Australia Repatriates Four Women, 13 Children Related to Islamic State Fighters from Syrian Detention Camps
30 October 2022
•
Australia Repatriates Four Women, 13 Children Related to Islamic State Fighters
from Syrian Detention Camps
•
Cachar woman branded Bangladeshi by cops declared Indian by FT
•
Why is workplace safety for women such a big ask?
•
The voice of women can be a potent force for peace, so why do we silence it?
•
How Saudi women are coping with the psychological impact of breast cancer
•
Karen Decker Says She Shares Afghan Women’s ‘Concerns’ and ‘Hope’
•
In Iran, women are protesting the hijab. In India, they're suing to wear it
•
Women Activists in Kabul Protest Closed Girls' Schools
•
Bangladesh: Opposition BNP, ruling Awami League organise rallies as show of
strength for the national poll
•
Coroner identifies body found in Guntersville as 25-year-old Arab woman
•
Iran protests: Europe's cities rally for MahsaAmini and women's rights
•
Angelina Jolie dedicates Persian poem to Iranian women
•
Bangladeshi origin Tanwi Nandini wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize for nonfiction
writing
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Australia
Repatriates Four Women, 13 Children Related to Islamic State Fighters from
Syrian Detention Camps
OCTOBER
29, 2022
Children
hold onto water containers in al-Hol camp, Syria in this 2020 file photo
(Image: Reuters)
--------------
Four
women and 13 children were repatriated to Australia on Saturday, having
languished for years in squalid Syrian detention camps after the downfall of
the Islamic State.
It
was the first in a series of planned missions to bring back about 20 Australian
women and 40 children — the wives, sons and daughters of vanquished IS fighters
— from the notorious Al-Hol and Roj camps.
News18
Afternoon Digest: From An IIT Aspirant to IS Recruiter, Tracing the Journey of
A Varanasi Man Now in the NIA's Net & Other Stories
Dabboussy
said his daughter Mariam, 31, had been “coerced" into travelling to Syria
by her now-dead husband, and posed no threat to Australia.
Home
Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the government weighed a “range of security,
community and welfare factors" before approving the repatriations.
“The
decision to repatriate these women and their children was informed by
individual assessments following detailed work by national security
agencies," she said in a statement after the 17 landed in Sydney.
O’Neil
said the women could be prosecuted in Australia if counter-terror officers
found they were involved in illegal activities while in Syria.
“For
years, the Australian government has abandoned its nationals to horrific
conditions in locked camps in northeast Syria," McNeill said.
“Australia
can play a leadership role on counterterrorism through these orderly
repatriations of its nationals, most of them children who never chose to live
under ISIS."
The
Australian women and children have lived in the Al-Hol and Roj detention camps
in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria since the 2019 collapse of the IS
“caliphate".
Source:
News18
-----
Cachar
woman branded Bangladeshi by cops declared Indian by FT
Oct
30, 2022
SILCHAR:
A woman, who was declared as a Bangladeshi national by the Assam Police, was
adjudicated an Indian citizen by the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) No. 4 in Silchar
on Friday, reports BB Goswami.
On
March 29, 2013, the Bihara police watch post in Cachar district submitted an
investigation report against Rita Rani Das, 42, a resident of Hatimara village
in Katigara block of Cachar, to the SP (border branch) and accused her of being
a Bangladeshi national. The report stated that the permanent address of Das is
Hailerpar in Sylhet division of Bangladesh.
According
to the report, Das allegedly entered India illegally, along with her daughter
Topa and husband Pradeep, in search of a job after March 25, 1971. Accordingly,
police (border branch) filed a case against her and she was served notices by
the Foreigners’ Tribunal.
But
Das failed to appear in the court because of the Covid-19 pandemic and also as
she is suffering from respiratory ailments; as a result, she was unilaterally
declared a foreigner, her lawyer Panchmi Nath said.
Rita’s
lawyer, Nath, requested the FT to reopen the case by withdrawing the unilateral
judgment it gave in September, 2021. Ranjan Roy, a member of the tribunal, on
Friday scrutinized all the documents on record and declared Das an Indian.
According to the state’s home department, Assam has 100 FTs.
Source:
Times Of India
-----
Why
is workplace safety for women such a big ask?
