Nigar Arpadarai: The issue of hijab in schools is not a matter of education or freedom of choice
Girls wear the hijab because their elders told them to, and there is no need to invent other explanations; I will not be convinced by comments claiming that someone made this choice on their own.
Member of the Milli Majlis Nigar Arpadarai said this to 1news.az.
«This would be ordinary manipulation: the decision to put on a hijab is in one way or another made under someone’s influence. A child has no freedom to choose a religion — this is a conscious prerogative of adults.
I do not condemn or criticize those who have made such a choice. But I expect mutual respect for my decision as well — the decision of a secular Muslim woman made at a mature age — just as for the choice of any person.
This situation is not a choice, but a classic example of how a social structure is undermined through the indoctrination of a minority. Such technology has been applied repeatedly and successfully in many countries throughout the 20th century. And the problem lies not in the hijab itself, but in the fact that this instrument is used for destruction, hiding behind respectable slogans about girls’ rights. Time and again societies fall into this trap, and even educated people begin to talk about freedom of choice in situations where what is happening is diametrically opposed to the very idea of freedom. What freedom of choice can there be when there is indoctrination?
The only difference is that each society has its own fertile ground for conflict. In the West, the dividing lines have become feminism, the rights of sexual minorities, and migration policy. In Latin America — left-wing movements and issues of social justice. In other regions, such triggers are often ethnic or religious groups.
What they have in common is that the subject of the conflict always possesses colossal potential: it is capable of both uniting and splitting society. And it is precisely this vulnerable point that is targeted by those whose goal is destabilization.
A careful analysis of the above confirms: the situation under consideration lies outside the religious plane. This is a matter of the use of specific political technologies.
Religious convictions in this case are merely a trigger, but by no means the root cause. Similar political technologies have already been used in various years in Kosovo, Turkey, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Austria, Belgium, and many other countries.
Freedom of religion has only an indirect relation to this situation, since what is at issue is the use of the religious factor for political purposes, and not faith itself. In Azerbaijan there have never been and there are no persecutions for religious beliefs. On the contrary, mosques, churches, synagogues, and other religious complexes are being actively built and restored in the country.
The task of the state in such a situation lies precisely in this: to prevent religion from turning into a political instrument, that is, to preserve the principle of secularism while at the same time protecting citizens’ right to freedom of religion.
The Azerbaijani state, which has traveled a grand path of development over recent decades, must act exclusively in the national interest. The main of these interests are tireless work on the unity of the nation, the elimination of divisive factors, and protection from external influence. However, in fairness, this must be achieved year after year through education and enlightenment. A highly educated society simply does not face such challenges.
And it must be remembered: our opponents have for years and with great patience been sowing the seeds of discord in our society», the member of parliament stated.
