Significance of peace and non-violence for India

21 September is celebrated the world over as World Peace Day. 2 October is commemorated as the International Day of Non-Violence. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind feels that both these days have a special significance for India. We are a multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual country with a Constitution that is based on principles of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity. These abiding principles demand that we the people of India live together in peace and harmony. Today, some forces are seeking power in the name of hate and division and hence becoming a threat to peace and progress. Society needs to develop mutual tolerance and trust among each other. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind feels that the message of non-violence and the resolution of differences can only be through the process of dialogue, debate, and discussion. Might is right is the rule of the jungle and not that of civilized societies. Maintaining communal harmony and a conducive atmosphere for mutual cooperation and support at every level of society and leadership and between communities is the way ahead to develop as a nation. We hope the people of India disown and discard those trying to polarize and divide society through hate and deceit. The road to peace and progress requires unity, fraternity, and brotherhood. We owe it to our future generations.

The issue of abortion

In a judgment delivered by a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud on 29 September, the Supreme Court of India has permitted all women be they married, unmarried, or minors to access safe and legal abortion facilities even if their pregnancies are between 20 and 24 weeks old. Earlier, the law only permitted married women to have legal abortions. Unmarried women were excluded from aborting their fetuses. This exclusion led them to the path of illegal and unsafe abortions leading to thousands of lost lives. The government amended the old law with the new MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) Amendment Act 2021, permitting all women to have a legal abortion. In the judgment, the apex court has also touched upon the question of marital rape. The SC has ruled that rape must be interpreted to include marital rape and should be brought under the ambit of MTP. This will permit a married woman to abort her unborn, without the husband’s permission, if she feels that pregnancy was forced upon her without her own will. One of the arguments put by the bench delivering the judgment is that: “the interpretation of MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) has to be in accordance with societal realities and demands. Readjustment of laws cannot be in past archives.” Jamaat-e-Islami Hind disagrees with the reasoning of the apex court that the laws must be amended to accommodate changing social mores. This would give precedence to the whims and fancies of the majority over moral principles and universally accepted values and ethics. We feel that abortion is essentially a moral issue and one cannot ignore the questions of “beginning of human personhood”, “rights of the unborn fetus”, and “bodily integrity” (the inviolability of the physical body). Human rights must apply to all of human life regardless of their stage in life, dependency, gender, race, or needs. Just because preborn children cannot defend their rights, does not mean that we can dispense them at will merely for reasons of convenience and ignoring that abortion no matter how safe it is can cause long-term harm to a woman’s emotional and physical health. We must examine the result this law will have on society. The exploitation of women will increase manifold as men will no longer fear the consequences of their actions. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind hopes the law is re-examined and debated in society before rushing to any conclusions as the fate and human rights of millions of unborns are at stake.

Growing atrocities on women

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is highly concerned over the growing incidents of atrocities against women in our country. The murder of Ankita Bhandari, the incidents of the outraging of modesty of girls from Chandigarh University and a girls hostel in Kanpur all point to the fast slide in our moral values and our dismal record in according women and the girl child their due place in society. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, India saw more than 4.2 lakh cases of crimes against women in 2021. That is a 15% increase from the previous year. In these cases 32% come under the category of “cruelty by husband” and 20% under “assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty”. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind feels that society must be reformed by changing its outlook towards women. This must begin at the level of school education itself. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that the best among you is the one who has the best morals and the best among you is the one who is best to his family. We must try to emulate the Prophet’s love and respect to women.

Falling rupee and HDI

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind voices its concern over the Indian rupee which has now fallen to Rs 81.47 against the US dollar. It is a historically low number and an outcome of the hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve of the United States. The RBI has lost a significant amount of its foreign exchange reserves in defending the rupee from a further slide. India’s forex reserves now stand at $537.5 billion as of Sep 23, the lowest in the last two years. Defending the rupee cannot be a sustainable strategy because of our rising current account deficit (import-export gap). Rupee depreciation will make fuel prices go up even further causing inflation and resulting in a tightening of our monetary policy. Already the RBI has increased interest rates by 0.5% four times since May 2022. This will dampen the credit offtake from banks and slow down the economy. Another area of concern is our ranking of 132 among 191 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) 2022. The HDI is measured on factors such as long and healthy life, access to education, and a decent standard of living. HDI is calculated using four indicators – life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, and the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. In all these indices our performance is lower than even those of our neighbors like Sri Lanka, China, and Bangladesh. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind feels that India must take the lead in transforming its economy from being interest-based to equity-based so that it can be stable and sustain itself without depending on the ups and downs of fluctuating interest rates and their impact on global currency rates. India must also adopt welfare-driven policies for public health and education. We must reduce the growing inequality of income and ensure that progress and development help all and not only the rich and privileged.