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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 21 Feb 2023, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Mass Crackdown Against Child Marriage Tears Mostly Muslim Families Apart In India’s Assam

New Age Islam News Bureau

21 February 2023

• ‘Early Women Explorers In Arabia’ Exhibition On Show In London

• In A First, Saudi Launches Women Paramedics Course At Airports

• Zamfara Govt Vows To Protect Women, Girls Against Gender Based Violence

• Two Senior Women Bureaucrats, D Roopa, An IPS Officer, And IAS Officer Rohini Sindhuri, Indulge In Public Spat In Karnataka

• Prisons Chief Inaugurates Rehabilitation Project At Riyadh Women’s Prison

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:  https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/crackdown-child-marriage-muslim-families/d/129163

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Mass Crackdown Against Child Marriage Tears Mostly Muslim Families Apart In India’s Assam

By Maitreyee Boruah and Md Meharban

21 Feb 2023

Saidul Islam and his family members attend to Noorjahan Nissa after she fainted [Md Meharban/Al Jazeera]

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Assam, India – As Saidul Islam stares at rows of wilted cauliflowers and cabbages, the 33-year-old is unable to decide what is more frightening – his dying crop or weeks of imprisonment.

The patch of land where Islam grows his vegetables was not watered for two weeks while the vegetable grower from Assam’s Dalgaon village, about 100km from state capital Dispur, was bundled into jail on charges of marrying an underage girl seven years ago. His bride was then 15.

On February 3, the police in Assam – ruled by the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – went on an arrest spree as part of a mass crackdown against child marriage. Within 24 hours, more than 2,000 people, including grooms, their family members and religious leaders allegedly involved in underage marriages of girls were imprisoned in makeshift jails.

More than two weeks later, the number of arrested people stands at more than 3,000, including 93 women.

‘We were a happy couple’

Islam was one of them. He told Al Jazeera he managed to secure bail after spending two weeks in jail. “I engaged one lawyer and spent a lot of money to get bail. I was already poor, now I am poorer,” he said, adding that over that fortnight, his health deteriorated drastically. “I have become very weak and so has my wife.”

On Saturday when Al Jazeera visited Islam’s house, his wife, NoorjahanNissa, fainted because of “weakness”. She recovered after a while.

“We were a happy couple but my arrest has had a devastating effect on her,” Islam said.

Since his release, Islam has been constantly staring at his agricultural field – his sole source of income. “My crops have been destroyed. I had worked so hard growing them. I wonder how I will survive now.”

Assam has registered more than 4,200 cases – with 6,707 people accused – under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in cases where a girl below 14 was married. For those married between the ages of 14-18, it has invoked the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

In Islam’s village, Al Jazeera found that police had arrested people from at least 15 homes. Most of those arrested are fathers-in-law of the women as their husbands are working outside the state.

‘To harass Muslims’

Shahjimina Khatoon, who claims she was 18 when she married 18 months ago, said the police arrested her father-in-law. With a toddler in hand, Khatoon is clueless as to when he will return home. Her husband works as a daily wage earner in Karnataka.

Khatoon alleges her father-in-law was arrested because they are Muslim. “I think the arrests related to child marriage are to harass Muslim people.”

In Khatoon’s neighbourhood, AbroanNissa, 19, is waiting for the return of five of her arrested family members: her husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and one more relative. She is alone at home with her child. “I don’t know how I’ll feed my child. The earning members – my husband and my father-in-law – are in jail. I want justice,” Nissa told Al Jazeera.

The police in Assam retrospectively booked people who allegedly participated in child marriage in the past seven years. However, according to Section 468 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if the punishment under law is between 1-3 years, then a court of law cannot consider cases older than three years. Under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, the maximum punishment is two years. However, if the government is invoking POCSO, there is no such limitation as the minimum punishment under the law is 10 years.

