‘Woman Suicide Bomber’, Shari Baluch or Bramsh of Balochistan Liberation Army Kills 3 Chinese Citizens, Driver In Karachi
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 April 2022
• Karachi University Blast: A Look At Few Of Most
Notorious Female Suicide Bombers
• Veil In Any Colour Is Allowed For Women’s ID Photo,
Clarifies Saudi Interior Ministry
• 'Low IQ Woman With Expensive Eye Shades': Imran Khan
Aide Insults Pakistan Minister Hina Rabbani Khar
• Hyderabad: Muslim Women Struggle To Find Proper PG
Accommodation
• Somalia: Women struggle to make their voices heard
in politics
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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‘Woman Suicide Bomber’, Shari Baluch or Bramsh of
Balochistan Liberation Army Kills 3
Chinese Citizens, Driver In Karachi
The Balochistan Liberation
Army (BLA) statement that followed the attack identified the bomber as Shari
Baloch or Bramsh,
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Apr 27, 2022
ISLAMABAD: Three Chinese citizens and their Pakistani
driver were killed and four more people were wounded in an explosion that
ripped through a van inside a university campus in Pakistan’s southern port city
of Karachi on Tuesday. Separatist group Baluchistan National Army (BLA) claimed
responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a woman suicide
bomber.
Karachi University (KU) spokesperson Muhammad Farooq
said the victims were identified as Huang Guiping, director of the
Chinese-built Confucius Institute, Ding Mupeng, Chen Sai and Khalid, the
driver. “A fourth Chinese national, Wang Yuqing, and Pakistani guard Hamid were
among the wounded.”
Television footage showed a white van in flames with
plumes of smoke rising from it after the blast. The vehicle appeared to be
turning towards Confucius Institute, a Chinese language teaching centre at KU
located next to the commerce department, when the blast happened.
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said CCTV
footage showed a person covered from head-to-toe in a burqa walking up to the
van, followed by an explosion around 2.30pm.
According to police, about 3-4 kg of explosives were
packed in a schoolbag with ball bearings. “The material does not seem to be
made locally,” said Raja Umar Khattab, chief of Karachi’s counter-terrorism
department.
The separatist BLA’s statement identified the bomber
as Shari Baluch or Bramsh, saying she was the group’s first woman bomber. The
attack marks “a new chapter in the history of Baluch resistance,” it said.
Baluchistan has long been the scene of low-level
insurgency by armed Baluch groups demanding more autonomy and a greater share
in the region’s natural resources if not outright independence from Pakistan.
The separatists as well as Pakistani Taliban had frequently targeted Chinese
interests across the country in the past.
Last July, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had
claimed responsibility for an attack on a bus that killed nine Chinese
nationals in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Due to the threat to Chinese citizens, KU’s security
adviser Dr Muhammad Zubair recently wrote a letter to the slain director of the
Confucius Institute requesting him to restrict movement of his faculty members.
“The Chinese faculty members often go outside the campus without a security
detail. In case of any mishap, KU security will not be responsible,” Dr Zubair
wrote on March 31.
In response, the institute’s director had replied it
was “important to realise that rather than shifting responsibility to another,
standard operation procedures should be devised for the smooth and secure
movement of Chinese faculty”.
Source: Times Of India
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Karachi University Blast: A Look At Few Of Most
Notorious Female Suicide Bombers
Representational image
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Apr 27, 2022
Orin Basu
New Delhi: Tuesday’s suicide attack in Karachi,
Pakistan that killed three Chinese nationals was claimed by the separatist
Balochistan Liberation Army. CCTV visuals showed a woman in a burqa blowing
herself up near the van carrying the victims, in what the BLA said was the
first suicide bombing by a woman for the group.
The BLA identified the woman as Shari Baloch alias
Bramsh, and said her sacrifice marked a “new chapter in Baloch resistance
history”. But with this, the BLA joined the select list of terror groups that
have used woman suicide bombers – some of the others being Boko Haram, ISIS,
Palestine-based al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE).
In fact, Boko Haram, which controls large swathes of
territories in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, uses women for most of their
suicide attacks. Those women are viewed as a lesser threat in conflict zones,
an element of surprise, hesitancy of security forces to search females and
increased publicity for suicide bombings by women have pushed most dreaded
terror groups to turn to female suicide bombers.
Let’s have a look at some of the most notorious
suicide bombings by women.
The first thing that comes to mind is obviously the
assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. LTTE member
Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu blew herself up while she was garlanding
Gandhi at a public rally in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991. The
former PM and 16 others were killed in what was one of the worst suicide
bombings by a woman suicide bomber.
The LTTE had executed numerous suicide attacks against
Sri Lankan forces by female suicide bombers. In fact, it had a suicide squad
called Black Tigers, comprising mostly women.
