Iranian Political Prisoner, Shakila Monfared, Faces Fresh 7 Years Prison And Flogging Sentence In A New Case
New Age Islam News Bureau
03 Sep 2024
· Iranian Political Prisoner, Shakila Monfared, Faces Fresh 7 Years Prison And Flogging Sentence In A New Case
· Afghan Women Are Singing in Defiance of Taliban Law Silencing Their Voices: ‘I Will Fight Through This Night’
· Qatar’s ‘Honour the Past’ Exhibit Shows How a Girls School Sparked a Revolution
· Moral Policing Is On the Rise In Malaysia
· 16-Year-Old Bangladeshi Girl Shot Dead by BSF On Moulvibazar Border
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Iranian Political Prisoner, Shakila Monfared,Faces Fresh 7 Years Prison And Flogging Sentence In A New Case
Shakila Monfared, a political prisoner held in Tehran's Evin Prison
-----
SEPTEMBER 2, 2024
Shakila Monfared, a political prisoner held in Tehran's Evin Prison, has been sentenced to prison and flogging in a new case.
Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, Monfared's lawyer, told the Emtedad news site on Sunday that his client has been sentenced to a total of seven years and seven months in prison, along with ten lashes.
According to her lawyer, Monfared received a sentence of six years and seven months for the charge of "destruction of public property" (breaking the glass on a table in the 8th District courtroom). She also faces an additional one year in prison and ten lashes for "disorderly conduct."
On June 26, Monfared was violently re-arrested and taken to Evin Prison after she had applied to the prosecutor's office to extend her medical leave.
Monfared has been imprisoned since January 2021 and has faced numerous charges in custody.
This civil activist was initially sentenced in 2021 to four years and two months in prison on charges of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" and "insulting the sacred."
She was later sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on charges of "membership in anti-regime groups" and "spreading lies."
In an audio file obtained by IranWire last year, Monfared revealed that she suffers from severe symptoms of stomach acid reflux, kidney stones, and a painful gallbladder condition, all of which require immediate medical attention.
However, she has repeatedly been denied the right to medical leave.
Source: iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/women/133481-iranian-political-prisoner-faces-fresh-7-years-prison-sentence/
-------
Afghan Women Are Singing in Defiance of Taliban Law Silencing Their Voices: ‘I Will Fight Through This Night’
The new restrictions also ban women from looking at men they are not related to by blood or marriage. Photograph: Samiullah Popal/EPA
------
Arpan Rai
3 September 2024
Afghan women are reportedly defying the Taliban through the forbidden act of signing after a ‘bizarre and brutal’ new ban on their voices in public.
The lyrics of a popular song ringing out on social media says: “Their boots might be on my neck. Or their fists to my face. But with our deep light inside, I will fight through this night.”
The women are flooding social media with recordings of this and other songs after the Taliban published its first set of laws for the country last week, ordering women to cover their entire bodies, including faces, while stepping out of home.
Women are also banned from reading, singing, or speaking in public by the Taliban in their so-called bid to discourage vice and promote virtue.
The Taliban have also banned images of living beings, which also includes photographs. Women are not supposed to befriend other women or they will be deemed infidels under the new rules which are largely seen as the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
“We are nothing that have a price... They have sold us once for a gun and toys for a bag of fries…,” two women dressed in burqas were seen singing in a video shared on social media. “You placed the stamp of silence on my mouth until further notice,” sang another woman. Slogans of “my voice is not private” and “stand with Afghan women” were used to share the video.
The authenticity of the videos has not been verified by The Independent.
Human rights groups have criticized the Taliban’s new laws.
“These are the latest bizarre and brutal rules the Taliban have imposed to deny women and girls their rights to freedom of expression and movement, as well as their autonomy and identity,” said Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher with Human Rights Watch.
She called the fresh set of restrictions “a further sign of their determination to structurally re-engineer Afghan society to ensure women are seldom if ever seen or heard outside the home”.
Since the laws kicked in, the Taliban have also fined women in Herat who were seen without a male guardian or mehram, and those who did not cover their faces, reported local news channel Amu Television.
Already three years into controlling Afghanistan, the Taliban has managed to ban girls and women from public spaces as it barred education for girls above the sixth grade because they said it didn’t comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. Girls and women are also banned from salons, public parks, gyms and markets.
