Women Safety is a Mirage in Liberal India's Capital City

The people’s anger is increasing day by day over the murder of Civil Defence volunteer Sabiya Saifi. Demands for justice to Sabiya are growing not only in Delhi but in UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, and other states where candle Marches are being held. [The Siasat Daily, 7 Sep 2021]

The heart wrenching incident of the brutal killing of young Muslim women with nearly 50 stabs; her breast cut off with several wounds all over her body including private parts and thrown into bushes in Delhi had sent shock waves across the country, though she was serving as a volunteer in civil defense service in India's capital, most of the mainstream media failed to report any news on this brutal murder. Only after trending of hashtag #JusticeForRabiya in social media accounts for a week, few mainstream media published news on this issue. This clearly indicates deliberation of censoring this incident by national news agencies running in the largest democratic country in the world. The parents and the brother of the late victim stated they had faced several challenges and difficulties before they could file a complaint. There have been few protests demanding for inquiry by CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, as Delhi police tries to close the case with false narrative. This shows the level of corruption in the security department and the value given to women safety in their home country. However its mainstream media was very much worried about the future of women's rights and safety in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of Kabul. These events clearly exhibit the hypocrisy of the media regarding the true sense of women safety and ‘empowerment’ in one of the largest democracies in the world which echoes Western liberalism.

This is not the first time such crimes against women have been reported in India; several incidences like Nirbhaya rape case (2012), Unnao rape case (2017), Kathaua rape case (2018) and the Hyderabad rape cum murder case (2019) expose the grim reality of bestial sexual crimes against women in the country. A survey by Thomas Reuters Foundation in 2018 ranked India as the most dangerous country for women. According to the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), India recorded 88 rape cases every day in 2019. NCRB report highlights that rape vulnerability of a girl or woman has increased up to 44% in the last 10 years. As for Delhi, it isn't just a political capital but also rape capital which records more number of rapes than any other cities in India; between January 1 and June 15 2021, the city police registered 833 cases of rape and 1,022 of molestation, up significantly from the 580 rapes and 735 molestation cases filed in the same period last year.

Since the destruction of the Khilafah, the world had lost the reference state, the reference society, the reference system for the mankind; every other man-made system had been oppressing the mankind and woman in their society; blacks are oppressed in the West systemically; oppression of Uyghur Muslims is the de facto policy of China; similarly, there is a systemic distinction in the Indian society, where if the victim was from Muslim or Dalit community i.e., lower caste Hindu, the media attention gets reduced or sometimes fails to telecast the news to the world, and the corrupt government institutions fail to punish the perpetrators in such scenarios. However, if the victim is from ‘upper class’ of the society, that is when the media, police and judiciary work fast until verdict is passed and perpetrator is punished.

The world can never think about any society which was exemplary in establishing justice except the Islamic society. Its system of governance had established justice among a diverse set of people by implementing the Shariah and punishing the perpetrators of crime irrespective of religion, color or ethnicity. Its spiritual basis of submission to the Creator made this society distinct and remarkable than any other civilization in the history of mankind.

Divine command to stand firm on the side of justice was clearly established in the ayat of Quran where Allah (swt) says:

(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ)

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.” [Surah Al-Maeda, Verse 8]

This is also emphasized in the sunnah of Messenger of Allah (saw) as recorded by Bukhari. The Prophet (saw) said:

إِنَّ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَ إِذَا سَرَقَ فِيهِمُ الشَّرِيفُ تَرَكُوهُ، وَإِذَا سَرَقَ الضَّعِيفُ قَطَعُوهُ، لَوْ كَانَتْ فَاطِمَةُ لَقَطَعْتُ يَدَهَا»‏«

“If a reputable man amongst the children of Bani Israel committed a theft, they used to forgive him, but if a poor man committed a theft, they would cut his hand. But I would cut even the hand of Fatima (i.e. the daughter of the Prophet) if she committed a theft.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

As for women safety, the Western liberal world cannot solve this serious crisis. We see that horrendous crimes against women are rampant in Western liberal countries and similar statistics reflect in those countries that follow the footsteps of the Western model. In the Medieval era, almost every other culture except Islam had oppressed women in a different manner and the contemporaries recognize those oppression; however, the secular liberalism with its attractive slogans, like personal liberty, gender equality, and women empowerment had compromised the true safety and honor for women in these societies. Yet, the people are deluded by these slogans and failed to realize the evil impact caused by these principles directly. Islam alone can ensure the safety of woman that will uphold her honor and punish the perpetrators of crimes without compromising Islamic values set by the Creator of the universe.

(وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ * بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ)

“And when the female (infant) buried alive, shall be questioned. For what sin she was killed?” [Surah At-Takwir, Verse 8-9]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Faizul ibn Ahmed