Lifting the Veil...the Burqa Debate. Entering the most populous Islamic Nation on Earth...I had preconceptions.
Would it be like Dubai...where veiled women walked hidden behind layers of cloth...or walked behind their husbands...where the men would invite me for coffee & a chat...confident in my portraits...but their women forbidden to my lens?
But from the moment we hit Java, my preconceptions were blown out of the water...here the women were confident...predominately in headscarfs...faces open and not hidden...walking next to & confident in their husbands...in their very being...happy to grace my lens.
I travelled around Java constantly marvelling at the openness of the people.
But one night for me...it was like a slap in the face...my blissful sojourn was dashed.
I didn't ask for it...but...I walked into the 'Burqa Debate'.
On our way from Bromo to Ijen...many hours in the vehicle...Hady driving...Fandi our Guide next to him...Denise & I in the back...rocking on to my Blues & Rock favourite tracks CDs...Fandi amazing me with how many of the Rock tracks he could sing along to.
Stopped for a toilet break & petrol that night...at that enormous petrol station that advertised it
had
"80 toilets"...me wondering whether the massive sign so advertising could have added
"Guaranteed No Waiting"...the things we think of when travelling.
Saw the usual Musollah...the room available for prayer...meaning 'Small Mosque'...see them everywhere...shopping centres...train stations...petrol stations...everywhere.
And the tip of a dome visible...looks like a mosque next door...and there's a Take Away Coffee & Tea shop...Den & I heading towards it...meet you back here...three coffees and one tea...powdered sachets...boiling water...that's it...OK...at least its hot...careful the cups are thin...mmm...tastes nice.
Walking back to our vehicle...not a care in the World...except careful not to spill the coffees.
I saw a young girl in a black niqab coming towards us...fully veiled...only a narrow slit for the eyes...I'd say about 12...looked into her almond brown eyes as she passed...and she into mine...pretty eyes...looked too young to be in a niqab...the first I'd seen in Java.
Her friend behind...taller...unveiled...about 13...only remember her for what happened next.
As my eyes moved from her niqabed friend to her...not really looking...just heading to the car...she raised her hands in front of her face...fingers spread...a look of horror or fear on her face.
I will never forget that image...the girl was hiding her face from me...a passerby in the night...horrified or frightened I may have looked at her face.
The encounter hit me hard...a feeling of
hurt and surprise...the girl's reaction completely opposite to the female vibe I had encountered in Java thus far.
I felt for the young girl in the niqab.
Was it her father or mother who dictated she be hidden from view when in public?
Was she free to communicate...to interact with others...other than family?
Would her friends be unable to recognize her from the other side of the road...she missing out on the
"Hi there" as part of a community?
Did she feel like a stranger...or were others to her...the strangers?
Could she share a smile...a warm embrace?
Did she feel trapped or isolated?
Was she free...or confined?
Was she like a little bird in a cage...unable to fly?
My thoughts went back to a previous trip to Malaysia...a country Muslim & proud...most of the women wearing the hijab...the Islamic headscarf...faces open and free...just like in Java.
I had flown to KL to meet Denise who was returning from her "Cooking tour of Thailand". Her flight arriving several hours after mine...I'll check out Batu Caves while I wait.
Can't believe how hot & humid it is...can't walk more than half pace.
There is the giant gold Hindu statue of
Lord Murugan...next to it 272 steps to climb to access the cave temples...steps numbered...pass a woman in a heavy black niqab...she struggling...could feel her heat and sweat...breath labouring...stopping for a breather...stoically continuing to climb.
When she reached the top...collapsed into a chair...raised the flap covering her nose & mouth...shaking it seeking a draught of air...attempting to fan...looking miserable...a look of despair.
Her husband waltzing around in T-shirt & light track pants...heat no problem here...oblivious to the sufferring of his wife.
In Mali we'd see the occasional woman in a burqa...like a niqab...but the eyes are obscured by mesh or thin veil...these women looking so out of place...hidden or hiding...in a Muslim nation...a Nation with some of the handsomest happiest faces on the planet.
I discussed the attitude to the niqab & burqa many times in Java...with men...all Muslim...all dismissing it as
"a Bedouin thing"..."Arabian Islam"..."not Javan". We discussed the equality of men & women in Javan society...assurred me this was a Javan tradition...notwithstanding Islam...and radical elements desiring Sharia law...equality will continue...we are firstly Javan.
Much of the emancipation and equality of women in Java is attributed to
Raden Ajeng Kartini who died at age
25 in 1904...but her letters published as
"Out of Dark comes Light" in 1911 or
"Letters of a Javanese Princess"...pressing for education and equality of Javanese women...have struck a Nationalistic chord.
The Indonesian Constitution decrees equality of women.
21 April is an Indonesian annual holiday...Kartini Day.
Yet reports from Aceh and its Moral Police...Sharia Law...will that ever stifle Java?
But what has this got to do with me?
I was seeing the niqab, burqa, chador as clothing portraying inequality of women.
I was asking myself the question...
"Is the burqa or niqab right or wrong?"
Is it right or wrong for me to ask that question at all?
The answer is in the Koran.
"Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent and to draw their veils over their bosoms." The Koran The Chapter of the Light. There is also the instruction of Muhammad which is often interpreted as
"which is apparent" means
"woman's face and hands." It appears to me that the interpretation of this passage of the Koran has been like a growing vine...branching into all sorts of interpretations:
...from total covering of the female form with the burqa, chador & niqab...to
"modest" dress often depicted by the hijab...to even no headscarf at all.
And in this modern World...fashion for women...has led to hijab fashion houses...catering for all colours...and prices.
The shop with the rows and rows of colourful headscarfs on mannequin torsos in the village of Borobudur comes to mind.
Indonesia is regarded as a moderate Islamic Nation...advocating Islamic moderation as the key to unity of the peoples of this populous nation.
And there are some Islamic leaders who are prepared to be say there is no place for the Burqa in 21st Century society.
Doctor Ameer Ali is the Vice President of the Regional Islamic Council of South East Asia.
He calls the burqa and niqab "un-Islamic".
Doctor Ali says the coverings do not fit with modern values, and should not be worn in public places.
"All that the Koran wants from the women is to dress modestly. For men and women. So if you think covering from head to toe in a black garment then I think there is something wrong with the thought process", he says.
"The burqa and the niqab, these two are the most extreme forms of covering a women. It has no place in the holy book, the Koran. It is the living relic of patriarchal, medieval, misogynist society. That civilisation has gone."
So is the burqa right or wrong?
Should it have no place in a modern multicultural society?
I judge from my experiences...tempered by the reaction of my senses...what I see...smell...feel...and hear...the taste in my mouth...my sense of justice.
I know the arguments...for and against...and that people die over and for religious dogma...history is full of it.
When I see women happy and exuding freedom and content in their smiles...I kinda think that is how it should be.
Their faces are their identity.
Let the pictures tell their stories...
Faces of Java...The Women.
Relax & Enjoy,
Dancing Dave
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GRACIELA
non-member comment
what a collection!!!!!!!!!!
I love the pictures of faces. All of them tell us a story. Congratulations. Graciela from Argentina.