The decree must be revoked, said Amnesty International as it shared the videos of several women singing.
Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, condemned the laws for their “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future.
The laws extend the “already intolerable restrictions” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation, she said. The official had engaged with the Taliban in June in Doha after removing women and civil society members from the discussion table, which many experts said was at the behest of the Taliban.
“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one,” Ms Otunbayeva said.
The criticism was also echoed by the Japanese embassy in Kabul which has started active diplomatic relations with the Taliban rulers.
It urged the authorities to “listen to the voice of Afghan women and girls for education, employment, and freedom of movement” for the future of the country in a rare public criticism.
Source: independent.co.uk/
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-taliban-women-singing-rebellion-b2605631.html
-------
Qatar’s ‘Honour the Past’ Exhibit Shows How a Girls School Sparked a Revolution
Majda Bouzaroita
Sep. 02, 2024
Marrakech - Organizers of the exhibition “Honour the Past To Celebrate the Future: Qatar’s Educational Vision” recently announced their eagerness to shine a light on the lasting legacy of Qatar’s first girls’ school, Banat El Doha—nowAlmo’mneen Primary School—and its visionary founder, Amna Mahmoud Al Jaidah.
The event is a collaborative effort brought to life by Qatar Museums, VCUarts Qatar, the Exhibition Design course, and Liwan Design Studios and Labs. It delves into the school’s transformative role, alongside the Ministry of Education, in shaping generations of women.
Almo’mneen Primary School marks a significant milestone in the country’s educational history, serving as a cornerstone for female education.
The showcase highlights the stories of the school’s alumni and experience the remarkable evolution from its humble beginnings to its rebirth as Liwan, a dynamic hub for creativity since 2019.
Attendees can engage with interactive displays and participate in enriching workshops that celebrate the enduring legacy of female empowerment in Qatar’s educational and creative spheres.
This exhibition stands as a tribute to the resilience and progress of Qatari women, honoring their invaluable contributions while paving the way for an inspiring future.
It also serves as a community space dedicated to the school’s alumni, fostering connections and honoring their shared history.
Through a rich narrative and evocative displays, visitors can explore the school’s pivotal role in shaping not only individual lives but also the broader landscape of female empowerment in Qatar.
Source: moroccoworldnews.com
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2024/09/364906/qatars-honor-the-past-exhibit-shows-how-a-girls-school-sparked-a-revolution
--------
Moral policing is on the rise in Malaysia
September 02, 2024
By Vanitha Nadaraj
A recent controversy over two women divers from a conservative Muslim state participating in a national sports meet is a grim reminder that religious control is getting stronger in Malaysia.
The issue erupted after the two Muslim women won bronze medals for their state, Terengganu, at the recent 21st Malaysian Games held from Aug 17-24, and photos of them in swimsuits emerged.
Their attire may have conformed to the requirements of national and international swimming bodies, but not to those set by Terengganu.
This east-coast state had in 2018 decided that all women athletes were to dress in sharia-compliant attire when participating in sporting events in the state and outside. The state government is led by the Malaysian Islamic Party (known by its Malay acronym PAS).
Going by this ruling, the personal preference of a woman athlete and the need to adhere to international regulations are both secondary.
This is the same state that in 2022 banned women from taking part in gymnastics events because of the non-sharia-compliant attire that comes with this sport.
The state’s Muslim women gymnasts were told to switch to wushu, where the athletes are covered from head to toe. This forced several Muslim female gymnasts from the state to retire from the sport.
Muslim-majority Malaysia is seeing a rise in intolerance and religious conservatism, and by extension incidences of moral policing.
Muslim women’s rights group, Sisters in Islam, has consistently been asking the authorities to cease the need to control what women wear. They say, in their statements, that this practice humiliates and degrades the value of women.
Many Muslims and non-Muslims have condemned this habitual practice of scrutinizing women’s attire, but all their criticism has fallen on deaf ears. The rebuttal from the conservatives is centered around the need to uphold Islamic teachings at all costs.
The desire to defend their religious beliefs and practices ought to be respected but it leads the conservatives to spew hatred. The internet has become a convenient tool as it shields their identity and gives them an audience.
There was an online furor that erupted during the recent Paris Olympics when Malaysian Muslim women athletes were criticized for not wearing aurat-friendly attire. Aurat refers to parts of the body like genitalia and thighs that are required to be concealed as per Islamic teaching.