Maiduguri in Nigeria has witnessed repeated suicide
bombings by women said to be affiliated with Boko Haram. On June 22, 2015,
female suicide bombers struck a fish market, killing 20. On March 16, 2016, two
women suicide bombers killed at least 22 worshippers at a mosque during dawn
prayers.
Europe woke up to the horrors of radicalisation when
Muriel Degauque, a Belgian convert to Islam, blew up a car bomb against a US
convoy in Iraq on November 9, 2005. Raised as a Catholic in Belgium, Muriel is
said to be Europe’s first suicide bomber. She initially worked in a bakery and
moved to Iraq after marrying a Muslim man.
Puji Kuswati became Indonesia’s first female suicide
bomber in May 2018, when she, along with her minor daughters, blew themselves
up as part of coordinated attacks in churches in Surabaya. Police suspect, she
had returned from Syria prior to the attack and was affiliated with ISIS.
Source: Zee News
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Veil In Any Colour Is Allowed For Women’s ID Photo,
Clarifies Saudi Interior Ministry
April 27, 2022
RIYADH — The Agency of the Ministry of Interior for
Civil Status has resolved a controversy with regard to the colour of veil
(hijab) worn by Saudi women while taking personal photos for their national
identity card.
The agency emphasized that it is not mandatory for
women to wear a certain color of veil in their personal photo to be used in
their national ID. The Customer Care section at the Civil Status stated this
through its Twitter account, in response to a query in this regard.
The agency left it to the choice of a Saudi woman to
wear any colour that suits her while taking a personal photo to get her
national identity card issued. The agency said that it takes a maximum of 14
days to issue the ID card.
The Civil Status Agency clarified that a text message
will be sent to the customer when the ID card arrives at the office, and it
takes a maximum of 14 days to issue it.
It said that the national identity is activated upon
receipt from the office and the old card shall be surrendered upon receipt of
the new one.
The agency pointed out that the personal photo would
be changed in the event of a renewal of the national identity. The national identity
can be renewed 180 days before the date of its expiry, the agency sources
added.
Source: Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/619845
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'Low IQ woman with expensive eye shades': Imran Khan
aide insults Pakistan minister Hina Rabbani Khar
Apr 20, 2022
Pakistan's former minister, Fawad Hussain, launched a
sexist assault on Hina Rabbani Khar on social media after she was appointed as
a junior foreign affairs minister in the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet.
In an old interview, Fawad Hussain described Hina
Rabbani Khar as a "low IQ" woman whose only claim to fame is
"Berkin bags and fancy eye shades."
Hina Rabbani Khar confessed in an old interview that,
as foreign minister, she had to deal with accusations from friends that
Pakistan was aiding terrorists, and that there were "waves of truth"
to those charges.
Hina Rabbani Khar, who received star treatment during
her maiden official visit to India, will serve as Pakistan's junior foreign
minister for the second time in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's new 37-member
cabinet, which was presented on Tuesday.
During her time as Pakistan's minister of state for
foreign affairs, from February 2011 to March 2013, Khar was the country's
youngest and first female minister. She has been re-appointed to the same job,
but as a junior Minister of State this time.
Source: WIO News
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Hyderabad: Muslim women struggle to find proper PG
accommodation
Shaista Khan
27th April 2022
Hyderabad: Hundreds of Muslim girls and women pursuing
their higher studies or working in private entities in the city are in a
piquant situation as there are no hostels or Paying Guest (PG) accommodations
exclusively meant for the community women.
In fact, the absence of such facilities is acting as a
roadblock for many Muslim women who want to pursue their higher education in
the city or work in multinational companies.
“Women from districts suffer a lot and face problems
in finding good and safe accommodation. Initially, they opt for paying guest
accommodations where the majority of boarders are Non-Muslims but drop out
later due to cultural, social issues, and family issues,” said a woman who
previously worked with an MNC at Gachibowli.
In some instances, women are staying with their
relatives as families are not keen on allowing them to stay alone in private
accommodations.
“Due to the lack of facilities, many are dropping the
idea of coming to the city and working. Either they have to wait till they get
married or work somewhere in the neighborhood in the Mandal or towns,”
explained Fatima Begum, of Nizamabad, who works in a government department.
She recalled before getting a government job she got
offers from different degree colleges in Hyderabad. “My parents did not want me
to shift to the city as there was no proper and safe accommodation, so I stayed
at my native place and prepared for a government job test,” she said.
A ladies hostel owner from Kukatpally said in a year
they get only one or two Muslim girls or women. “After staying for a few months
they vacate and go away to stay with relatives or completely go back to their
native places. But when they go out they wear burkhas and go and because it is
a ladies hostel when inside they move around without it,” she said.
