Shakeeba Moidu
What can a rape do, other than injure/harm the body?
She was a young, brave, beautiful and a powerful soul – a lot more than those culprits (the Hindu nationalist terrorists) could ever imagine. ASIFA was raped only because of the identity she possessed (a Kashmiri Muslim women). She was raped not to satisfy their lust, but to satisfy their bloody anger towards the Muslim population, and to give the members of her community the threat on their very existence in this ‘holy land’.
For you, she may be another Nirbhaya, but for us, she’s a lot more than that. Her tragic murder reminds us of our sisters, who were selectively raped during the Gujarat genocide; and many known and unknown similar incidents that continue to happen in this nation and across!! One of their leaders’ statement to rape the dead bodies of Muslim women, never shocked us – neither did this! Because, the statement in itself holds how they conceptualize the idea of being raped.
For us, it was never our body that mattered, but the soul that we submit to our Master. If it’s your political strategy to delegitimize our existence, then I would better make it clear, that NO rape threats or rape is gonna bereft us of our pride, because these rapes/sexual molestations are never gonna impure us, because we are the followers of Aysha. If this is the battle against us, then we are equipped to shield our legitimate existence with our body.
Shakeeba Moidu is a graduate student at Lady Sriram College, New Delhi