Shuprova
Tasneem
Oct
29, 2022
The
truth is that women are at risk of violence regardless of whether they work in
homes, factories, fields or offices. FILE PHOTO: STAR
-----------
When
we talk about Bangladesh's development journey, the role that women have played
in propping up the economy is inevitably a part of the conversation. Whether it
is as RMG workers, small entrepreneurs or migrant workers, we routinely cite
how women's participation in the labour force has not only been beneficial for
their economic empowerment, but for the nation as a whole. This is especially
true in terms of the RMG industry, where around 60 percent of the workforce are
women.
In
fact, female labour force participation as a whole took a hit during the
pandemic, but it is back on the rise again. And, according to data from the
International Labour Organization (ILO), it continues to be higher than the
South Asian average: in 2021, Bangladesh's female labour force participation
rate was 35 percent, whereas India's was 19 percent and Sri Lanka's 31 percent.
However,
once you get past the microcredit-induced smiles on the glossy papers of
different brochures that focus on the transformational abilities of women's
labour – and there's no denying that economic empowerment has changed the fates
of hundreds of thousands of our women – there are a lot of questions that can
be asked about the state of women's work.
How
irregular is it? What is the wage gap? How much of their earnings is under the
control of other members of the household? How much longer/harder do they have
to work compared to their male counterparts? How do they balance paid
employment and the unpaid care work they do at home? How do self-employed women
deal with the risks and sudden losses resulting from unprecedented situations
such as a pandemic?
And
the question that is usually near the top of this list: how safe/secure are
women's workplaces? This is important not only because the reality is a grim
one, but because this reality is regularly used as an excuse to discourage or
directly obstruct women from seeking economic empowerment.
Take,
for example, the sexual violence incident that occurred earlier this month,
when a woman who provides at-home salon services was called into a house where
three men gang-raped her. Of course, this inevitably led to the "What was
she doing there?" kind of questions that misogynists love to ask, with the
implication being that it is somehow not "decent" to be doing the
sort of work that takes you to the privacy of someone's home to provide your
service.
However,
the truth is that women are at risk of violence regardless of whether they work
in homes, factories, fields or offices. Last year, the Asia Floor Wage Alliance
found that RMG workers in six Asian countries, including Bangladesh, faced more
violence and harassment during the pandemic, and that Bangladesh was one of the
countries where the increased intensity of work was used by managers to get
sexual favours. Research suggests that at least 23 percent of female migrant
workers have faced physical/sexual abuse abroad, and that female tea workers
are much more vulnerable to violence and discrimination than men.
Studies
routinely find that women can and do face sexual harassment at workplaces, as
well as during commutes to and from work – the fact that every few months we
read reports of women facing sexual violence on moving buses is proof of this.
Yet what usually happens is, instead of asking why it is so unsafe for women in
this country to occupy public spaces, we either advise caution ("If only
she had been more careful") or use such crimes as an excuse for why women
shouldn't be working in the first place ("Women are safer at home").
The
assumption here is that it is up to the individual woman and her alone to
ensure her own safety. Not only does she have to support her family financially
– by looking after dependents and taking on all household responsibilities –
she has to do so within the set boundaries of traditional society, in a way
that is "respectable" enough to ensure she is free from violence.
This
is especially ironic given that a lot of government and NGO support is in the
form of loans that encourage women to become entrepreneurs and set up their own
businesses or make their own products, to sell which they inevitably have to
travel to markets. ILO data suggests that 66 percent of working women are
self-employed. If these women have to depend on someone else to sell their own
products (or services), how can we guarantee that the money earned from it
won't end up in the hands of the seller (usually a male member of the family)
instead?
Quite
a few years ago, I interviewed the former state minister for women and
children's affairs, who told me that the government was investing in employment
that women can pursue from home. It is astonishing that in a country that takes
so much pride in the inclusion of its women into the economy, the ministry
meant to represent women was taking steps to make that inclusion gendered,
instead of doing more to ensure women's safety.
Why
should public spaces be so unsafe that women have to take up work that can only
be done from the security of home? Why can't women work on factory floors, tea
gardens or someone's residence without worrying about being subjected to
violence? Do law enforcement, policymakers and employers have no responsibility
in ensuring their safety?
We
must remember that it is not just traditional gender roles that stand in the
way of women. There are times when violence is deliberately used as a tool to
discourage women from becoming empowered enough to fend for themselves, or
simply from occupying public spaces. Only last month, a female zila parishad
member candidate told reporters she had been gang-raped in order to be stopped
from contesting elections.
