Farzaneh Motamedi Breaks Barriers with Online Education Initiative, She Teaches English to Over 50 Afghan Girls
New Age
Islam News Bureau
09 November 2023
·
Farzaneh Motamedi Breaks
Barriers with Online Education Initiative, She Teaches English to Over 50
Afghan Girls
·
PTI’s Sanam Javed Rearrested
After Release from Prison
·
Family Of Palestinian Activist
Ahed Tamimi Jailed for Incitement Says Her Account Was Hacked
·
Pakistan National
Accountability Bureau Summons Imran Khan’s Wife Bushra Bibi Next Week in Graft
Case
·
Iran's Strict Hijab Law in
Limbo Ahead of Elections
·
If These Afghan Women Are
Forced Out ofPakistan, They Say Taliban Horrors Await Them At Home
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/farzaneh-motamedi-afghan-girls/d/131079
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Farzaneh Motamedi Breaks Barriers with
Online Education Initiative, She Teaches English to Over 50 Afghan Girls
Farzaneh
Motamedi, a resilient teenager
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Fidel Rahmati
November 8, 2023
Farzaneh Motamedi, a resilient teenager,
has refused to succumb to the prohibition of girls’ education. In defiance of
this exclusion, she has pioneered online English language classes. Currently,
she teaches English to over 50 underprivileged girls deprived of formal
education.
Farzaneh was in the eighth grade when
the Taliban administration came to power and declared the presence of girls
beyond the sixth grade in schools prohibited.
It has been over two years since schools
were closed to girls. However, Farzaneh insists that she didn’t have
“reasonable” expectations of schools reopening; that’s why she decided to
create online English language classes as an educational alternative, teaching
English to girls deprived of formal education.
In a conversation with Khaama Press News
Agency, she said, “Like other girls deprived of education, I spent a long time
feeling hopeless and uncertain. However, after a while, I realized that
expecting schools to reopen was not logical. That’s why I designed online
English language classes.”
“I, like many other girls deprived of
education, spent a long time in despair and uncertainty. However, after a
while, I realized that expecting schools to reopen was not logical. That’s why
I designed online English language classes.”
According to this student, more than 50
girls who have been deprived of education have completed one round of English
language learning, and there are ongoing classes as well.
She added, “I made the online English
language education program public on my Facebook page, but I didn’t expect
girls to embrace it with such enthusiasm.”
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Farzaneh describes the consequences of
the halt in education for girls as follows: “If the prohibition of education
continues in this manner, Afghanistan cannot witness growth and progress
without the role of women.
The outcome of raising children by an
educated mother is vastly different from an illiterate mother, and the
continued denial of education for girls will be irreversible.”
Source: khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/farzaneh-breaks-barriers-with-online-education-initiative/
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PTI’s Sanam Javed Rearrested After
Release from Prison
Detained
female workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) speaking to media on June 2,
2023. SCREENGRAB
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November 08, 2023
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader
Sanam Javed, accused of involvement in arson attack on the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) office on May 9, 2023, was released from prison on
Wednesday only to be apprehended once again, Express News reported.
According to details, the Anti-Terrorism
Court in Lahore had granted bail to Sanam in connection with the case of
setting fire to the PML-N office. The bail was approved by judge Arshad Javed
after a surety bond was submitted.
Following the court's orders, Sanam was
released from Kot Lakhpat Jail. However, as soon as she stepped out of the jail
premises, she was taken into custody again by the police.
Reports suggest that Sanam has been
moved to a police station following her rearrest.
Sanam was also among the PTI workers who
were rearrested in September after being released from Kot Lakhpat Jail.
Apart from Sanam, Afshan Tariq, Ashmia
Shujah, and Shah Bano Gorchani were also apprehended.
They were transported in a prison van
and subsequently transferred to a women's police station. While en route, Sanam
Javed exclaimed, "again arrest," confirming her detention.
PTI and its workers found themselves in
hot water following the events of May 9, when in an unprecedented show of
vandalism, protesters allegedly belonging to the former ruling party,
vandalised public and state properties and even attacked the General Headquarters
in Rawalpindi and Lahore’s Jinnah House, where the city’s corps commander was
residing.
The attacks occurred hours after the
paramilitary Rangers arrested the PTI chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust
corruption case – later retitled as National Crime Agency £190 million scandal
– on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), from the Islamabad
High Court premises.
The army termed the events of May 9 a
“dark chapter” and announced its intent to try the protesters under relevant
laws, including two military laws — the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets
Act.
