Sabahat Khan, Indian Hijabi Woman Becomes Student Union President in United Kingdom University
New
Age Islam News Bureau
26
March 2022
• Aseel
Al Hamad and Abbi Pulling Become First Women to Drive an F1 Car in Saudi Arabia
• Women
Protest against Girls’ Schools’ Closure in Kabul
• BBC
Files UN Complaint against Iran’s Online Violence towards Women Journalists
• Women
Are Catching Up To Men In Motorsports, Says Aston Martin Ambassador
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/sabahat-indian-hijabi-woman-uk-union/d/126659
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Sabahat
Khan, Indian Hijabi Woman Becomes Student Union President in United Kingdom
University
“People
saw me as a person and my potential to represent them as a student leader, not
my attire. And that’s most important,” said Sabahat. (Source: Facebook/Sabahat
Khan)
-----
25th
March 2022
Sabahat
Khan, a hijab-clad woman from Aurangabad, has been elected the student union
president of Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom.
Khan’s
presidency comes at a time when India is engulfed in a series of pro-hijab
protests post the Karnataka high court verdict which deemed hijab to not be “an
essential practice of Islam.”
“People
saw me as a person and my potential to represent them as a student leader, not
my attire. And that’s most important,” Sabahat was quoted saying by the Indian
Express.
Currently,
Khan is pursuing her post-graduation in public health. She won the election at
Sheffield with 2,500 votes out of a total of 6,900 votes.
Khan
also said that she would do everything in her control to “empower all those who
wear hijab.” She was quoted saying, “No stereotyping has stopped me and it
should not stop anybody. There is a lot more to me than what I wear.”
Sabahat
pursued her BSc from Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University and her work as
an international students’ officer (ISO) during the COVID-19 pandemic helped
her connect with international students from all backgrounds.
“Irrespective
of gender, ethnicity and religion, everybody deserves the same treatment,”
concluded Sabahat.
Recently,
another hijabi woman, Bushra Mateen became the first student of Visvesvaraya
Technological University (VTU) to win 16 gold medals.
Source:
Siasat Daily
https://www.siasat.com/indian-hijabi-woman-becomes-student-union-president-in-uk-university-2296526/
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Aseel
Al Hamad and Abbi Pulling Become First Women to Drive an F1 Car in Saudi Arabia
Abbi
Pulling and Aseel Al Hamad (Twitter)
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MARCH
24, 2022
WSeries
driver Abbi Pulling and Saudi Arabian racer Aseel Al Hamad became the first
women to drive a Formula 1 car in Saudi Arabia as part of a demonstration held
by Alpine.
Ahead
of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Pulling joined Al Hamad – who represents
Saudi Arabia on the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission and is a board member of
the Saudi motorsport federation – in the 2012 E20 F1 car (formerly known as the
Lotus E20).
With
the assistance of the Saudi Tourism Authority, the two drivers took the E20 on
a tour through the Kingdom, including the city of Diriyah and a UNESCO World
Heritage site, and created history in the process.
Al
Hamad, who has also driven the E20 at Paul Ricard in 2018, said: “It was
beautiful to drive with Alpine once again, and even more special to do this in
my country of Saudi Arabia and my home city of Riyadh.
“I
hope this inspires more generations to fall in love with Formula 1 and for more
women to consider motorsport as a future career.
“I
was super happy to meet Abbi, a lovely girl with lots of ambition, and an
amazing passion for racing. She shows that with enough drive, girls can become
professional racing drivers," added the racing driver from Saudi Arabia.
“It
is important that we showcase examples to demonstrate to the younger generation
that it can be them in the future; it doesn’t matter your gender; you need to
show your talent. I will be cheering for them and opening the doors and
hopefully we will see them on podiums in the near future."
Pulling,
who continues in W Series this season, added: “I got my first experience of an
F1 car last weekend and it was everything I was expecting, and more. I started
racing when I was just eight years old, always with the goal of reaching
Formula 1, and I am so pleased to have got that little bit closer."