In
Bangladesh, women are not only held to impossible standards, they also have to
overcome impossible hurdles to establish themselves as equal members of
society.
But
how are women meant to pursue employment opportunities and achieve economic
independence, if the authorities cannot give any assurance that they will be
free of violence while doing so?
Source:
The Daily Star
https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/why-workplace-safety-women-such-big-ask-3155256
-----
The
voice of women can be a potent force for peace, so why do we silence it?
MAHA
AKEEL
October
29, 2022
In
the year 2000, a group of women from Sierra Leone, Guatemala, Somalia and
Tanzania, joined by women from international non-governmental organizations,
approached the UN Security Council and persuaded it to recognize the role of
women in conflict prevention, peace-building efforts and the rebuilding of
war-torn societies.
On
Oct. 31, 2000, the council unanimously passed Resolution 1325, in recognition
of the role of women in promoting peace and security and not only as victims of
gender-based violence. It provided a framework for the participation of women
in all stages of peace processes.
We
are all familiar with images from wars and conflicts of suffering women and
children. Although men also suffer during conflicts, it is generally
acknowledged that women and children bear the brunt of the suffering in times
of war. Each member of society suffers in different ways. War is destruction;
lives are lost, homes are demolished and life is completely shattered, with
long and lasting consequences.
While
women suffer physically, mentally, sexually, economically and in many other
ways during wars, they are also actively involved in making a living, keeping
their families safe and resisting the forces of destruction, risking their
lives in the process.
What
we do not see are the women who have become heads of households and sole
breadwinners because the men of the family are at the battlefront, dead or
missing, and they are taking care of the children, the elderly, the sick and
the wounded or disabled. We do not realize the important work being done by
women who are organizing and helping each other cope and survive, the women who
are mobilizing support for their communities and efforts to end conflicts, and
those involved in mediation and reconciliation work in their communities.
Despite
all this work with their families, communities and at the grassroots level,
when it is time to sit down for official, formal peace talks, women are mostly
excluded.
Despite
the evidence from research on the contributions of women to conflict prevention
and resolution, they continue to be marginalized in peace processes. A study by
the Council of Foreign Relations on peace negotiations between 1990 and 2017
revealed that women represented only 2 percent of the mediators, 5 percent of
the witnesses and signatories to peace agreements, and 8 percent of the
negotiators.
Where
are the women during these negotiations that will shape the future of their
countries? Why are warlords, militias and gangs given priority to participate
in negotiations and the right to demand and gain advantages from the outcomes,
while those who have suffered the most and actively sought peace are sidelined?
Waiting
until everything is settled and the negotiations done and then bringing in the
women during the final stages of the process is too little, too late,
especially if it is done just to give the impression that women were listened
to and included.
Even
in humanitarian work, including the allocation of funds for projects and
reconstruction efforts, it does not make sense not to include women during the
design, planning and implementation phases because, most often, women are the
ones who benefit, directly and indirectly, and therefore they have a better
understanding of needs and means.
Why
are we still thinking of peace as meaning only the silencing of guns and the
laying down of weapons? The concept of peace and security has changed. What
kind of peace do we have when women and girls cannot step out of their houses
to go to work or school? What kind of security when there is no food on the
table or clean water? What kind of life when there is no justice for victims of
domestic violence, rape, abduction and other human rights violations? There are
many conflicts in the Muslim world. And
unfortunately, it is where a lot of discrimination persists.
Blaming
religion and culture is absurd. It is a lame excuse and an easy way to justify
shortsightedness — a quick fix. It is more convincing to recognize the
prevailing political structures and interests, the underlying socioeconomic
conditions and the insecurity in these countries, and try to address them to
facilitate the representation of all members of society.
The
history of Islam is full of stories of the participation of women in peace
accords and their positive contribution to mediation and negotiation. Modern
history also provides examples of a number of countries in which women were
involved in peace processes.
In
fact, religion and culture could be used effectively to support the inclusion
of women and their rights. This approach will have better results because it
will be accepted by local communities and stakeholders, as opposed to imposed
foreign interventions and ideologies.
The
UN is making efforts to include more women in peace negotiations and more
provisions relating to women in peace agreements but organizations such as the
League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are still
lagging far behind, even though their policies and initiatives look good on
paper.