However, a five-judge bench of the
Supreme Court unanimously declared the trial of civilians in military courts as
null and void and ordered that the 103 accused in cases relating to the
violence on May 9 and 10, 2023 be tried under the ordinary criminal laws.
Source: tribune.com.pk
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2445478/ptis-sanam-javed-rearrested-after-release-from-prison
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Family of Palestinian activist Ahed
Tamimi jailed for incitement says her account was hacked
09th November 2023
JERUSALEM: The family of Palestinian
activist Ahed Tamimi insists she didn’t write the words for which she now sits
in an Israeli jail.
Israeli authorities burst into the
Tamimi home in the occupied West Bank on Monday and arrested the 22-year old
for “inciting terrorism” on her Instagram account. But her mother says the
account was hacked.
Tamimi gained worldwide fame in 2017
after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral on social media.
She later said the soldiers had shot her cousin in the head just before the
video was taken. After being released from prison, she wrote a book and
crisscrossed Europe and the Middle East, becoming a sort of superstar in the
campaign against Israeli occupation.
Tamimi’s recent arrest has prompted
criticism of an Israeli crackdown on Palestinian online speech in the wake of
the Hamas cross-border attack Oct. 7. Palestinians have been arrested by
Israeli authorities, fired by Israeli employers and expelled from Israeli
schools for online speech deemed incendiary, rights groups say.
The Israeli military alleges Tamimi
posted a statement reading “we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities
from Hebron to Jenin — we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler
did to you was a joke, we will drink your blood and eat your skulls, come on,
we are waiting for you.”
Nariman Tamimi, Ahed’s mother, said the
account had been hacked — a common occurrence for the fiery activist.
Nonetheless, she said soldiers stormed
the Tamimi house in the flashpoint village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West
Bank early Monday morning, screaming that they wanted to arrest Ahed.
“She came to me and hugged me, saying,
‘mama, don’t be afraid and don’t worry. I am strong, and you too, be strong.
Nothing can shake us,” Nariman recounted.
Soldiers held Nariman in a separate room
while others handcuffed her daughter. Through the walls, Nariman says she heard
the soldiers beating Ahed before carting her away. The Israeli military
declined to say where Tamimi is being held.
A family representative, who declined to
be identified because of the delicate legal situation, said an Israeli military
court will deliberate on the length of Tamimi’s detention this coming week.
Alternatively, Tamimi could be placed under administrative detention, a status
that would allow her to be held indefinitely without charge.
Israel’s far-right celebrated her
arrest. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, praised the
soldiers who arrested Tamimi.
In a picture he posted to X, formerly
known as Twitter, Tamimi sits handcuffed on a bed, the tight grasp of an armed
Israeli soldier hidden by her unruly mane.
“Zero tolerance with terrorists and
supporters of terrorism!” Ben-Gvir pledged.
Tamimi’s detention comes as Israel
doubles down on Palestinian online expression, rights groups say.
In a report published 20 days after the
initial Hamas attack, Palestinian rights group Adalah documented 161 criminal
legal proceedings initiated against Palestinians for incitement. Meanwhile,
dozens of Palestinian students and employees have faced lower-level
disciplinary measures for posts deemed incendiary, it says.
“These measures constitute a severe
campaign of repression against Palestinian citizens of Israel and constitute a
mass political persecution of them,” the report concluded.
ALSO READ | 'When genocide unfolds,
artmaking, reading and discourse feels like throwing paper planes in a drizzle'
PEN America, an advocacy group that
promotes the right to free expression, urged Israeli authorities and Instagram
to try to clarify the circumstances of Tamimi’s arrest.
“There are very limited circumstances in
which the arrest of an author for their words can be justified,” the statement
read. “None of those apply when the writings in question are not the writer’s
own.”
Israeli authorities have arrested 2,280
Palestinian detainees in nightly Israeli raids into the West Bank since the
start of the war, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an advocacy
group.
Israel says the raids root out militancy
in the volatile territory. Over 167 Palestinians have been killed in the West
Bank in the month since the war’s start.
Source: newindianexpress.com
https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2023/nov/09/family-of-palestinian-activist-ahed-tamimi-jailed-for-incitement-says-her-account-was-hacked-2631506.html
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Pakistan National Accountability Bureau
Summons Imran Khan’s Wife Bushra Bibi Next Week in Graft Case
November 9, 2023
Syed Irfan Raza
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability
Bureau (NAB), Rawalpindi, has summoned former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife
Bushra Bibi and her close friend Farhat Shehzadi on Nov 13 in Al-Qadir Trust
corruption case.