In a few areas of Ameerpet, Santoshnagar,
Dilsukhnagar, Narayanguda, Chikkadpally, Kukatpally, and Gachibowli many
hostels don’t even get enquiries from Muslim women.
“Our boarders are mostly Non-Muslim women who come and
work in the city not only from different districts but also other states as
well. Muslim women come to enquire directly and go or contact over phones. Only
two to three percent of boarders are Muslim women in any hostel,” points out
Manoj a hostel owner at Madhapur, the IT Hub of State.
A boarder has to shell out around Rs. 11,000 for
single PG accommodation while for sharing rooms it is around Rs. 9,000 for two
sharing, Rs. 7,500 for three sharing and Rs. 5,400 for four sharing. Three
times food, 24/7 power and water supply, washing machine, wifi and television
facility is provided at the hostels.
Interestingly, the city has facilities for men to stay
including accommodations provided at different mosques where a nominal rent is
collected from them. In fact, many mosques in the city construct rooms keeping
in mind that it will help students from districts pursuing their education and
working in the city.
Women associations feel that the Minority Welfare
Department should construct a couple of women’s hostels in the city to help get
good and safe accommodation at affordable rent.
“Several wakf properties are located in the city, one
can be selected and with available funds, a hostel for women can be
constructed. This way, we can help in women’s empowerment,” said Nusrath
Khanum, a social activist from Karimnagar.
In fact, several NGOs and social organizations are
working in the city and they can also pitch in and with community donations establish
hostels by taking apartments for rent, she said.
Source: Siasat Daily
https://www.siasat.com/hyderabad-muslim-women-struggle-to-find-proper-pg-accommodation-2316477/
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Somalia: Women struggle to make their voices heard in
politics
05.04.2022
Mohamed Odowa
It's not easy being a female politician in
conflict-ridden Somalia.
Men have long dominated national and local leadership
roles in the Horn of Africa nation, largely due to deeply ingrained traditional
prejudices.
Somalia has established a 30% seat quota for female
lawmakers. But the Somali Women Association has accused regional clan
presidents of overlooking or turning down potential candidates, leaving the
quota unfilled.
Amino Dhurow knows this struggle all too well. The
Mogadishu-based politician is also disabled and says discrimination looms large
in Somali society — even though the country's provisional constitution includes
measures intended to protect women seeking roles within the government.
"I am one of many Somali women with disabilities
and I advocate for the rights of people with disabilities," Dhurow told
DW. "I tried my best to run for a seat in the ongoing parliamentary
elections. I hoped to quality and get support from other Somali women."
But things didn't go to plan.
"Unfortunately, it did not happen because I was
rejected by my clan elders who refused to allow me to represent them in
parliament," she explained. "This means that women with disabilities
have no political representation at all and we are not even part of the 30%
quota. This is discrimination and inhuman."
Overcoming traditional barriers
Dhurow's experience isn't unique in Somalia, where the
clan-dominated system makes it very difficult for women to succeed in politics.
And despite often being the primary income providers,
women are typically marginalized from the decision-making processes of their
communities. For many, these cultural and social barriers mean their political
dreams end before they even have a chance to begin.
Some do forge ahead despite the odds: Amina Mohamed
Abdi — one of the Somali government's most vocal critics — won her first seat
in parliament in 2012 at the age of 24. She repeatedly defied clan elders
throughout her political career and repeatedly accused authorities of trying to
stop her from running.
Abdi was tragically killed on March 23 in a series of
bomb attacks claimed by militant group al-Shabaab while campaigning in rural
Somalia ahead of long-delayed parliamentary elections.
Women's participation a 'fundamental issue'
For young Somali women determined to make a
difference, change begins with better representation in the executive branch of
the government.
"Women's political participation is a fundamental
issue," political science graduate Hamdi Adam told DW. "Our
constitution protects women's direct engagement in public decision-making and
maintaining equal rights in a positive way which shapes democracy and good governance.
Women should be strongly motivated to [pursue] more political
participation."
Only four women hold ministerial positions within
Somalia's current federal government, while 14 women hold seats in the upper
house and 51 in the lower house.
Somalia's Minister for Women and Human Rights
Development, Hanifa Mohamed Ibrahim, says these numbers need to increase amid
ongoing elections in the country.
"Previously we had 67 seats in the lower house
and we know that 20 more seats in the house are yet to be elected, so we are
looking to have our share," she told DW.
"As women in Somali politics, we have to move our
agenda forward and get more political representation in all sectors of the
government."
Source: DW
https://www.dw.com/en/somalia-women-struggle-to-make-their-voices-heard-in-politics/a-61356644
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