Alpine’s
CEO Laurent Rossi said: “The statement of having two women driving an F1 car
through the capital of Saudi Arabia, past treasured historic monuments and into
the heart of the city, shows that anyone with enough drive can follow their
dreams in motorsport."
The
2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the second round of the F1 season and takes
place in Jeddah on March 25-27 as Ferrari lead both championships.
Source:
News18
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Women
protest against girls’ schools’ closure in Kabul
26
Mar 2022
A
small group of women took to the streets of Kabul on Saturday, March 26, 2022,
to protest against the Taliban’s announcement banning teenage girls from going
to schools.
The
female protestors said access to education is an alienable right of humans and
girls likewise the rest of the boys in Afghanistan have the right to get
educated.
The
protestors were chanting, “We are tired of ignorance”, “Shame on the
international community”, “You took my land, don’t take my education”, “Seeking
education is obligatory on male and female.”
The
demonstration that was staged at the gate of the Ministry of Education in
central Kabul was attended by parents, women activists, females, students, and
a few young men.
“Education
is our right, I want to go to school to study and make my future and the future
of my country. I want to go to school as my brother does.” Said a student.
The
protestors further said that there are no limitations on female education in
other Islamic countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia so why should
the Afghan girls not go to schools.
The
Ministry of Education of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced on March
23rd that secondary schools for girls shall be closed until further notice.
Source:
Khaama Press
https://www.khaama.com/women-protest-against-girls-schools-closure-in-kabul-5648754875/
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BBC
files UN complaint against Iran’s online violence towards women journalists
March
25, 2022
DUBAI:
The BBC World Service has filed a new urgent appeal to the UN this week against
Iran over the online violence directed at women journalists working for BBC
News Persian.
Women
journalists at BBC News Persian face relentless online attacks and harassment,
including threats of rape and death, the BBC said.
“We
absolutely deplore the violent, misogynistic and gendered harassment our women
journalists have to face every day,” said Liliane Landor, senior controller of
BBC International News and director of the World Service.
The
harassment includes threats of death and rape, attacks on their credibility,
hacking and phishing of their emails and telephones, and false and defamatory
stories about their personal lives.
The
information obtained through hacking and phishing is often used to spread false
stories about them online, which is then used in the interrogation of their
family members in Iran, the BBC added.
The
false stories not only attack them professionally but also aim to taint their
character by questioning their relationship with co-workers and commenting on
what they wear.
The
online abuse and harassment is severely impacting female journalists at BBC
News Persian, with many of them saying in interviews that they have opted out
of using social media entirely due to fear of harassment.
Landor
added: “Trusted and impartial journalism is fundamental to any democracy and it
is only by working together that we can ensure the safety of journalists
everywhere and ensure women’s voices are included. We have to be able to work
unhindered, free from threats and free from abuse.”
The
constant attacks have resulted in serious mental and physical health issues,
including anxiety, psychological trauma and depression.
The
appeal from the BBC calls on Iran to take action against those responsible for
the online violence towards women journalists by investigating and prosecuting
them.
International
counsel for the BBC World Service, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer
Robinson, said: “Women journalists at BBC News Persian face abhorrent online
violence every day simply because they are doing their job. This is a paradigm
case of what UN experts call ‘gendered censorship’.”
They
added: “Misogynist, sexist online abuse and all threats of physical or sexual
violence towards journalists are intended to force women offline and to silence
women journalists. It is unacceptable and it must stop.”
BBC
has made multiple UN complaints since 2017. Since BBC News Persian TV started
in 2009, the staff and their families have faced harassment and intimidation,
the BBC said.
BBC
News Persian staff cannot return home to Iran because of the risk of arrest and
prosecution resulting in the media network not having any staff working in the
country.
And
it is not just the female journalists who are harassed. Their family members
have been arrested, detained, repeatedly interrogated, fired from their jobs,
had their passports confiscated and pressured to encourage their family members
to leave the BBC and return to Iran.
