Opinion: Censored faces, numb minds

The event took place in Konya. Mufti Karatay’s Office organised a document presentation programme for the hafiz who succeeded in the Hafiz Determination Examination for the second period of 2023. 172 male and female hafiz received their diplomas from Konya Provincial Mufti Ali Öge and shared the photos taken at the ceremony on social media.

However, it was seen that the faces of the female hafiz were censored in the photographs. The same photos were also published on the official website and social media accounts of the mufti's office with the faces of the women censored! 

When the images drew reaction, Öge stated that he had "no instruction regarding the censorisation of the photographs" and added, "Probably the faces of the women were hidden at the request of our sisters and their families." 

Interestingly, at the "Religious Academy 2023- 2024 Higher Specialisation Training Opening Programme" ceremony held at the Izmir Religious Higher Specialisation Centre on 5 September, male staff, instructors and trainees were seated in the front rows, while women were seated in the back rows.

These events are no coincidence. 

Those who want to erase women from social life and keep them at home... 

Who see the main duty of women as "giving birth to at least three children"... 

Who put women in headscarves and veils to make them invisible... 

They are the results of the reactionism that is disturbed by the success of our women's volleyball team in the international arena instead of being proud of it. 

No woman in her right mind would want her face to be hidden in a photograph taken at a ceremony where she has been successful and received a diploma. The only ones who want this are the bigots around them. 

I recently saw a recording of an Iranian state television reporter talking to a girl when schools opened. The reporter asks: "What would you like to say to Iranian President Reisi?" The child, whose face is covered with a censor, replies: "I never want to wear hijab."

WEARING A SHORT SHIRT, SINGING IS A CRIME...

The issue of censorship reminded me of a video I watched on the internet last month on the second anniversary of the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan. A group of anonymous female musicians called "The Last Torch" had released a song about the shackling of Afghan women. 

As I watched two women in burqas singing in the video, I was stuck even though I couldn't understand what they were saying. I watched with a shocking feeling of not being able to see the owners of those impressive voices. The effort they make to work underground, to make a song and to announce it to the world is so great... 

Then I read the news from Iran about the new "Chastity and Hijab Law" approved by the Iranian parliament after the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death. Now, women in Iran who do not cover their heads will be punished more severely than drug traffickers. Women who wear "inappropriate clothes" on the street can be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined hundreds of dollars. 

Do you know what "inappropriate clothes" are? Short-sleeved clothes, round-necked t-shirts, three-quarter length trousers and torn trousers!

Imagine that wearing a short-sleeved, round-necked t-shirt in Iran can lead to imprisonment in the 21st century, or singing for women's freedom in Afghanistan can lead to flogging! 

WE WILL NOT LET BACKWARDNESS PASS

If the Republican Revolution, which paved the way for the Enlightenment, had not taken place in Turkey and if secularism had not been written as a principle in the constitution, there would be punishments for women in our country today, just like in Iran. 

The bigoted attack against our National Women's Volleyball Team is not an ordinary incident; it is the result of the redesign of society under the blockade of political Islam for 21 years.

The disgusting comments made on the bodies of athletes belong to the bigots who want to implement Sharia law in this country and aspire to the caliphate. 

But what the counter-revolutionaries have not learnt is this: The secular Republican Revolution in Turkey is not unclaimed. We know that we will never surrender to reaction, and we know how to show once again to those whose brains become numb while icing women's faces!