Stereotypical
views of women and the patriarchy continue to result in the exclusion of women
from participation in peace negotiations, despite the active role they play in
peace-building efforts and the valuable contributions they can make to
negotiations. There are many examples, such as Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Sudan,
Nigeria and Mali.
Men
and women have differing negotiating styles and bring different perspectives
and experiences to the table. It is preposterous to think that women are
unqualified or incapable when we see illiterate men and warlords participating.
Insisting that we listen only to the men and appease them while ignoring the
women is counterproductive.
The
inclusion of women in negotiations, and ensuring there are provisions for women
in peace agreements, is not a panacea or guarantee for peace. Based on
empirical evidence, however, peace is much more likely to succeed and endure
when women are involved and their voices are heard.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2190246
-----
How
Saudi women are coping with the psychological impact of breast cancer
RAWAN
RADWAN
October
29, 2022
Earlier
this month, a group of women launched the “Pink Walk” at King Abdullah Economic
City (KAEC) in Rabigh to raise awareness on breast cancer. (Supplied)
-----------
JEDDAH:
Breast cancer affected the lives of 2.3 million women worldwide in 2020,
killing 685,000 people that year alone, according to the World Health
Organization. What is less well documented is the psychological toll the
disease takes on survivors and their families.
In
Saudi Arabia, breast cancer accounts for 31 percent of all cancer diagnoses,
making it the most common form of the disease. Although mammography was
introduced to the Kingdom in 2002, 55 percent of cases are detected at a late
stage, reducing chances of recovery.
Several
studies indicate that 20-30 percent of women diagnosed, treated and declared
free of local or regional invasive breast cancer will suffer a recurrence.
There is therefore a constant fear among survivors that their cancer could come
back.
Finding
the right coping strategies following a diagnosis and over the course of a
cancer journey can have a direct influence on treatment outcomes and survival
rates.
Cancer
significantly impacts all spheres of life, provoking a variety of emotional and
behavioral responses, which means there is no “one size fits all” approach to
help patients cope.
Dr.
Ali Zairi, a psychiatric consultant in Jeddah, told Arab News that a patient’s
psycho-social adaptation during and after breast cancer is no different to
those learning to live with disabilities or who are terminally ill.
Indeed,
a diagnosis can be psychologically devastating, triggering feelings of
uncertainty, anxiety, hopelessness and despair. Psychological distress,
including depression, is common.
Dr.
Zairi categorizes cancer patients into two broad categories: Those with better
coping skills, who are able to accept their diagnosis and adapt to treatment,
and those who spend a long period in the denial phase, who usually suffer
intense emotional turmoil.
“The
former are less likely to suffer depression or anxiety, sleep problems,
emotional lability or mood problems,” said Dr. Zairi. “Such patients cope
better in regard to, for example, keeping their daily activities as normal as
possible. Such behavior helps balance their stresses or buffer their stresses
to the lowest possible degree.”
The
latter, he said, often do not cooperate with their treatment, fail to follow up
with doctors, deny or refuse to stop risky lifestyles, and are prone to
depression and anxiety, emotional turmoil, sleep problems and eating disorders.
“Such
patients are very likely to develop anger mismanagement as they cannot regulate
their emotions. They tend to be isolated or become irritable and problematic
when dealing with others.”
For
Elaf Baghdadi, a 36-year-old mother of two, it never occurred to her that her
history with lymphadenitis, an infection of one or more of the lymph nodes,
could lead to a more severe problem.
“For
most of my adult life, I’ve been routinely checking my lymph nodes as they tend
to get infected and I’ve only ever had one or two invasive interventions such
as surgery,” she told Arab News.
“In
2019, I was at a routine check-up and was given the all-clear and delayed going
back for any checkups as we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A
few months ago, I felt very weak and very ill, constantly feeling cold,
feverish at one point, then a series of odd symptoms were felt and finally a
lump appeared and it was odd enough to raise my concern but only by a
fraction.”
Thinking
it was another inflamed lymph node, Baghdadi visited her physician during the
summer. This time, however, she requested more tests and scans, “to make sure.”
Within weeks, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“There
was no initial shock as I was constantly researching terminology on my lab
tests, trying to decipher the code that was on the test results in preparation
for the worst. I was prepared and ready to accept whatever the oncologist told
me.
