Mumbai SBI Branch Goes Back on Decision to Prohibit Burqa, Scarves after Outrage
New
Age Islam News Bureau
09
November 2021
• US
University to Provide Demand-Driven Training to 50 Saudi Women
• Three
Bangladeshi Women Arrested in India Are Trafficking Victims but Being Treated
Like Criminals, Says Bengal-Based Rights Organisation
• Women
Protesters Stage Sit-In outside Balochistan CM House
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/burqa-scarves-hijab-sbi/d/125738
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Mumbai
SBI Branch Goes Back on Decision to Prohibit Burqa, Scarves After Outrage
November
9, 2021
Burqa
Ban (File Photo)
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New
Delhi: A branch of the State Bank of India in Mumbai has drawn criticism after
a notice was seen on its premises, prohibiting customers from wearing the burqa
on its premises.
The
notice was later removed after social media outrage.
The
SBI branch in question is located at Nehru Nagar in Kurla East, a
Muslim-dominated locality.
The
Burqa is worn by a section of Muslim women.
The
notice, in Hindi, Marathi, and English, reads, “Burkha, scarf prohibited inside
branch premises”.
Local
resident Sheikh Sajeed Akbar told the news website Scroll.in that the notice
came up a few days ago. “Several of us tweeted this and raised this concern
with bank officials…We still do not know why such a notice was put up,” he
said.
After
the issue was raised by local activists on social media, the bank withdrew the
notice from the branch, and tweeted an apology on November 3.
SBI’s
official Twitter account said that the notice was “placed earlier for safety
during cash withdrawal and other financial transactions only,” and that “there
was no other intention” behind the notice.
Some
tweeted as to how burqas or scarves alone caused problems during cash
transactions when all customers had to cover their faces with masks, which are
a COVID-19 precautionary measure. One ‘Bait Khan’, who had tweeted a photo of
the notice and asked why masks were also not prohibited, was ‘reminded’ by
another tweet from the SBI’s official Twitter handle – this time in Hindi –
that photography inside SBI premises was not allowed. SBI also asked for the
photo of the notice to be removed immediately.
Discrimination
against women in burqas is not new and comes amidst a push in the West to ban
the garment. Several European countries have controversially banned some
version of veils worn by Muslim women, claiming they go against women’s
freedom.
In
2019, a week after blasts hit Sri Lanka killing over 250 people then President
Maithripala Sirisena made it illegal for Muslim women to wear any form of face
veils in public.
In
India, Shreya Parikh noted in her 2019 article on The Wire, women were stopped
from travelling on Lucknow Metro because they refused to remove their ‘veil’
and the SRK College in Firozabad denied entry to some students because they
were wearing burqas. During the Lok Sabha election that year Bharatiya Janata
Party MP Sanjeev Balyan, had alleged that burqa-clad voters were responsible
for false voting – an allegation the Election Commission eventually brushed
aside.
Source:
The Wire
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US University
to Provide Demand-Driven Training To 50 Saudi Women
US
University to train Saudi women from the western region on entrepreneurship
skills. (Photo: Arab News)
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November
08, 2021
JEDDAH:
The US Consulate General in Jeddah, the University of Iowa, and Education For Employment
have launched a one-year project to train Saudi women from the western region
on entrepreneurship skills in new emerging sectors like IT, real estate and
e-commerce.
The
project will provide 50 young women with professional training and connections
to local and international mentors that are necessary to start their businesses
in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
The
project is an initiative that provides demand-driven training linked to
mentorship by successful Saudi and US businesswomen.
The
Western Saudi Arabia Venture School for Women project is designed to “put new
entrepreneurial tools into the hands of Saudi women,” said Dimy Doresca,
director of the Institute for International Business at the University of Iowa
Tippie College of Business.
“We
will nurture and empower women in Saudi Arabia to become examples of social and
economic success in their communities.”
The
women will participate in Venture School International, an entrepreneurial
educational program that guides students through the startup process by
teaching them how to identify a market need and build a business to meet it.
The university is partnering with the non-profit Education For Employment to
teach the Venture School International training, which will be complimented by contacts
at local financing organizations, government officials, and business support
services.
“The
skills that these young women will acquire are based on a proven model that has
enabled EFE in Saudi to connect over 5,000 people to the world of work, 52 percent
of which are young Saudi women. We look forward to a continuous partnership
between EFE-Saudi, the University of Iowa, and the US Consulate General in
Jeddah,” said Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, CEO of EFE in Saudi Arabia.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1964091/business-economy
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Three
Bangladeshi Women Arrested in India Are Trafficking Victims but Being Treated
Like Criminals, Says Bengal-Based Rights Organisation
Express
illustration
----
November
8th, 2021
The
women are trafficking victims but being treated like criminals, MASUM says
The
West Bengal-based rights organization Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM) has demanded the immediate release of three Bangladeshi women illegally
arrested under the Foreigners Act, 1946 in India.
The
arrests violate Indian government guidelines that require an investigation to
determine whether arrested foreign nationals are human trafficking victims,
MASUM said in an email to India’s National Human Rights Commission.
“This
complaint is similar in nature and in continuation with my several previous
complaints before the Commission but till date no proper action has been taken
by the commission on my earlier complaints,” the email signed by an official of
the organisation said.
“With
respect to our complaints, your Commission has asked for a police report and
the police in a heartless and routine procedure have shared the reports with
us, but these reports are inadequate and have not addressed the issue that we
have been trying to raise,” the email added.
According
to the MASUM fact-finding team, the women are Nasima Begum, 24, wife of Nur
Islam Sikdar from Choto Benedpur, Sariatpur; Lima Sheikh, 29, daughter of Hasan
Sheikh from Sadipore, Benapole; and Sriti Sarkar, 34, daughter of the late Ruhi
Das Mondal from Bahadarpur, Jessore.
One
child was also detained.
2021/11/send-money-news-portel-770-x-90-1-1635916373828.gif
The
Bangladeshi women came to India in search of jobs, MASUM said.
“Poor
Bangladeshis are promised better job opportunities in India by the traffickers.
I hope that the victims in these two cases will be provided with adequate legal
support and the Commission shall consider the following demands of justice for
the victims,” the email added.
MASUM
called for all charges against the women to be dropped.
Nasima
Begum was arrested by BSF in connection with a case filed with Bagdah police
station dated September 1. The other three women and the child were apprehended
by BSF in connection with a case filed with Swarupnagar police station dated
September 30
All
the women are being kept at correctional homes.
Source:
Dhaka Tribune
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Women
protesters stage sit-in outside Balochistan CM House
November
9, 2021
QUETTA:
A number of women from Zhob staged a sit-in outside the Chief Minister House
here on Monday to protest against the torture of a woman allegedly by police in
their hometown.
The
women, carrying placards and banners inscribed with their demands, managed to
reach the Chief Minister House which is located in Red Zone where holding of
protest or sit-in is not allowed.
The
participants of the sit-in shouted slogans against the police and alleged that
police had tortured a woman, Rozi Bibi, at the behest of an influential
political leader in Zhob.
“We
are protesting against the inhuman attitude of police who have registered an
FIR against the woman and some members of her tribe just to please the
political leader and local administration,” said Sara Mandokhail, who was
leading the sit-in.
She
claimed that the condition of the tortured woman was not good. She called upon
the chief minister of Balochistan and officials concerned to take notice of the
police torture of a woman and take action against those who were involved in
it.
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1656888/women-protesters-stage-sit-in-outside-balochistan-cm-house
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