69 Yrs Later, Bid On Nilambur Ayisha’s Life By Religious Zealots In Kerala, Back On Stage
New
Age Islam News Bureau
19
May 2022
•
Female War Correspondents In The Spotlight At Arab Women Forum
•
Suspended Sentence For German Woman, Leonora Messing; Cleared Of Aiding And
Abetting Crimes Against Humanity
•
Emotional Intelligence Necessary For Women To Succeed In The Business Sector:
Samia El Kadiri
•
‘Don’t Be Shy — Women In Banking Sector Need To Go For It’, Says Denovo’s May
Nasrallah
•
Manal Rostom Becomes First Egyptian Woman To Reach Everest Summit
•
Saudi Arabia Celebrates International Women’s Day In Maritime Sector
•
Dubai: World's Best Nurse From Kenya Is Only Woman In Her Village To Graduate
College
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/nilambur-ayisha-kerala-religious-zealots/d/127042
--------
69
Yrs Later, Bid On Nilambur Ayisha’s Life By Religious Zealots In Kerala, Back
On Stage
Poster
from the play. ( File Photo )
----
19th
May 2022
By
Amiya Meethal
KOZHIKODE: The Attempt on the life of a 16-year-old
Nilambur Ayisha, on stage in 1953, has been (was then) recorded as the most
apparent attack against art by religious zealots in Kerala. The reason? Ayisha
was the first Muslim woman who dared to act in a play. That shooting incident
happened at Melakkam in Manjeri. Sixty-nine years on, even as fundamentalist
sections attempt to stifle progressive voices, a reloaded version of the play
Ejj Nalloru Manusanakan Nokk (You try to be a good human being), which had
ushered in a renaissance wave among the Muslim community -- is set to be staged
in Nilambur on Thursday and Friday.
Director
Rafeeq Mangalasseri has revised the play — penned by E K Ayamu — by
incorporating incidents from the modern times. “The two-hour play, under the
Ayamu Memorial Trust, starts with the shooting attempt against Ayisha. The play
depicts how the same forces that aimed at Ayisha 69 years ago continue to be
active and are doing the same reprehensible act of stifling progress,
especially against women,” says Mangalasseri.
The
play also mentions the recent incident of a girl being humiliated on stage by a
religious leader. While gun-toting zealots stood against change in 1953, the
reworked play attempts to portray the possibility of regressive forces now
resorting to a bomb explosion.
Drama’s
new version features 6 women, 7 girls
“The
play has the characters of Ayamu and the then Communist leader and legislator K
Kunhali coming on stage and challenging the religious fanatics by saying that
they had successfully resisted such forces in the past and that the fanatics
cannot prevent the people marching ahead even now,” the director points out.
Symbolising
change, the new version features six women and seven girls compared to a lone
woman in the 1953 play. While a single woman enacted the drama in 1953, six
women and seven girls will be seen this time.
Shot
from air gun
Recalling
the shooting incident, Nilambur Ayisha, now 85, told TNIE that she was lucky to
escape the bullet as she moved away from its path while delivering dialogues.
“It might have been the seventh or eighth staging of Ejj Nalloru Manusanakan
Nokk. That shot was fired from an air gun and the bullet hit the stage. But the
play continued without a break,” she reminisces. The struggle of those days are
unimaginable now, she says. “We were almost running from one stage to another
on foot, with harmonium on the head and shouting inquilab. There was no payment
but death threats. We were welcomed only by the communists,” she recalls.
The
play spoke about the plight of Muslim lives trapped under religious doctrines
and social customs, while shedding light on the farmers’ struggle against
feudalism. Besides Ayamu, Ayisha’s brother Manu Muhammed, Dr M Usman and S A
Jameel were the artists behind the play that was staged more than 1,000 times
across the state, and in cities outside the state.
Source:
New Indian Express
--------
Female
War Correspondents In The Spotlight At Arab Women Forum
The
image many harbour of the intrepid war correspondent is patently masculine .
(AN Photo)
-----
May
18, 2022
DUBAI:
Journalists, whether they are men or women, have a duty to find out the truth
and to tell the human story behind major world events, including the harsh
realities of war. But, by virtue of their gender, are women better equipped to
tell those stories?
The
view of women as the more “emotional” sex can sound dated to modern ears. But
when a female journalist enters a war zone, it is often acknowledged that her
access to the private lives of her sources, particularly families caught up in
conflict, is often markedly different to the reception experienced by a male
correspondent.
