Just like my mental satellite picks up anything race related in the media nowadays, I have the pleasure of announcing that my next venture beyond distant shores outside of my homeland (and that’s the UK if you are still unsure) is the East meets West land of mighty Turkey. Since my excursion was confirmed, it has been inevitable that I have been hearing about Turkey a lot more nowadays in all areas of life. It reminds me of when you buy a car which is unique and stylish and you suddenly realise that 95% of your neighbourhood owns one too in all shapes, models and versions. But that’s what you get when you invest in a Ford Fiesta isn’t it?
Recently, I tuned in to a BBC production looking at ‘Turkey on the Edge’ hosted by the enigmatic Adil Ray. With the country on the brink of joining Europe, the programme looked at how the country battled with its own identity with conflicting pressures to remain a strict Islamic state alongside government plans to become an increasingly secular and liberal nation. A most interesting viewing experience.
I was surprised to learn that Turkey’s secular constitution banned Islamic headscarves in all official buildings! That’s like telling a devout Sikh that he/she must remove their turban before they go into work! What would Mr Singh make of that one should such a preposterous rule exist in Britain? In Istanbul devout Muslim women are forced to part with their headscarves at the doors of their universities; the only way they can continue with their education. It was most disturbing to learn this fact for the following reasons:
1. Muslim ladies are forced to compromise their identities and beliefs at the doors of educational establishments. This often stops many from proceeding with their education.
Result: A mutinous young population forced to seek alternative methods of education.
2. The headscarf becomes a political symbol. No longer does it symbolise devotion to Islam but a symbol for old views and backward thinking in a forward thinking nation Turkey’s leaders aspire to become.
Result: increasing suspicions and possible fanaticism against the political system amongst the devout.
Even more shocking result: increasing suspicion that fanaticism leads to terrorism by the secularised population.
3. Hatred – re-enforcing point number 2. With a sub-section of the population rebelling against the political system, Muslim ladies are forced to wear wigs over their headscarves as they mock the political rules.
Result: An openly rebellious devout community destabilising community relations and creating unease. Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attempt to lift a ban on wearing headscarves in universities was viewed as anti-secular according to the country's highest court. Shocking.
Mr Singh would not be impressed if rules like the above were enforced on a British Sikh population. Can you imagine the outrage should there be a ban on turbans for example?
For me, the turban is an outward religious symbol that identifies me by my religion. It is more important to me than being labelled as an Asian since being ‘Asian’ spans a multitude of people and races (ask Miley Cyrus: hint previous post – slant your eyes and you’re Asian-Pacific).
I have often been told that the east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved backwards. For example, the Indians in Mumbai are apparently more westernised than the Indians in London. Why? The Indians in Mumbai moved with the times, evolving at their regular speed and embracing western influences. In London, the early migrants settled into communities and were alienated by language barriers, lacking community relations and racism. As a result, they congregated, upheld their eastern values and cultures and began moving at a far slower rate.
Result: The east has moved on and Asians in the west have moved on even slower.
So when I meet with ‘real Indians’ I am surprised by their liberal attitudes, approaches to dating, alcohol culture and general free-for-all temperaments. Then I compare with some of those in my community: devout individuals abstaining from hedonistic lifestyles and speaking English with ethnic twangs init. Shocking. Sometimes I prefer the Indian attempt at the English language than the English-by-birth effort even if the harsh pronunciation sends shivers down me. A right mucking fuddle indeed.
What’s more surprising about Turkey is that it seeks to become a liberal state despite being a Muslim country. It must be extremely difficult for the young people there to conform to Muslim ways and remain liberal when the two conflict so much. Go to Slough and you’ll see the same thing within many Asian communities. Go to Birmingham and you see the same thing in Handsworth, Smethwick. West Bromwich etc. Just like the headscarf is compromised in Turkey by being covered by a wig, in the UK religious symbols can also be diluted. Cutting of hair is the primary example of the desecration of a 5 K within Sikhism and I am also guilty of this. I remember being in the Punjab some years ago and witnessing the fashions centred around turbans. I didn’t know there were so many different styles and adopting one particular style of turban said a lot about you (my cousin adopted the ‘African’ turban and his love life remained far more interesting as a result. He eventually ventured out of India to marry but didn’t go to Africa which would have been fitting). Whilst in India, my aunt made me promise to her that I wouldn’t ever trim my beard. She was a devout Sikh and I had tremendous respect for her but I was uncomfortable in the fact that I couldn’t do what to me was quite normal here in the Midlands. She couldn’t understand how my environment in the UK was affecting how I wanted to portray myself. It was hard enough being brown and having a top-knot, let alone keeping facial hair so that I could be ridiculed for that too. As I got older, the patka regrettably became a fashion accessory for me, it didn’t signify much more than that. For my aunt, your religion was the most important thing in your life and your gateway to the next one – live a good life now and you will be with God upon your soul leaving this mortal life. It was deep stuff and I didn’t have time to fathom it back then. In Islam, the Hijab gets some stick. Words used to describe those wearing the hijab go deeper and I have heard first hand words such as ‘backward’, ‘suspicious’ and ‘up to something’. It makes sense in the current climate but it’s an ignorant view. We should seek to learn what the hijab means first.