“She
took her time, was gentle and kind, and I was provided with the right
explanation to calm not only myself but my family as we were all in this
together.”
The
first time I broke down was right after my mastectomy. It was the second day, I
had the Qur’an playing next to me, and one verse broke my tears free,” she
said.
“I
knew that it was going to be difficult and I was ready, but you can never be
ready enough. One short verse reminded me of how weak as humans we are and that
played with my psyche.
“I
can’t sugarcoat it. It’s a tough process. And in my case, one thing led to the
next. I’m due to start my chemotherapy by the end of the month. But I do have
an optimistic outlook on life and it does help to have loved ones surround me
and keep my hope alive,” she said.
A
few years ago, Omayma Al-Tamami, a media personality turned writer, also began
a battle with breast cancer, which had been picked up late owing to a
misdiagnosis. Support from friends and family helped her through, but mental
self-care proved essential.
“I
had to be strong, positive, content and in good spirits throughout my journey
to give strength to those around me and adopt the same approach I have toward
my illness,” she told Arab News.
Indeed,
friends, families and colleagues have to be mindful of the emotional
environment they are providing cancer patients. The initial reaction for most
is sympathy, which can have a complex magnifying effect on patients.
“My
thoughts were dark, suicidal, I had no pain threshold, and I wasn’t OK,” Rajaa
Al-Khateeb, a 55-year-old retired government-sector worker, told Arab News.
Aware
of her family history of breast cancer, Al-Khateeb always scheduled an annual
mammogram and adapted to a healthier lifestyle to help lower the risk. It
nonetheless came as a devastating shock when she was diagnosed.
“The
shock was too much for me to bear,” she said. “I isolated myself, I was angry,
I was tired and I was in a shambles all the time. The moment I saw a light at
the end of the tunnel, I’d crawl away.”
A
year after her diagnosis, Al-Khateeb began to find acceptance, educated
herself, and surrounded herself with a core of people who helped her to find
inner strength.
“I
had to cut off nearly 80 percent of the people I knew,” she said. “Those who I
once called close friends became strangers and I found refuge in people who
knew how to deal with cancer patients as their own loved ones had perished from
it.
“Cancer
is cruel. You grow bald, your complexion and features disappear, you barely
recognize yourself, and your body is full of toxins from the chemo.
“Through
it all, it’s the support of people who care most that pushes you to tolerate
the pain, to push harder to go out and see the world and break out of the
prison.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2190361/saudi-arabia
-----
Karen
Decker Says She Shares Afghan Women’s ‘Concerns’ and ‘Hope’
By
SaqalainEqbal
29
Oct 2022
Following
conversations with a number of Afghan women in Turkey, Karen Decker, the Chargé
d’Affaires of the US Mission in Afghanistan, said that she shares their
“concerns and their hope.
-------------
Decker,
the US official for Afghanistan, stated on Friday, October 28, via her Twitter
handle that the US is continuing to make a concerted effort for the people of
the US and Afghanistan.
She
also mentioned speaking with other Afghan women in Turkey, including journalist
and reporter Nargis Hurakhsh and investigative journalist SomaiaValizadeh.
Decker described her trip to Turkey as “productive” and stated that she
“appreciated the honesty of Afghan women.”
According
to Karen Decker, the “listening tours” prove that Afghans all across the world
are concerned about the future of their country. According to reports, Karen
went to Turkey three days ago to meet with several journalists and activists
from civil society.
This
comes as the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, spoke with
former Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the telephone, stressing the need for
a “genuine” national dialogue.
The
US representative and the former Afghan president discussed the imperative of
reopening schools for girls in Afghanistan, according to a brief statement by
West posted on Twitter.
West
reaffirmed that the international community would continue to put in the effort
to provide basic and humanitarian needs, stating that the US need the Taliban
to do their role, lessen interference with aid, and govern in a way that
invites investment and the return of trained professionals.
Source:
khaama Press
https://www.khaama.com/karen-decker-says-she-shares-afghan-womens-concerns-and-hope-37475/
-----
In
Iran, women are protesting the hijab. In India, they're suing to wear it
LAUREN
FRAYER
October
29, 2022
MUMBAI,
India — Footage of Iranian women protesting and burning their hijabs has
fascinated Indians, in part because they are seeing the opposite scenario play
out at home: Muslim women are suing India's government for the right to keep
their hijabs on.
