Rayana R Khazi is a young student from Cherkalam in Kasargode. Recently she has been in the news after she came out to speak to the media about the threatening letters and phone calls that she was receiving, all of which demanded her to wear the Purdah. After Rayana’s revelations, media, human rights and feminist activists have rushed to her aid, starting off yet another round of anxieties about the growth of Islamic fundamentalism.  Even as we fully support Rayana’s need for a more livable life, it is also important that, at this juncture, we look at the numerous issues that this incident brings forth into the public sphere of Kerala.

In this controversy, one of the most important issues being raised is about the control of women’s bodies by male, religious fundamentalists in the Muslim community.  Such responses, be it from a reactionary, anti-Islamophobic perspective or from a more progressive view- point, which is aware of the rampant Islamophobia of our times, carries out a similar function in Kerala. Continue reading Rayana R Khazi and The Specter of Religious Fundamentalism in the Kerala Public Sphere: Jenny Rowena & K Ashraf →