Legal experts in Assam told Al Jazeera that cases like Islam’s have no legal basis as he married seven years ago. Since he has been booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, experts say a court cannot consider it.

Moreover, they say the name of the law itself suggests the state should have banned child marriages. In Assam, the state acted after the marriages had taken place and in many cases, after many years.

“These are old cases where the marriages have already been consummated. Most of the child brides are now adults. The petitioners here are not the hitherto child brides. The state is destroying married lives of people and further burdening women and girls already burdened by child marriage,” Guwahati-based human rights lawyer Aman Wadud told Al Jazeera.

Along with the unprecedented large-scale arrests of people to prevent child marriage, critics of the latest step by Assam chief minister and BJP leader HimantaBiswaSarma say it is “anti-poor and anti-minority as most of the arrested people belong to the Muslim community”.

As per the government data, Assam has the highest percentage of Muslims after Indian-administered Kashmir, with Muslims comprising 34 percent of the northeastern state’s 31 million people. At least nine of the state’s 31 districts’ populations are more than 50 percent Muslim.

Bengali-speaking Muslims comprise the bulk of the Muslim population in the state.

In Assam, the socio-political narrative for a long time has been centred around the issue of “illegal immigrants” from neighbouring Bangladesh. The Assamese nationalists maintain that the state’s “land and culture are under threat” because of “continuous illegal migration from Bangladesh”.

“The politics played with the lives of Bengali-speaking Muslims, who are mostly poor, every now and then should end. As the BJP is in power in Assam since 2016, they should take necessary action to stop the entry of ‘illegal’ migrants instead of crying foul over the issue,” Hasina Ahmed, secretary of the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU), told Al Jazeera.

Suicides over the arrests

As the men – most sole breadwinners of their families – were taken away by police, images of anguished wives and mothers beating their chests and pleading for their release outside police stations went viral on social media.

Defending the police action, Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan, inspector general of police (law and order) and spokesman for Assam police, told Al Jazeera, “We are only following the law. There is nothing illegal about the arrests, which are currently under way. As far as criticism is concerned, people have the right to do so as we are a democratic country.”

Bhuyan added that investigations are on and in a month, chargesheets will be filed in all the cases.

Assam reported at least four suicides in connection with the statewide drive against child marriage. The deceased include a widow from South Salmara-Mankachar district. She took her life fearing the arrest of her parents as she was a child bride. In the Karbi Anglong district, a woman died by suicide after her son was arrested during the crackdown.

Wadud, who is representing some of the arrested people in the Guwahati High Court, told Al Jazeera the government should undoubtedly eradicate the “social evil” and society should play a part in the process. However, he questioned the intention of the state government, controlled by the BJP.

“What was the government doing all this while to address the age-old problem? I believe the government has miserably failed to implement the Prohibition of the Child Marriage Act 2006. Since the government has woken up now, however, are (mass arrests) the way to go forward? They should follow due process,” he said.

“In an attempt to implement the legislation, they are invoking the POCSO Act. The Act is to give justice to minor victims of sexual abuse. How do they know there is sexual abuse in all these marriages, especially when the women have been pleading to get their husbands back?”

On February 14, while granting anticipatory bail to nine people charged under the POCSO Act, the Gauhati High Court heavily criticised the mass arrests, saying the crackdown was “causing havoc in the private lives of people”.

But despite criticism of the government’s “ill-thought-out and inhumane campaign” to prevent the marriages of minors, Chief Minister Sarma said he was “committed to ending the evil practice”. He also said the arrests included the accused and perpetrators of the crime and denied any prior religious profiling was undertaken by the government.

Sarma’s critics disagree, saying the right-wing party since it first came to power in Assam in 2016 has used its laws and policies to target Muslims.

“There is a pattern to the whole process of being anti-Muslim. People are not fools. Right from the National Register of Citizens (a list of Indian citizens in Assam), evictions of Bengali-speaking Muslims, encounter killings, to current mass arrests, the BJP government has been targeting the Muslims in Assam,” a political observer told Al Jazeera, requesting anonymity.