One of those harassed was national diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri, who participated in the women’s individual 3m springboard.
The harassment came in the form of fake lewd images of her and offensive remarks posted on social media. It got so bad that her husband, comedian Aizat Ahmad Nazri, said he was planning to sue a social media user who reportedly edited and uploaded the fake images.
One of the earlier cases of harassment over attire involved a Muslim woman gymnast who wore a “revealing” leotard at the Southeast Asian Games in 2015.
Farah Ann Abdul Hadi won six medals in the games, two of which were gold. But her achievements were overlooked. Her attire became the focus.
It is not just Muslim women athletes who come under scrutiny and face criticism.
Malaysian women's doubles pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan were criticized by netizens for wearing sleeveless attire at the Paris Olympics.
The two non-Muslims were accused of insulting Islam, the official religion of Malaysia. Some even said their citizenship should be revoked.
The fact that the duo were the country’s first women’s badminton pair to reach an Olympic semi-final was lost on these netizens.
Then there was the directive forbidding Muslim tourists from wearing bikinis and other similar swimwear in Terengganu in October 2023.
The state which boasts some of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the country used its enforcement agencies and tour companies to ensure Muslim tourists wore sharia-compliant beachwear.
In 2016, there was a directive asking women employees in public spaces like supermarkets in Kelantan to cover themselves up — except for their face and hands up to their wrists. Kelantan is another east coast state that is led by PAS.
The PAS and some clerics keep making periodic claims that the uniforms worn by nurses and the Malaysian Airlines stewardesses are too tight. Although they cover the body and limbs, the uniforms are deemed to be body hugging these conservatives and therefore not sharia compliant.
Such claims usually draw flak from several quarters of society and the issue dies down, only to emerge at another time.
Then there are cases of overzealous public servants who take upon themselves the task of moral policing.
There are cases where non-Muslims, even men, are not allowed to enter a government building for not wearing the appropriate attire. They are stopped by the security guards or government officers from entering hospitals, government departments, and schools, for wearing inappropriate clothes.
In January 2023, a non-Muslim woman was not allowed into a police station to report an accident involving her car and a truck. All because her shorts were above the knee. It was only after she called her sister who brought her a pair of full-length pants that she was allowed to enter.
Lately, this kind of moral policing in Malaysia has started to encroach on the rights of both Muslims and non-Muslims. What makes it even worse is the overzealous officials and hate-filled netizens.
Source ucanews.com
https://www.ucanews.com/news/moral-policing-is-on-the-rise-in-malaysia/106219
-------
16-Year-Old Bangladeshi Girl Shot Dead by BSF On Moulvibazar Border
Sep 3, 2024
A 16-year-old girl was gunned down allegedly by the members of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar last night.
Swarna Das, daughter of Parendra Das of Kalnigarh village in Westjuri union, was a student of class eight of Nirod Bihari High School in the upazila.
Kulaura Police Station's Officer-in-Charge (OC) Binay Bhushan Roy confirmed the death on the border.
Nayek Obaid, patrol commander of Lalarchak Border Outpost (BOP) of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalion-46, said that a group of Bangladeshis attempted to enter India crossing the border illegally.
However, one of them was shot dead by BSF, who took away the body into their territory. As of now, the Indian authorities have not returned the body yet, the BGB official said.
OC Binay told our Moulvibazar correspondent that the process for the return of Swarna's body depends on existing legal procedures and negotiations between the two countries.
The victim's father Parendra said that Swarna along with her mother had attempted to cross the Lalarchak border with India to visit her eldest brother, who has been living in Tripura. Both were accompanied by a couple from Chattogram and assisted by two local agents to cross the border, he added.
When they approached the Indian border's barbed wire fence around 9:00pm, BSF personnel opened fire, killing Swarna on the spot, and the couple, who were accompanying Swarna and her mother, sustained injuries, he added.
Following the incident, three of the group sought shelter at a house at Lalarchak village.
The house owner said he saw two individuals were shot. Then he promptly contacted the BGB men.
Later, BGB officials visited the family last night.
The injured couple was later taken to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Source: thedailystar.net
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/16-year-old-bangladeshi-girl-shot-dead-bsf-moulvibazar-border-3693301
--------