In
2017, Iran announced a national security criminal investigation targeting 152
BBC News Persian staff members and froze any assets they had in Iran.
Iran
has “international obligations of due diligence,” said Gallagher and Robinson.
“We call on the UN to condemn the attacks and to ensure Iran meets its
international obligations.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2050376/media
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Women
are catching up to men in motorsports, says Aston Martin ambassador
ZAID
KHASHOGJI
March
25, 2022
JEDDAH:
Aston Martin Racing ambassador, racer and film stunt driver Jessica Hawkins has
proved to the world that female drivers can excel in motorsports.
Her
young career has brought her many highlights, and now she is attending Saudi
Arabia’s second Formula One Grand Prix weekend in Jeddah.
Hawkins,
who hails from East Hampshire in Britain, made her professional motorsports
debut in the British Formula Ford at Silverstone in a one-off event where she
twice finished inside the top 10.
Currently
competing in the W Series and the British Touring Car Championship, Hawkins
told Arab News that the ratio of female to male drivers entering motorsports
has tipped in favor of women in recent years, and while significant progress
has been made, she is calling on more women to pursue racing careers.
“It’s
not something that’s going to happen just overnight. It does take time, but I
do think that it is recognized and we are pushing to make changes.” Hawkins
said. “When I first started there weren’t many females, but certainly, Aston
Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One team are a driving force behind that, or at
least one of the driving forces behind that because there are a good few
females within the team.”
Hawkins
addressed students at the British International School of Jeddah on Thursday
ahead of the race weekend, telling them what it means to be a woman racing
driver in the male-dominated sport.
“They
were all so cute and really heartwarming, and if I can help even just one of them
pursue a career in something that they would love to do, then? I don’t know
what to say, they were all really enthusiastic.
“Hopefully,
they all listened and they’ll all work hard in school and hopefully, I’ve
helped them realize that there’s more to racing than just the driving, there
are loads of different areas of motorsport, and they should, if they like
motorsport, go and explore all the different avenues within motorsports.”
Hawkins
said she pursued a racing career because she was always an sporty kid and one
day asked her father to let her go karting.
“I
begged my dad to let me have a go and he was unsure at the time. It must have
just stuck in my mind and I kept begging him to take me back and let me have a
have a go. So it’s not something that I just decided one day, it was just a
passion that I followed.”
However,
a racing career doesn’t come without its many obstacles, and pushing through
gender stereotypes was a regular effort. Finding financial backing was another
major challenge.
“Honestly,
my main obstacle was finding the budget to go racing, because it’s no secret
that racing as a driver can be very expensive, in all areas of motorsport,” the
British racing driver said. “You have to bring in budgets to be able to raise
which I really struggled to find the sponsors and the backers and have the
funding to do that. But, you know, I’ve kept trying, and I never give up, so
while it was frustrating at the time, actually paid dividends now.”
Hawkins
returned to the VW Cup in 2018, and spent most of that year working as a stunt
driver on Fast and Furious Live.
“Never
did I ever think that I was going to be stunt driving for big productions like
that, they’re amazing, and an opportunity and experience that I will never,
ever forget,” she said. “Fast and Furious Live was arguably one of the best
times in my life and I'll hold those memories so deep in my heart.”
Hawkins
continued working as a stunt driver in 2021, featuring on the James Bond film
“No Time to Die,” and in May of that year became Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant
F1 Team’s ambassador.
“I
do a lot of work with the sponsors and a lot of hot laps, which is good. That’s
always fun,” she said. “I interact with Seb and Lance, and Hulk (male F1
drivers), I’ll often go on track walks with them. And honestly I’ll just learn
as much as I can off of them them.
“They’ve
obviously got a wealth of experience behind them, way superior to mine. So
anything that I can learn and pick off of them is obviously an advantage to
me.”
The
Jeddah race weekend starts on Friday, with the first practice set for 5:00 p.m.
before the second practice at 8:00 p.m.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2050321/sport
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/sabahat-indian-hijabi-woman-uk-union/d/126659