Arizh
Mukhammed is a Moscow-based war reporter for Sky News Arabia. Over the past few
months, she had been deployed to the front lines in Ukraine to report on the
Russian invasion, braving armed conflict and the human tragedies of war.
“It
is not easy to cover war, because, like any human being, you feel fear. And I
feel fear,” Mukhammed told a panel discussion a session entitled “Storytellers
from the war front” at the Arab Women Forum in Dubai on Tuesday.
Mukhammed,
who is half Russian and half Syrian, says wars bring journalists “closer to
peoples’ suffering,” making it all the more difficult to remain objective about
what they are witnessing.
But
the ability to empathize with the men, women and children a reporter encounters
while deployed in a war zone undoubtedly gives their coverage a powerful human
dimension that allows viewers to experience the agonies of distant conflicts.
The
question is, are women better equipped than men to document such accounts?
“Women
war journalists give a deeper dimension to human suffering,” Mukhammed told
Arab News at the forum.
“While
men might surround themselves with the impression that they are strong and
fearless, women have actually shown they are much more patient.”
Christiane
Baissary, a senior news anchor for the Al-Hadath news channel, said there is a
common misconception that women are not suited for war coverage.
“A
soldier once told me that women should not be in a war zone. He was trying to
convince me that I should not stay to cover the war,” she said.
“This
mentality is not just in the Middle East but everywhere,” Baissary said, adding
that things have since changed and women are gaining more opportunities to
cover conflict zones.
The
image many harbour of the intrepid war correspondent is patently masculine — a
gung-ho adventurer who risks kidnap, injury, or even death to get as close as
possible to the blood and gun smoke of war.
Indeed,
the role of a war correspondent can be extremely dangerous. On May 11, Al
Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead in the West Bank city of
Jenin while reporting on an Israeli arrest operation, despite wearing
protective gear clearly identifying her as a member of the press.
“The
killing of Abu Akleh is another serious attack on media freedom and freedom of
expression, amid the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank,” UN
experts Morris Tidball-Binz, Reem Alsalem, and Irene Khan said in a statement
on May 13.
They
called for a prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh,
in full compliance with UN regulations.
“The
role of journalists, especially in a context of heightened tension and marked
by continuous abuses, like the occupied Palestinian territory, is critical,”
the statement read.
“Lack
of accountability gives carte blanche to continue the litany of extrajudicial
executions. The safety of journalists is essential in guaranteeing freedom of
expression and media freedom.”
Of
course, Abu Akleh was only the latest reporter to be killed while on duty.
According to the press advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders, scores
of journalists are killed every year worldwide in connection with their work.
Nearly a thousand have died over the past decade alone.
“I
think it was really important for us to highlight female war correspondents and
women correspondents because what they are doing is out of the ordinary,” said
Noor Nugali, assistant editor-in-chief at Arab News, who presided over
Tuesday’s panel.
“Usually
when people think of correspondents, the first thing that comes to their minds
(is that) women are too soft, women are incapable of handling such situations.
“But,
in reality, it shows the resilience of women, strength of women, and their
capability of getting all angles and facts straight.”
This
evolving image of women, particularly those in the Arab world, was a key feature
of the Arab Women Forum, and a special session, entitled “Saudi women pioneers:
Change from within,” explored the issue in depth.
“I
think the creation of Vision 2030 is life-changing, honestly, for a lot of
women and young people,” Lama Alshethri, editor-in-chief of Sayedati, one of
the best-known magazines in the Arab region, told the panel.
“I
think we, our generation, have been able to reap some of the fruits of Saudi
Vision 2030. And we were prepared for the change.”
Vision
2030, the social and economic reform agenda announced in 2016 by Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, emphasizes the need to inspire and empower all
members of the society to realize the Kingdom’s full potential.
Subsequently,
women’s empowerment in the Kingdom has expanded rapidly. Saudi women are now
more active in different spheres of the public and private sector.
“I
have not seen the change. I lived it,” Princess Reema bint Bandar, Saudi
Arabia’s ambassador to the US, said in a special address opening Tuesday’s
forum.
“I
know how important it is to open the workplace for women,” she said.
“(However,)
I realized that opening the doors wasn’t enough. Women had to be prepared to
take advantage of those open doors and we have to equip them with skills.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2084621/middle-east
--------
Suspended
Sentence For German Woman, Leonora Messing; Cleared Of Aiding And Abetting
Crimes Against Humanity
18
May ,2022
A
German woman who joined ISIS terrorist group in Syria as a 15-year-old was
handed a two-year suspended prison sentence on Wednesday but cleared of aiding
and abetting crimes against humanity.