Their
lawsuit, brought by high schoolers banned from wearing headscarves in
classrooms in southern India, has landed at the country's Supreme Court, where
this month, judges admitted that even they have been unable to agree on the
issue.
It's
a reflection of just how sensitive anything related to the hijab is in
Hindu-majority India, especially under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lawmakers
from his Hindu nationalist party have been accused of inciting violence against
India's 200 million Muslims — the country's largest minority.
The
Iran protests fit a narrative popular among many in India's Hindu majority:
that the hijab is an example of "radical Islam," a tool to control
women and a slippery slope toward clerical control.
"Ever
since 9/11, the first thing you see with the arrival of radical Islam is the
attire," columnist Tavleen Singh said on a recent TV news program.
"Every time men decide what women should wear, it is wrong. The hijab...
is meant to be a political weapon."
But
her views about women's dress resonate with Modi's supporters, who fear
Islamist influence in India and point out that Indian authorities are not alone
in their efforts to restrict the hijab. Islamic face coverings, though not
headscarves, are banned in France too.
"Any
attempt to veil women in the name of religion, even if it begins with a
headscarf, should be seen as a sign of religious fundamentalism and a future
where extensive veiling will be mandated under law," says Swati Goel
Sharma, author of a new book titled The Hijab Debate: Subjugation Sold as Freedom.
Sharma
and her coauthor Sanjeev Newar filed a petition against the Muslim schoolgirls'
lawsuit in the high court of Karnataka, a southern Indian state.
Many
Hindu nationalists see a contradiction in those who support Iranian women
taking off their hijabs while also supporting Indian women who want to keep
them on.
"Oppose
Hijab in Iran. Support Hijab in India. Hypocrisy of the Liberal Gangsters
!" C. T. Ravi, the national general secretary of Modi's Bharatiya Janata
Party, tweeted last month.
"In
Iran, the state is interfering in the rights of women — the choice of women —
to decide what to wear and what not to wear. And that is exactly the problem
faced by the Muslim girls in the schools of Karnataka," says Samar Ali,
general secretary of the student union at English and Foreign Languages
University in Hyderabad, in southern India.
Ali,
who wears the hijab, alleges hypocrisy in another direction. If you champion
Iranian women's choice, she says, you must do the same for the Karnataka girls.
Those who don't have "double standards," she says.
"It
is evident how biased these people are. Even the media in India, it portrays
the protests in Iran as simply anti-hijab," Ali says. "But more than
that, it's about the basic right of women to choose."
Both
sides decry media coverage of the issue. Those on the right say Western
coverage has unfairly celebrated the high school girls in Karnataka. And they
accuse Indian Muslim groups of being comparatively silent on the Iran protests.
On
Oct. 7, Indian film star Priyanka Chopra condemned the death in Iranian custody
of MahsaAmini, who'd been arrested by the country's so-called morality police
for not wearing the hijab properly. Chopra said she was "in awe" of
the Iranian protests that followed.
"The
voices that speak after ages of forced silence, will rightfully burst like a
volcano! And they will not and MUST not be stemmed," the actor wrote on
Instagram.
Nabiya
Khan, an Indian Muslim poet who wears the hijab, says Chopra has been
conspicuously silent about the persecution of minorities at home.
"We
never heard her raising concern against mob lynchings, illegal bulldozing of
homes of Muslims, and an alarming increase of hate crimes against Muslims and
Dalits in India," she says.
Two
years ago, after she expressed support for Black Lives Matter, observers
pointed out that in 2008, she appeared in a series of promotional videos for
skin-lightening creams in India called White Beauty. She later said she
regretted those ads.
"The
right wing, they would like to vilify Islam. So it's like 'See, we told you
this is oppressive,'" says Debangana Chatterjee, a political scientist at
Jain University in Bengaluru. "Then there are liberals on the left wing
who say women's choice should be prioritized."
What
they're all missing, Chatterjee says, is some history: In both Iran and India,
the hijab has been used as a tool of political activism against the government.
Before
Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, Muslim veils were "a symbol of resistance
against the oppressive Shah regime," Chatterjee wrote in a recent essay
for the Indian online publication Scroll.in. They were also used by Algerian
nationalists against the French, and in 1970s Egypt, she notes. Now they are
being used by Karnataka schoolgirls to assert their own agency, Chatterjee says.
