The cruellest cut of all

Masooma Ranalvi and her fight against Female Genital Mutilation in India.

It happened to her nearly 40 years ago. Of all the many things she has forgotten, Masooma Ranalvi will never forget the day her grandmother took her to a home within an old, ramshackle building in Mumbai. She was promised chocolate and ice cream.

But as the day ended, a sobbing Ranalvi remembers being comforted by her mother.

“They didn’t tell me anything. I was told everything’s going to be fine and like any other child I didn’t ask any more questions. When it comes to pain, I guess we just bury a few memories.”

It took her years to finally understand what had happened to her on that day —when she was asked to undress and when a tool was taken to her body.

“I lost a part of me. It’s not an easy memory to reconcile with. Much later, I read an article about Female Genital Mutilation (Somali supermodel Waris Dirie’s monumental revelation) and the truth behind what had happened in Mumbai when I was just 7, finally dawned upon me.”

Ranalvi is part of the Dawoodi Bohra community. According to her, the Bohras are proud of their independence, are a prosperous lot and are an extremely tight-knit group. They are also the only branch of Islam who administer this procedure on women.

But for once, let’s look beyond religion — because FGM predates Islam. “It’s a practice that has been going on for centuries. A quiet envelopes it... there’s no conversation, no discussion. Children are promised treats... that’s how a lifetime of pain and problems starts.” FGM is on the world’s agenda. According to the UNICEF, an estimated “200 million females today have undergone some form of the procedure”. And when Ranalvi says ‘Khatna’ is strictly “underground” consider this: Sixty million of affected girls come from one country alone — Indonesia. When asked why Indonesia stayed under the FGM radar so long, Tanya Sukhija (part of Equality Now — a women’s rights group) said Indonesia had finally succumbed to international pressure with the government finally wading in to collect the most recent data.

There’s no such data being collected here in India but Ranalvi’s battle is about more than just data collection.

“It has a cultural backing, not religious. Parents are warned their girls could go astray, that Khatna is crucial in keeping them away from sexual urges — to make them tamer,” says Ranalvi. In a separate blog entry, she notes: “Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to tissue.”

But there’s hope. In tune with today’s times, Ranalvi and those backing her within the community have formed a Whatsapp group and they’re adding members with each passing day.

“There’s finally a conversation on the subject. Many young women are finally coming forward with their stories and several others now know the truth. My writings on the issue started in December and instead of a backlash, I have received hundreds of positive responses. There was a petition on Change.org earlier but that was simply ignored by religious heads — they didn’t even reply. I’m hoping the government takes note and bans this practice.”

Other countries have prescribed a jail term. “In the UK, the law now says if you’re a British citizen, you can’t get this procedure done anywhere in the world. They actually amended legislation to beat tactics. Australia too has convicted culprits. There’s still however, a steady stream of people arriving in India to cut their children because no such strict laws exist here. It happens mainly during the summer — the ‘khatna season’,” adds Ranalvi.

The Bohras who’re against the practice are braced for a battle that’s looming. The religious heads are extremely strict and community members DC spoke to believe Ranalvi and her campaign will be “dealt with”.

For now though, her efforts, supported by a hundred others is gaining steam. The campaign even has a logo — it has an image of a blade leaving a thin cut of blood with the words ‘End FGM’ below. It’s crude but it’s made by Ranalvi’s daughter, Fiza.

Which means a chain has been cut and in our world of today, that’s hope.