Judges
found Leonora Messing, now 22, guilty of membership of a terrorist
organization, a spokesman for the higher regional court in Naumburg said in a
statement.
Prosecutors
had accused Messing and her husband of purchasing and enslaving a Yazidi woman
in Syria in 2015.
But
the judges found this could not be proven during her trial in the eastern city
of Halle, held behind closed doors because Messing was a minor at the time of
the alleged events.
The
high-profile case prompted some soul-searching when it came to light over how a
teenage girl from a small German town became radicalized and joined ISIS.
Messing,
a former high school band majorette, ran away from home bound for the
ISIS-controlled part of Syria in March 2015.
After
reaching al-Rigga., then the de facto “capital” of ISIS in Syria, she became
the third wife of a German national and known extremist.
Messing’s
father, a baker from the German village of Breitenbach, only learned his
daughter had converted to a radical brand of Islam by opening her abandoned
computer and reading her journal after her disappearance.
Six
days after she vanished, her father received a message informing him his
daughter “chose Allah and Islam” and that she had “arrived in the caliphate.”
Messing,
who had given birth to two small girls, wound up detained in a
Kurdish-controlled camp in northern Syria.
Her
husband, Martin Lemke, was captured in 2019 by the US-backed Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF), the Kurdish administration’s de-facto army, two of his wives told
AFP at the time.
In
December 2020, Messing was repatriated in one of four operations bringing a
total of 54 people, most of them children, back to Germany.
Messing
was arrested upon her arrival at Frankfurt airport but later released.
She
now lives close to where she grew up in Germany with her two children,
according to local media.
A
German court in November issued the first ruling worldwide to recognize crimes
against the Yazidi community as genocide, in a verdict hailed by activists as a
“historic” win for the minority.
The
Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking group hailing from northern Iraq, have for years
been persecuted by ISIS militants who have killed hundreds of men, raped women
and forcibly recruited children as fighters.
Source:
Al Arabiya
--------
Emotional
intelligence necessary for women to succeed in the business sector: Samia El
Kadiri
May
17, 2022
DUBAI:
Emotional intelligence along with the smartness to deal with situations
diplomatically is necessary for women to succeed in the business sector,
according to Samia El Kadiri, adviser & head of research, governance &
compliance at Hawkama Institute for Corporate Governance.
In
an exclusive interview with Arab News, on the sidelines of the Arab Women Forum
in Dubai on May 17, Samia El Kadiri said that women should believe in their
potential and should put in the right efforts to become successful in the
business sector.
“I
have three key advice to the future generation of women; first, they need to
believe in their potential. Second, they need to put in the right efforts. It’s
not always necessary to put more effort, just the right effort, and be
consistent with those efforts,” El Kadiri told Arab News.
According
to El Kadiri, the general scenario has changed now, and so many women have
proved themselves successful in various industries.
“It
is not like before. Today, women have proven themselves that they can be
successful leaders in so many industries, both in the private and government
sectors. Today in the UAE, we have two-thirds of women holding senior
leadership positions in the government sectors. Also, we have 50 percent of
women in the corporate sector equal to men,” she added.
El
Kadiri also made it clear that Hawkamah does not have any plans to expand
globally.
“There
are no expansion plans because our head office is [in] the UAE and we are 100
percent owned by the government. So currently, there is no plan for expansion.
We’re just dealing with the projects from Dubai,” she stated.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2083891/business-economy
--------
‘Don’t
be shy — Women in banking sector need to go for it’, says deNovo’s May
Nasrallah
May
17, 2022
DUBAI:
Women in the banking and investment sector can be their own worst enemies when
it comes to progressing in the industry, according to May Nasrallah, the
founder and executive chairman of UAE-based deNovo Corporate Advisors.
Speaking
to Arab News on the sidelines of the Arab Women Forum in Dubai, Nasrallah urged
female employees to put aside doubts and ask for more senior positions in the
traditionally male-dominated industry.
She
also shared her company’s plans to expand into Saudi Arabia, but did not
mention an exact timeline in which the company is planning to mark its presence
in the Kingdom.
Talking
about the capability of women in the banking and investment sector, Nasrallah
said, “The investment banking sector, it has historically been very
male-dominated. You’re just as capable. You’re just as evil. You’re just as you
know, ready than your male counterpart. And I think a lot of times, we tend to
be our own worst enemies.”
