JOHANNESBURG, February 6: One ordinary day in September last year, a Muslim community radio station broadcast a thirty-minute programme giving instructions on `how to beat your wife'.That radio station is currently fighting to retain its broadcasting licence on the basis of its right to religious freedom, guaranteed by the constitution.
The offending programme discussed when and how to punish an erring spouse for example when she does not perform domestic chores and pushed the line that a man is entitled to beat his wife. But it's not the only thing about the station that offends human rights advocates here: Radio Islam also does not permit women to broadcast on its airwaves -- on religious grounds, it says -- and this has earned the wrath of the commission on gender equality (CGE), which wants its broadcast licence revoked.
The station's one-year licence expired on January 10.
CGE says the half-hour programme pointed to deeper problems of discrimination and that it ``cannot condone the refusal ofRadio Islam to allow women on the public airwaves.''
``To allow the exclusion of women on the airwaves would set a dangerous precedent for the exclusion of women from other forms of public life ...,'' notes the CGE in a submission to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA).
The IBA is the regulatory body set up to throw the airwaves open to new players, issue licences and monitor compliance with licensing conditions, which include a regulation that stations must be accountable to their target communities.
In its original application for a licence, Radio Islam said it would serve the interests of the whole Muslim community. However, in its new application, due to be heard this month, the station states that it aims to serve the interests of the Jumiatul Ulama, which represents only some Muslims.
The Jumiatul Ulama believes that women cannot be heard in public. So while Radio Islam has acceded to demands by the IBA to appoint women to management positions, it says it will never permit them on itsairwaves and is ready to go to the constitutional court to defend its position.
However, while the constitution guarantees religious rights, it also guarantees the right to equality and to free expression. The highest law of the land also places limitations on every right ``to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom.''
``What is important to note about these rights is that none of them is absolute,'' says Colleen Lowe-Morna, an advisor to CGE. ``They have to be balanced against each other.''
The CGE is a body set up by parliament to protect and promote gender equality.
The operators of Radio Islam refuse to be drawn into a debate on their convictions. However, there are four other Muslim radio stations in the country and Radio Islam is the only one that maintains that broadcasters must all be male.
``What we witness here is a minority feeling,'' says Shaykh Seraj Hendricks, head of the Azzawia mosquein Cape Town. ``There has been a wide diversity of interpretations of the teachings of Islam. Draconian expressions such as these have more to do with culture than religion.''
But the damage has been done to the entire Muslim community and stereotypes that the religion oppresses women continue to be entrenched by such moves.``The impression has been created that all Muslims support this gender discrimination,'' says Zayne Marimuthu of youth for Islamic enlightenment leadership and development (YIELD), which filed the complaint against Radio Islam to the IBA.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