"Someone
who wears a burqa isn't necessarily backward. The idea of repression doesn't
reside in what someone is wearing, but whether they're wearing it by choice or
not," she says. "That's what connects India and Iran."
Source:
Npr.Org
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/29/1131830324/india-hijab-iran-protests
-----
Women
Activists in Kabul Protest Closed Girls' Schools
By
Waheeda Hasan
29-10-2022
The
protesters asked the Islamic Emirate to immediately reopen girls' schools,
saying that it had been more than 400 days since the closing of the schools.
“We
ask the Islamic Emirate to reopen the schools and let the girls go to school,”
said SodabaNazhand, a teacher.
"We
will bravely continue our struggle until the schools are opened,” said Humaira
Farhangyar, women’s rights activist.
"Girls
in other nations have advanced, but in Afghanistan, our girls cannot even
attend school,” a women’s rights activist said.
Meanwhile,
female students said that schools shouldn't be closed any longer and they urged
the authorities to reopen them.
"Open
our schools. Is this our sin because we are girls?" said Hadia, a student.
“We
ask the officials to reopen the schools, it has been over 400 days that our
schools are closed,” said Yalda, another student.
Earlier,
the Islamic Emirate said it is working on a plan to reopen girls' schools,
although it is unclear when this plan will be completed and when schools will
reopen.
Source:
Tolo News
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-180512
-----
Bangladesh:
Opposition BNP, ruling Awami League organise rallies as show of strength for
the national poll
By
AIR News
October
30, 2022
The
political arena in Bangladesh is hotting up with the main political parties
gearing up to show their strength for the battle ahead for the general
elections scheduled to be held in December next year or January 2024. The main
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the ruling Awami League (AL)
both organised rallies on Saturday to showcase their strength and lay out their
agenda and strategy for the big battle ahead.
Going
ahead with its 4th Divisional rally at Rangpur on Saturday after the rallies at
Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna earlier, the opposition BNP demanded the
resignation of the Sheikh Hasina government. Addressing a large rally, BNP
Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called for the dissolution of
parliament before the next election could be held under a caretaker government.
He said that BNP MPs are ready to resign from parliament anytime in support of
their demand.
Alleging
that the government was afraid of the people, the BNP leaders asked why a
transport strike was called ahead of the BNP rally. Earlier, in a repeat of the
situation observed during the Khulna rally on 23 October, the buses, lorries
and other public transport of Rangpur went on a 36-hour strike before the start
of the BNP rally on Saturday.
The
Awami League also organised a big rally in the capital city Dhaka on Saturday
on the occasion of the triennial council of Dhaka district unit of the AL.
Addressing the rally, Awami League General Secretary ObaidulQuader challenged
the BNP to look at the turnout at the rally to understand the public support
Awami League enjoys. Calling the BNP communal and violent, ObaidulQuader said
that the spirit of democracy, independence and Liberation War would not be safe
in the hands of the BNP.
Home
Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said at the rally that the AL believes in the
mandate of the people and they will vote for the party to bring Sheikh Hasina
back to power. He said that people believe that as long as Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina leads the country, the pace of progress and development would
continue and they would be able to live in peace and harmony.
Source:
News Onair
-----
Coroner
identifies body found in Guntersville as 25-year-old Arab woman
By
Luke Hajdasz
Oct
29, 2022
The
Marshall County Coroner's Office has identified the body found during a search
of a property Friday afternoon.
The
coroner says Kendra Leigh Green, 25, of Arab was found in a shed on a property
on Stewart Hollow Road.
Authorities
say Green had been reported missing by her family several days earlier.
Patrick
Gerald Seals of Guntersville is charged with abuse of a corpse.
Source:
Waaytv.Com
-----
Iran
protests: Europe's cities rally for MahsaAmini and women's rights
By
Euronews
29/10/2022
Iran's
paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued a new warning on Saturday to Iranians
joining the protests that have roiled the country since last month.
"We
are again telling our youth, the minority who have been deceived, stop wicked
acts. Today is the end of the riots. Don't take to streets anymore," said
the Guards commander in chief General Hossein Salami.
Meanwhile
the trial of five people accused of capital crimes related to the protests that
have rocked Iran for six weeks began on Saturday in Tehran, judicial
authorities said.