‘Why don’t they open more schools?’

AAMSU secretary Ahmed told Al Jazeera that while the arrested people in child marriage cases belong to all communities and religions, including the Indigenous people known as the tribals, most of them are Muslims.

“Chief minister Sarma always talks about Barpeta, Dhubri and Goalpara, where there is a sizeable Muslim population. Why doesn’t he open more schools, colleges and universities in these districts as development measures?” Ahmed asked.

About 32 percent of women in Assam marry before they attain adulthood, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

Statistics also show that education and health facilities are mostly inaccessible to women and girls of Assam. According to the latest NFHS, only 29.6 percent of women in the state aged 15-49 years have 10 or more years of schooling. Since females do not have access to higher education, their participation in the job market is also low.

Likewise, Assam’s maternal mortality ratio is also the highest in the country. According to the Registrar General of India’s latest report on maternal mortality for 2018-2020, the state recorded 195 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Arman Ali, executive director of New Delhi-based National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, who has worked with a non-profit for children with disabilities in Assam, says the mass arrests showed a “very myopic view” of tackling child marriage.

“Child marriage does not happen in isolation. Poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness and age-old traditions are behind the social evil. Instead of addressing the main issues of empowering girls and women by providing them education, health facilities and job opportunities, the government is marginalising the already marginalised and making criminals out of men and punishing them,” Ali told Al Jazeera.

Source:AlJazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/21/crackdown-on-child-marriage-tears-apart-families-in-indias-assam

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‘Early Women Explorers in Arabia’ exhibition on show in London

TAMARA TURKI

February 20, 2023

LONDON: An exhibition in London, hosted by the Saudi Embassy in the UK, is celebrating the late 19th and early 20th century expeditions of British women in the Arabian Peninsula.

The “Early Women Explorers in Arabia” exhibition kicked off on Feb. 8 with a screening of a short film about English Princess Alice’s adventures as the first European royal to visit Arabia.

The film featured archival footage of her visit to Saudi Arabia in 1938 after receiving an impromptu invitation from Crown Prince Saud at the Ascot Racecourse.

The princess, who was the only European royal to meet King Abdulaziz, traveled the hills around Taif, through the desert to Riyadh, and east to Hofuf before arriving on the coast at Damman where oil had just been discovered in commercial quantities.

The exhibition launch also included a presentation by Dr. Elisabeth Kendall, explorer and mistress of Girton College Cambridge.

Kendall talked about her time in the field, specifically in war-torn Yemen, where she researched the use of soft culture, such as poetry, by militant jihad groups to recruit members and garner acceptance in the community.

“I think exploration is the best way to discover for yourself that stereotypes are just that — stereotypes,” Kendall told Arab News.

“My own experiences traveling around the Arabian Peninsula were that I’ve never felt so welcome in such a hospitable place with people who were so warm and so giving,” she added.

Kendall was later joined on stage by Saudi explorer Reem Philby to discuss her recent 1,300-km expedition across Saudi Arabia. The journey sought to raise awareness of the Kingdom’s historical relationship with Britain, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, the legendary British explorer Abdullah Philby.

Reem explained that her main drive to begin exploring around 15 years ago was to be a Saudi who knows her own country.

She also hoped that the “Heart of Arabia” expedition would promote the idea of “journeying with purpose and stepping away from the electronics we’re surrounding ourselves with.”

She said: “Carrying out this recent journey made me aware of the challenges both my grandfather and these Victorian women faced — the harsh cold of the desert at night, the physical challenges of very different terrains, and the fear of the unknown. Our route was mapped and safe. Theirs very often wasn’t.”

The exhibition features several Victorian British women who had a strong influence in the region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Lady Anne Blunt, who traveled in the region as far as Hail in the 1880s to 1890s, and Gertrude Bell, one of the most influential Western women in Arabia, known for archaeological explorations and for political influence as the only female agent in the region during and after the First World War.