So what does it all come down to then? How do we understand religious symbols and accept practices that may seem alien to us? First of all, if we educate ourselves further about what things mean to different people we would make a start. Just like Mr Singh who described the Sikh religion in my school assembly and its significance resulting in my new found popularity and acceptance, the UK can do more to understand ‘other people’. I think this is an area where Britain’s decision makers have failed in creating a more accepting environment for all citizens. Just walk down a street in South London and ask a passer by what he/she knows about immigration and asylum seekers for example. ‘They take our money don’t they and live in council (pronounced ‘caaansul’) houses that we could’ve had’. Usually that’s as far as the knowledge goes which is a shame.
Nobody has been educated about what the UK immigration policy is all about. There is nothing out there that helps us to identify what a headscarf signifies, or what a hijab represents or what the turban means to a Sikh. I remember in school reading about religion and arkwardly talking about Sikhism in my religious studies class whilst displaying a Sikh dagger carefully extracted from my mum’s wardrobe. She would have stabbed me with it if she had known I took it. Nevertheless I got two commendations (that’s a gold star to you) for my pretend-to-know-what-I’m-talking-about dialogue. You could get away with it when you were in Year 8. And how I got away with carrying a knife albeit religious I’ll never know…
This self-debate (I have them a lot) leads me to the following conclusion which again signifies the plurality of the views in question.
1. There is no way of possibly knowing everything – we must try to learn more about others and how they live their lives to truly appreciate their viewpoint and more importantly respect their wishes.
2. The conflict between religious conduct and liberalism must be difficult. Depending on who you speak to even I would be described as a sinner who doesn’t conform to my religion. The Muslim ladies in Istanbul must be disgusted to have to wear a comedic wig on top of their headscarves to merely prove a point. Their choice of dress shouldn’t deny them from a basic right: an education.
3. Its too difficult to box anything off into any significant order when you are talking about culture, religion, morality and viewpoints. What is right to one person can be wrong to another. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure right?
4. Geography makes a massive difference. We are all products of our environments to some degree. That’s why living in and being educated in Britain gives me the right to claim I am British (I was also born here but I feel that is less important). However, it can be argued that the Asian communities in the UK have evolved less than their counterparts in the east because of early segregation and subsequent ‘catching up’ since the early periods of migration.
5. (Purely personal and I think fitting for this post). I cannot stand the words
init, bruv, ya get me?, intit, aint it, bled (referring to blood as in brother),
blood in similar context,
yaar, man dem, bredrin and
waagwan. All of these have embedded themselves into the ethnic English vocabulary like a bad smell that even the best air freshener can’t get rid of (and we all know Indians are notorious for filling their homes with pot pourri). I can see Mr Muscle now, running down Southall Broadway with two of cans of Glade Jasmine omitting at full capacity – don’t bother mate, our innate ways need more work than that. How about another 20 years of British integration?
Result: there isn’t one. It’s all a matter of judgement, acceptance and understanding. And how many of us have the time to understand nowadays? We’re all too busy trying to justify what we do in the first place.
On a personal note, I will do what I can to appreciate all viewpoints, all religions and teachings
init. I will not judge the cover of the book straightaway but attempt to at least read the blurb on the backside (that doesn’t sound healthy). I will attempt to delve deeper and ask
wagwaan (why)? I will also educate others who may not know the answer to the ‘why’ question. I will above all attempt to live a balanced life where I abide by my religion as much as possible as well as live by the temptations of modern day life, carefully choosing my actions by their consequences
ya get me? All
man dem should therefore be more inclusive and accepting. Just like the headscarf wearers in Istanbul, I attempt to conform to my religion by wearing the turban. At the same time I live a British lifestyle 99% of the time.
Every commuters nightmare, the London rush hour that I frequently have the benefit of entertaining decided that I would yet again leave the tube station and like so many times before watch in slow motion as my bus departs before me without me on it. Should I walk to my destination and burn off the Nandos from lunchtime? I think not. So like a prisoner awaiting his sentence I stand and wait for the next bus. I usually enjoy people watching - mums, dads, children, students, business men and women, people from all backgrounds and cultures mingle seamlessly going about their daily business. I spot the local Asian-manned stall selling newspapers and chocolate bars and the Johnny 5 within me demands ‘input, input’ and a sugar fix.
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