She
continued, “So I would suggest the younger generation of women to just go for
it. And not be shy about asking for a position, not be worried about whether
you can do it.”
During
the interview, Nasrallah revealed that deNovo Corporate Advisors is both an
advisory firm and advisory boutique. She added that the company helps with
mergers between two companies, helping them monetize, helping them go public,
and assisting them to get international global investors.
Talking
about her resignation from Morgan Stanley and setting up deNovo Corporate
Advisors — which helps with company
mergers and securing investments — said: “Nobody expected that I would actually
resign from Morgan Stanley. Subsequent to me, a number of men did it. But
everybody expected it to be done by a man. Nobody expected it to be done by a
woman.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2083991/business-economy
--------
Manal
Rostom Becomes First Egyptian Woman To Reach Everest Summit
May
17, 2022
LONDON:
Extreme climber, marathon-runner and mountaineer Manal Rostom has become the
first Egyptian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Rostom
reached the world's highest peak earlier this week, and in the weeks beforehand
shared a social media video on her thoughts and fears ahead of the final push
to the top.
Rostom
took two months to complete her journey to the top of the tallest mountain on
Earth, which stands 8,849 meters tall.
Rostom
has previous taken part in marathons around the world including in New York
City, Berlin, Chicago, Boston and London, as well as the Great Wall of China.
She
has also previously climbed some of the world's other highest mountain summits,
namely Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and Elbrus, and made it to the Mount
Himalaya base camp in 2016.
In
2019, Nike chose Rostom to be the first veiled Egyptian Arab woman to serve as
the face of their international women's sportswear brand.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2084041/offbeat
--------
Saudi
Arabia celebrates International Women’s Day in Maritime Sector
May
18, 2022
RIYADH
— Saudi Arabia participated in celebrating the International Women’s Day in the
Maritime Sector, which falls on May 18 of each year, and approved by the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2021 as an annual occasion, with
the aim of introducing women’s achievements in the maritime sector.
The
day was set aside to mark the importance of their participation in the national
economy and social and economic development and their main contributions to the
Kingdom’s Vision 2030, in addition to strengthening their role in the maritime
sector.
On
this day, the Transport General Authority, based on its legislative role for
the maritime sector, conducted a number of activities and events that focus on
the importance of the role of women in the maritime sector.
This
they did through the implementation of a discussion workshop entitled:
"Providing a work environment free of obstacles". The workshop was
held in cooperation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the
UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
Others
involved in organizing the workshop were the Arab Women’s Association in the
Maritime Sector (AWIMA), IMOGENder Network, and a number of organizations
supporting women’s empowerment. Twenty-three speakers from maritime sector
leaders participated.
Saudi
Arabia’s permanent representative to the IMO also participated in a virtual
symposium held by the organization entitled: "Training — Vision —
Recognition — Supporting a barrier-free work environment for women in the
maritime field", aimed at raising awareness and introducing the sector and
access to the best solutions and pioneering models in work environments for
women.
The
Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Sultan met
with Eng. Reem Al-Khuwaiter, as one of the prominent females in the Saudi
Arabia's maritime sector. He also met with IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, a
delegation that included influential women in the maritime sector, and AWIMA.
The
Transport General Authority implemented a social initiative for children in a
primary school for a girls, with the aim of raising awareness about the sector
and introducing the profession of seafarers, through their sharing of clips,
and the use of new educational methods.
This
comes as an extension of the importance of the vital role of women in all
fields, particularly in the transport and logistics sector, and the Authority's
relentless efforts to provide many opportunities for women competencies,
especially in the maritime transport sector. — SPA
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/620683
--------
Dubai:
World's best nurse from Kenya is only woman in her village to graduate college
by
Dhanusha Gokulan
18
May 2022
Kenyan
nurse, gender justice champion and educationist Anna Qabale Duba wears several
hats. After being crowned the first-ever world’s best nurse at the maiden
edition of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, Anna revealed she was the
first girl among 19 children in her family to attend school.
Moreover,
the mother of two is the first female college graduate in her community. Duba
has won beauty pageants, was crowned Miss Kenya Peace and Investment and is the
founder of the Qabale Duba Foundation in Keyna.
The
foundation employs 12 women, and since Duba is a keen believer in the power of
education, her foundation imparts knowledge to 160 children and 70 adult
learners. Adding to her list of achievements, her foundation also has
championed cultural evils such as female genital mutilation and early marriage.
She was also recognised as one of the Top 100 most influential young Africans
in 2020.