Lady Zainab Cobbold, the first British-born Muslim woman to carry out the Hajj, and Freya Stark, a historian and writer who went to some of the most dangerous corners of Hadhramaut, were also notable.

“I think the exhibition is going to be really inspiring. What it says to everyone, but particularly to women, is that you can go to places and do things that you perhaps would only dream of,” Kendall said.

“If they can do it, so can we,” she added.

Saudi Ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar, who attended the exhibition launch, told Arab News: “We had an amazing turnout to celebrate five amazing women from history and two amazing women tonight, both of whom showed the best of what Britain is and what Saudi Arabia is.

“Exploration is an underplayed field, and we need more of it. Saudi Arabia is a huge country with a lot to see, and it was our pleasure to show people here tonight what they’re missing by not being there.”

The “Early Women Explorers in Arabia” exhibition will run until March 5 at the Royal Geographical Society.
Source: Arab News

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2254766/saudi-arabia

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In a first, Saudi launches women paramedics course at airports

Sakina Fatima

20th February 2023

King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah became the first airport to use women paramedics. Photo: Screengrab/Video

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Riyadh: For the first time in the history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah Airports Company (JedCo) launched course for the Saudi women, to provide medical services on the airport grounds, in emergency cases.

Thus, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah became the first airport to use women paramedics for the first time at the level of the Kingdom’s airports.

One of the participants told the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that the course lasts three months and consists of theoretical and practical training.

Paramedic services at King Abdulaziz Airport supervise all medical conditions such as stress, childbirth, and chronic conditions.

The course requires that the applicant hold a bachelor’s degree in the field of emergency medical services, or its equivalent, with an equivalence of the certificate if it was issued by an entity outside the Kingdom, and that the applicant holds a valid license to practice a profession (classification: Committee for Health Specialties – Medical Services Technician) ER), and pass an English language test at IELTS 4 or equivalent.

Objectives of the paramedics program

Empowering women to work in line with Saudi Vision 2030

Improving the traveler experience

Providing first aid services to airport visitors

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has vigorously pursued a campaign to empower women in various walks of life as part of the dramatic changes in the kingdom.

Saudi Minister of Human Resources Ahmed Al-Rajhi said in January 2023, that women made up 37 percent of the kingdom’s total labor market in 2022.

Source: Siasat Daily

https://www.siasat.com/in-a-first-saudi-launches-women-paramedics-course-at-airports-2531191/

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Zamfara Govt Vows To Protect Women, Girls Against Gender Based Violence

February 21, 2023

By Ifeanyi Nwannah

The Zamfara State government has declared that it is determined to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the implementation of policies that will protect women and girls from Gender Based Violence (GBV).

This was disclosed by the State deputy Governor, Senator Hassan Nasiha Mohammed Gusau at a workshop organized by the State Hisbah Commission, in collaboration with Development Research and Project Centre and Federation of Muslim Women of Nigeria (FOMWAN).

The occasion was a one-day step down workshop on the role of the State Hisbah Commission in Protecting women and girls from Gender-Based Violence, using Islamic perspectives.

Senator Gusau, who was represented by Hon. Abubakar MailafiyaMada, noted that the State already had some existing Islamic laws that ensured the rights of women and children were protected against violence and intimidation.

In his speech, Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Kabiru Balarabe, represented by Permanent Secretary, Dr. Barira Ibrahim Bagobiri explained that religion has already protected women and children against any form of violence.

Speaking earlier, the Executive Director GRPC, Dr. Abdullahi Maiwada said the program was initiated to scale up the campaign against Gender-Based Violence which had continued to affect the social lives of people, stressing that it equally affects both male and female populations.

“Reducing the menace of Gender-Based Violence is a collective responsibility.

