The "Privilege" Argument:
Secularism AT ANY COST?
[December 2000]
Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance
Upper Iowa University
Dear Shetubondhon Friends,
Salam and greetings.
It is important to recognize that these anti-Hijab measures are placed in a calculated manner to prevent certain segments of people in Turkey, who actually happen to be in tune with the majority of population, from participating in the political life of the country.
"secularism remained an elite ideology, whereas Islam, the nominal religion of 98 percent of the population, continued to be a strong influence on most of the people, especially in rural areas and lower-class urban neighborhoods."
http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/library/world/KZ/bl_TurkeyReligionPolitics.htm
Actually, preventing an elected member of the parliament to take office due to her Hijab is merely a tool of a much larger design and dictatorial culture, where the majority right can be denied or abrogated, the largest party of the country can be outlawed, popular leaders can be thrown into jail on charges of subversion because of their religious orientation.
Fearing that the result of democratic outcome would upset the secularist standing and profile of the country, "Refah (Welfare), the largest political party in the Turkish Grand National Assembly" was banned. http://www.house.gov/csce/report.htm
The democratically elected government of Erbakan was FORCED by the military, the guardians of Kemalist secularism, to resign in 1997. This is noted as part of the Human Rights Watch: World Report 1999. http://www.hrw.org/hrw/worldreport99/europe/turkey.html
Even the ally of Turkey, U.S., "criticized Turkey's decision to ban the Welfare Party and expressed its concern that the closure of LEGITIMATE parties 'damages confidence in Turkey's democratic, multi-party system'."
http://www.hrw.org/hrw/worldreport99/europe/turkey3.html
This is why the "right vs. privilege" distinction and approach is a false and captious one. Indeed, in quite fundamentalist, paranoidal fashion, Turkey is willing to subvert the democratic process, if necessary, to force their version of secularism. Indeed, such type of secularism can be implemented in only one way: coercively - an important common characteristic of fundamentalism, religious or secular.
Quite contrary to the claims of several authors that secularism, as in Turkey, is merely for separation between religion and state and establishing a non-preferential treatment of religion, this secularism is "puritanical" - it's with an anti-religious agenda. This is acknowledged even in the sites focusing on Atheism/Agnosticism as cited below.
"Ataturk and his associates not only abolished certain religious practices and institutions but also questioned the value of religion, preferring to place their trust in science. They regarded organized religion as an anachronism and contrasted it unfavorably with "civilization," which to them meant a rationalist, secular culture."
[Secularist Policies http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/library/world/KZ/bl_TurkeySecularism.htm
That is why Turkish type of secularism can have only a fundamentalist rationalization even with veneer of sophisticated and cool arguments that has only semblance of logic.
People can say whatever they like - based on their IMPRESSIONS. Facts speak for themselves. No blood spilled for such secularism?
"As early as 1925, religious grievances were one of the principal causes of the Seyh Sait rebellion, an uprising in southeastern Turkey that may have claimed as many as 30,000 lives before being suppressed."
30,000 lives in ONE rebellion! Where is it said? Interestingly, there are people among atheists and agnostic, who have somewhat more principled position and their definition of freedom and liberty does not mean taking freedom or liberty with facts and history.
[http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/library/world/KZ/bl_TurkeyRetreat.htm]
In the above article, you can also read more about how the "right-of-the center" secularists got rid of the "left-of-the center" secularists in Turkey. "The result was a PURGE from these state institutions of more than 2,000 intellectuals perceived as espousing leftist ideas incompatible with the Hearth's vision of Turkey's national culture."
If democracy or basic human rights can be sacrificed so easily for the sake of this kind of secularism, secularists won't find a lot of Muslims or religionists at their table of discussions. They, then, better deal with their counterpart extremists among religionists.The fact of the matter is secularism is not represented by Turkish regime. Secularism is better than that and secularists should realize that better. However, when they go extra miles to defend secularism - all secularism, even if democracy and/or basic human rights need to be sacrificed - then, secularists don't serve themselves or the cause of secularism well. Yes, not well, at all.
Best regards.
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