Anna
herself escaped forced marriage at the age of 14. Despite the illustrious list
of achievements, when Anna was crowned the world’s best nurse, she fought back
the tears of joy.
She
said, “Growing up in a rural village in Kenya, never in my wildest dreams did I
imagine I would be celebrated on a global platform such as the Aster Guardians
Global Nursing Award.”
She
called her win - ‘a win for Africa and a win for all the women and girls across
rural Africa.
She
told Khaleej Times, “Women go through many hardships, especially in countries
where the female empowerment movement does not exist or is in its nascent
stages. I come from a village where I am the first graduate girl, and I am who
I am today because I am educated.”
Commenting
on why she decided to launch a foundation for women and children, Anna said she
decided to go back home and empower the girls in her village after realising
only education can truly empower women.
“I
am running a school not just for kids, it’s for mothers and other women. We
often give children homework to do, and they come back with blank notebooks
because they do not have anyone to help them at home. Most mothers in rural
areas could not read or write,” Duba explained.
The
social activist possesses an intense desire to change the status of women in
her community. “If I hadn’t received an education, I would be just like these
mothers – married off at a young age, unable to read, write and comprehend.
Since mothers are always with their kids, I decided to incorporate adult
learning sessions at the school,” she added.
At
age 14, Duba’s father insisted that she get married. “I was engaged to an
unknown man without my knowledge. However, it was my mother who saved me. I
cannot thank her enough for insisting that I continue my education instead of
marrying young.”
Dubai,
a native of Marsabit County in Kenya that borders Ethiopia, was born to parents
belonging to a pastoralist community. “Members of our community would travel
from one place to another searching for pasture and water for their livestock,”
she explained.
“I
am the youngest among 19 children. We had boys in the family who received an
education; however, I am the only girl in my family who went to school. I was
not special compared to my other sisters. My parents began recognising the
importance of sending girls to school around the time I was born,” she added.
Although
her family was living in a settlement, Duba found opportunities that helped her
cause. The journey was not easy. “Girls in our community do not stay unmarried
for long. They are married off maximum by the age of 18. Even 18 is considered
too late,” explained Duba, who married at 26, which is very uncommon in her
community.
“In
our system, we have elementary and secondary school till Grade 8, followed by
high school. I completed nursing studies at an undergraduate level, and now,
I’m finalising my Master’s degree in field epidemiology,” she stated.
"I
won the Miss Tourism title with my fame – wanted to give back to the community
– sanitary pads, underwear for women, champion against cultural evils like
FGM."
Why
nursing? For Anna, this was a choice that came most naturally to her. “From my
childhood, I have wanted to help people in need. I confined myself to doing
charity work and helping people. It describes my passion for helping people in
the best way,” she added.
Commenting
on why she chose to compete in beauty pageants, she said, “That’s something
which happened when I was at university. I was a student leader and the general
secretary of the Kenya Middle East University from 2011-2012, this allowed me
to understand what leadership was.”
She
added, “Around that time, there was a nationwide competition where women were
invited from every county in Kenya to compete. There are 47 counties in the
country, and I gave it a try. I won from my county, and we were competing for
four national awards. I won two out of 4 and made it to second place. I won the
Miss Tourism title.”
After
winning the competition, she began going to community work by giving sanitary
pads and underwear to women. “I was part of the group that launched campaigns
against female genital mutilation and early marriage. After handing over the
crown, I realised I wanted to continue doing the work. That is how I
established my foundation,” she added.
The
Qabale Duba Foundation (QDF) is a community organisation that champions the
right of girls and women in northern Kenya. The foundation aims to promote the
development of pastoralist communities by facilitating their access to
education, health, social services, and economic empowerment.
The
foundation has five major programmes, including the Pads and Pants (PAPA)
project, which helps girls in rural villages have access to sanitary pads and
panties to prevent them from missing classes or dropping out of school due to
the lack of these necessities. The second one is a Mentorship Programme – where
motivational speakers talk to girls and help empower them.
The
foundation also has maternal health and safe motherhood programmes, a division
that fights against early marriage and female genital mutilation, and several
peace initiatives. “Now that I have won this money thanks to the Aster
Guardian's Award, I want to set up a maternity shelter for pregnant women and
expand the scope of our foundation,” she stated. Anna added, "My husband
has been incredibly supportive, and I want to give my children - Hirkena and
Helena - the very best in terms of education."
Source:
Khaleej Times
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/nilambur-ayisha-kerala-religious-zealots/d/127042