“Women are most affected as one in every three women suffer violence directly or indirectly, hence the need for authorities to do the needful towards changing the narrative,” he said.

In a goodwill message, the Emir of Gusau, Dr. Ibrahim Bello, represented by Senior District Head, Bashir Kabir Danbaba suggested application of other measures in punishing offenders instead of jailing culprits, stressing that even Prison Service has been renamed “correctional services”.

Source:DailyPost Nigeria

https://dailypost.ng/2023/02/21/zamfara-govt-vows-to-protect-women-girls-against-gbv/

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Two Senior Women Bureaucrats, D Roopa, An IPS Officer, And IAS Officer Rohini Sindhuri, Indulge In Public Spat In Karnataka

Feb 20, 2023

With two senior women bureaucrats indulging in a public spat, Karnataka Home Minister AragaJnanendra on Monday expressed displeasure against their conduct, and warned action, citing service rule violation.

The Minister was referring to the exchanges between Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation Managing Director D Roopa, an IPS officer, and IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, Muzrai Department Commissioner.

"We are not sitting quiet, action will be taken against them. They both are behaving in such a bad way that not even normal people speak on the streets. Let them do whatever on their personal issues, but coming before the media and behaving in a way they are doing is not right," Jnanendra said.

Speaking to reporters, he said, people see IAS and IPS officers with high respect, but looking at their behaviour and conduct, they are causing disrespect and humiliation to civil services officers.

"We have good officials of high ranking, they are the ones who run the state and the country, but a few such people are bringing a bad name to the whole of the official class, they have to be punished. I have spoken to DG (Director General of Police) and will be speaking to the CS (Chief Secretary); the Chief Minister is also aware of it," he added.

Roopa has taken to social media alleging several "wrongdoings" of Sindhuri. She also made personal remarks, accusing Sindhuri of misconduct and released personal pictures of her alleging that it was shared by her with a few male officers.

Terming the allegations as baseless, Sindhuri alleged that Roopa, who holds a responsible position, is making such comments against her out of personal hatred, and was behaving as if she had lost her mental balance.

The two have accused each other of violating the Civil Services Conduct rules, and that they had brought it to the notice of the appropriate authorities. Sindhuri has said that she will take legal and other actions with appropriate authorities for Roopa's actions amounting to misconduct and criminal offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Noting that the officers are bound by conduct rules, Jnanendra said, "already they were warned in the past and as they are not stopping, the government will consider taking strict measures. They have taken names of certain Ministers and the government, the Chief Minister is aware of all this, and he will take a strict decision", he added. Earlier too, both officials had indulged in a public spat, and had been involved in controversies separately too in their official capacities.

Source: Hindustan Times

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/bengaluru-news/two-senior-women-bureaucrats-indulge-in-public-spat-in-karnataka-details-101676884585901.html

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Prisons chief inaugurates rehabilitation project at Riyadh women’s prison

February 15, 2023

RIYADH — Director General of Prisons Maj. Gen. Majed Al-Duweish inaugurated the expansion of a rehabilitation project at the Riyadh women’s prison and these include a nursery for the children of inmates, a sports club, a women’s workshop, and a cultural library. The function was held at the headquarters of the General Administration of Women’s Prison in Riyadh.

This is one of the projects of the Kafo Association for the Employment and Rehabilitation of Female Inmates, and the Fajr Rehabilitation Center, which targets to address the phenomenon of recidivism among female inmates.

It is noteworthy that the General Directorate of Prisons seeks, through these and other projects, to rehabilitate female inmates in the vocational field, and to provide them with suitable job opportunities, while taking care of the psychological and social aspects to facilitate their integration into society after serving their prison terms.
Source: Saudi Gazette

https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/629865/SAUDI-ARABIA/Prisons-chief-inaugurates-rehabilitation-project-at-Riyadh-womens-prison

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URL:   https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/crackdown-child-marriage-muslim-families/d/129163

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