The
unrest — sparked by the death on September 16 of MahsaAmini in the custody of
the country's morality police — has rocked the Islamic Republic for over a
month.
Participants
held up Iranian flags and signs criticizing Iran's leaders, many with the
tagline "Women, Life, Freedom" in both English and German.
Hundreds
of people gathered in Rome to protest against the Iranian government on
Saturday and its recent crackdown on seven weeks of demonstrations.
The
protesters — among them both Iranians and Italians — carried photographs of
MahsaAmini. Gathered in San Giovanni square, they chanted "woman, life,
freedom."
"We
are not fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for the whole Middle East, we
are fighting for the whole world. It's not a normal government, at all,"
said Sara Moradi, an Iranian woman living in Turin.
"We
are trying to say with our loud voices, also to the Western governments that we
don't want this regime anymore," said HamidehSaberi, an Iranian student
from Turin. "They need to help Iranian people to actually pass from this
regime and get to the democracy."
In
the capital, several hundred people took part in a rally at the Place de la
République, waving many Iranian flags and placards with slogans such as
"Women, life, freedom".
"I
think there is a real revolution and I think they will reach freedom,"
MahtabGhorbani, 39, a writer exiled in France for five years and one of the
organisers of the rally, told AFP.
In
Lyon, about 250 people, according to the Rhône prefecture, responded to the
call of the Collectif des anciensétudiants de Lyon and took part in a march
from Place Bellecour. They held up signs reading "Solidarity for
freedom", "We are all revolted", "#MahsaAmini", and chanted
"We don't want the Islamic regime, we don't want the misogynist
regime", "Yes to a democratic republic in Iran".
In
London, protesters demonstrated to support doctors who are risking their lives
treating people protesting in Iran in light of the death of MahsaAmini.
People
wave pre-islamic revolution Iran's flags as they take part in a protest against
Iranian authorities, in London, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.AP Photo/Alberto
Pezzali
Ireland's
capital Dublin also witnessed a demonstration over the death of the 22-year-old
who died in mid-September while in police custody in Iran.
Source:
Euro News
-----
Angelina
Jolie dedicates Persian poem to Iranian women
By
Web Desk
October
30, 2022
Hollywood
superstar Angelina Jolie expressed solidarity with the people of Iran.
Taking
to Instagram, she shared a Farsi poem and wrote, "An Iranian friend
reminded me of this poem."
She
added, "I am thinking today of all the young Iranians bravely standing up
against decades of brutal abuse and repression of Iranian women.
Source:
The News
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1004961-angelina-jolie-dedicates-persian-poem-to-iranian-women
-----
Bangladeshi
origin Tanwi Nandini wins $50,000 Kirkus Prize for nonfiction writing
30
October, 2022
Her
memoir "In Sensorium: Notes for My People" won the award in the
nonfiction category from six finalists of the 2022 Kirkus Nonfiction Prize.
"Using
the framework of fragrance and scent, the author's work confronts aspects of
our society related to women, gender, and people of colour. Seductive, vital,
and incomparable, this is a reading experience that endures," they said in
a statement.
The
winners of the ninth annual Kirkus Prize in Fiction, Nonfiction and Young
Readers' Literature were announced in a ceremony at the Austin Central Library,
Kirkus Reviews.
The
winners were chosen from the 1,436 books that received the coveted Kirkus star
in the last year and narrowed down from a shortlist released last month. Each
winner receives a cash prize of $50,000.
Hernan
Diaz's novel "Trust," a postmodern take on wealth, power and reality
set in the 1920s and 1930s, won the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.
Prize
judges cited Diaz for how "he uses multiple perspectives and forms to push
the boundaries of what a novel can do." "What seems to begin as a
homage to novels of the Roaring '20s unfolds with each successive layer into a
complex story of power, love, and the nature of truth," the judges said.
Harmony
Becker's Himawari House, a young adult graphic novel about foreign exchange
students, won the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature.
Accoring
to judges, the book's brilliance lies both in the authentic cultural
specificity that grounds it and Becker's creative presentation that welcomes
all readers in.
Source:
Tbs News
https://www.tbsnews.net/splash/bangladeshi-origin-tanwi-nandini-wins-50000-kirkus-prize-522438
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/australia-women-islamic-state-syrian/d/128302