What is khatna

The child was guided into a private room. What followed left Masooma scarred. She was subject to genital mutilation. I was told that it would not be painful. But I still cannot get over that experience. It was at the age of 13 that Masum had the words for what had happened to her. Female genital mutilation FGM is a practice that some communities across the world follow. There are four ways in which khatna is practiced in India. In some cases, the clitoris is either partially or totally removed.

The clitoris is the sexual organ of women — this is where sexual pleasure is concentrated for women, as opposed to the vagina, which is a reproductive organ. In other cases, the labia flaps of skin around the vagina are cut, along with the clitoris. Sometimes, the clitoris is removed and the labia are stitched together, leaving a very small opening around the vagina for menstrual blood to flow out.

Graphic courtesy Dr Meghana Reddy. It is usually done at home with no medical supervision. More than anything else, it is sheer betrayal of trust. When it is being performed, girls experience pain. They have always and will always live peacefully in whatever country they are in. There are many positives to the community and to every cult like Scientology, Jehovah Witness, etc, but there are also serious negatives, as with FMG and moreover all the brainwashing, fear, money, and power involved in something that is supposed to be virtuous.

So as I said before, cults are always dangerous and wrong. Regarding FMG, it is illegal in the US and we Bohras are all very aware of that , which is why khatna is to be done underground and discretely, but it still deemed necessary to be done. Therefore, I believe the defendants be charged for their crimes, and more importantly, the leaders of the sect in Detroit and the head leadership in Bombay need to be investigated and persecuted as well, because everything that is done in the Bohra community must be ordained from the leadership in order for it to be done.

The Bohra people are the victims, and I personally have nothing but empathy when dealing with them because I was one of them not too long ago. Wish all Bohras the best in finding their own spiritual journey, whatever that may be. In the UK, we are facing a similar struggle with FGM, as it is both illegal to perform it here and take your child to a foreign country to get it done. I am trying to find a way to educate the Bohra community about the potential risks of such an operation but do not know a way to go about it.

Have you had any success in talking about it to the US community? Best wishes, Another former bohri. Hi there, feel free to contact Sahiyo at info sahiyo. However, an association, claiming to represent the women of the community, is opposing any ban on the practice. Would like to write to them to stop falsely representing me. Do write to them about how you feel about this!

I am also following you in twitter. My twitter account is Zarqa London. Researchers , I visit your website quite often to take some information and also update myself on the current work you are doing against this practice. I am based in London at the moment. Hi Zarqa, thanks for reaching out! Feel free to also email us at info sahiyo.

I would love to read your thesis if it is completed. Pingback: Female Genital Mutilation has declined globally, but Dawoodi Bohra women continue to fight 'khatna' in India - globalbalavendranews. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account.

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Skip to content. To understand this, let us look at what Islamic texts say about female circumcision. Italics added I am not an Arabic scholar, but it is evident from these various translations that different Arabic and Islamic scholars have interpreted the same message in slightly different and contradictory ways.

Like this: Like Loading Previous We need a Bohra Revolution. May 19, at am Reply. May 20, at am Reply. May 19, at pm Reply. May 20, at pm Reply. The curtains were drawn. She said lie down. Like an obedient child, I lay. My grandmother was holding my hands. An oldish woman pulled down my pants… I started crying. I shrieked in pain… I experienced a sharp, shooting pain and she put some black powder there… I came home and cried and cried and cried For a long time, Masooma did not understand what had happened to her or why she had been cut.

The realisation that she had been so betrayed shattered her. The reasons why khatna is so common in the community shocked her. Aarefa Johari, a young, articulate journalist is another petitioner. Like most women in the two million-strong Bohra community, Aarefa was cut too. Without consent and without too much thought. Why, she asked herself for a long time. The answer to that question is stark: Tradition is not easy to slay.

Slaying young girls is easier. Masooma and Aarefa were both cut because their mothers were pressured into taking their daughters to Bhindi Bazaar in Mumbai by older women in the family; either by aunts or mothers-in-law.

The sad truth to this painful process is the fact that it is a practice being done to women by other women. Most women we spoke with blamed their mothers initially. Till they realised they too were victims of the same mindless tradition.

Aarefa, like other women, has had long conversations with her mother who now supports her in her fight against FGM.

She read an article by a Bohra woman some years later and made Aarefa read it too. Unlike Aarefa, Zehra Patwa, a year-old US-based Technology Project Manager found out only a year ago that her most private parts had been tampered with. She had dealt with the childhood trauma by just blocking it out completely, which psychologists say is common. For the past year, Zehra has been struggling with questions flooding her mind.

A year ago, someone from my family spoke about it publicly. Was it a nick, a big cut, what was it?