The arrest of the Indian-origin doctor Dr. Jumana Nagarwala in Detroit, U.S., for allegedly performing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on minor girls, once again fuels the debate on the need for a law. “This case will only strengthen our campaign. The case is being read and debated the world over only because the United States has a law against FGM,” said Delhi-based publisher Masooma Ranalvi who initiated the campaign ‘Speak out on Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision’.
According to Ms. Ranalvi, presence of law doesn’t necessarily mean that FGM (or khatna/khafd ) will come to an end. “But it will definitely act as a deterrent. The doctors who are performing this procedure and the parents who are putting their girl under the knife should all think twice before doing it,” she said.
Illegal in Australia
In 2015, three Dawoodi Bohras — a religious head, a midwife and mother of a minor girl who was cut — faced Supreme Court trial in Australia as the practice is considered illegal in the country. It was this case that gave much needed impetus to a strong anti-FGM movement that began in India. Gradually many women began talking about it openly.
“We believe it is a serious breach of medical ethics for any doctor to perform this non-medical procedure that is categorically recognised as a form of gender-based violence and a violation of human and child rights. In countries like the U.S. where it is a criminal offence, we believe that parents, too, cannot be absolved of the responsibility to follow the law,” said a statement from Sahiyo, an organisation that is working towards ending khatna .
Sahiyo’s co-founder, Shaheeda Tavawalla-Kirtane said, “If only the religious leadership would come out with an unequivocal global statement against this practice, for the greater good of the community and to benefit the health of all Dawoodi Bohra girls and women worldwide, I believe the doctor and the family of these two minors in the States could have been spared from getting legally embroiled in a damnable criminal case”.
Following the case in Australia, the community’s religious heads had issued two circulars in the United States — one by Anjuman-e-Fakhri (Minneapolis) and another one by Anjuman-e-Najim (Detroit) — asking the community to “abide by the State and federal law” and “not to engage in khafd ”.
Commenting on the arrest, a community spokesperson said, “It is extremely unfortunate that certain individuals did not abide by the edicts and violated the prevailing laws of the country.”