A source in NAB told Dawn that Bushra
Bibi was to appear before the anti-graft watchdog on Wednesday, but she did not
turn up and her counsel sent a written request seeking a new date in the next
week for the appearance.
In Al-Qadir Trust case, Imran Khan and
his wife are accused of obtaining billions of rupees and hundreds of kanals of
land from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and
returned to Pakistan by the United Kingdom during the previous PTI government.
On May 9, NAB arrested the PTI chief in
the case that sparked countrywide violent protests by his supporters who burnt
and ransacked public and private properties and sensitive military
installations.
The case relates to alleged illegal
acquisition of land and construction for Al-Qadir University involving unlawful
benefit given in recovery of prime proceeds (140 million British pounds)
through the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in a money laundering case against
real estate tycoon Malik Riaz and his family.
Imran Khan is also accused of misleading
the federal cabinet by concealing the facts/documents related to the settlement
agreement. Money was received under the settlement agreement (140m pounds) and
was supposed to be deposited in the national exchequer. But the money was
adjusted in recovery of Rs450bn liabilities of Bahria Town.
The notice served to Bushra Bibi stated
that the bureau has taken cognizance of commission of offences of corruption
and corrupt practices as defined under NAB laws. It said the NCA had on Dec 14,
2018 frozen approximately 20m pounds from the bank accounts of two Pakistani
nationals — Ahmad Ali Riaz and his wife Mubashra — under the UK’s Proceeds of
Crime Act, 2002.
Subsequently, on Aug 12, 2019, the NCA
further froze 119.7m pounds lying in the bank accounts of Malik Riaz family and
also one Hyde Park Place property, the notice added. It said in a note dated
02.12.2019, the former prime minister (Imran Khan) specifically mentioned that
the funds were to be repatriated to the national exchequer, but they were not
transferred to the kitty.
The record revealed that instead of
repatriation of funds to the state, the funds were ‘dishonestly’ and
‘maliciously’ adjusted against liability of Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) by
transferring the same to the designated account which was maintained by Supreme
Court registrar for depositing the liability of Bahria Town, the notice said.
In return to this favour illegally and
dishonestly, Bahria Town Ltd gave material and monetary benefits in shape of
land measuring 458 kanals, Rs285 million, building and other kinds disguised
under the garb of donations to Al-Qadir University Trust in which you are one
of the trustees and signed acknowledgment of donations with Bahria Town,” said
a previous NAB notice to Bushra Bibi.
Source: dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1787689/nab-summons-bushra-bibi-next-week-in-graft-case
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Iran's Strict Hijab Law In Limbo Ahead
of Elections
November 9, 2023
Maryam Sinaee
An Iranian lawmaker has alleged that the
Woman, Life, Freedom protesters wanted to promote “nudity” in Iran and
emphasized that hijab will be strictly enforced.
“There are stringent laws regarding
hijab. We will confront those who do not comply with the rules of hijab and
deal with them,” Ahmad Rastineh told Rouydad 24 news website Wednesday.
Rastineh, who is a member of the
ultra-hardliner Paydari Party, which was behind a recent hijab bill, claimed
that observance of hijab has improved in the past couple of months in
comparison with the time that followed last year’s nationwide protests. Rastineh
is a member of parliament’s cultural committee.
The bill, approved by the parliament
last month, faced an unexpected rejection from the Guardian Council, a potent
constitutional body responsible for vetting all legislation. The Council
returned the bill to the parliament for amendments, citing formal shortcomings
in the text, including the ambiguity of terms like “unchastity” or
“corruptness.”
Some analysts viewed the Council’s
rejection as an effort to refine the legislation for greater precision,
dismissing any correlation with public discontent. Others speculated the
Council might be wary of escalating public dissatisfaction before the upcoming
parliamentary elections in March, possibly seeking to postpone its final
approval.
Rastineh’s remarks over the matter seem
to confirm the authorities’ fear of causing further alienation among the
population.
"Some misinterpretation hindered
the law's implementation. Some believed it would polarize Iranian society and
lead to division. They assumed there was substantial demand for freedom in
women's dress code, but we observed it was only a minority," asserted
Rastineh, accusing authorities of succumbing to the "psychological
propaganda" of those opposing mandatory hijab.
The reality on the ground contradicts
Rastineh’s claim that abidance by hijab has improved. Images posted on social
media suggest more and more women appearing in public across the country
without covering their heads despite being often targeted by hijab enforcers
and other consequences including loss of their license to work.
Many celebrities who had removed their
hijab during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests have refused to wear it again
even at the cost of being banned from working.
Not only women who wore the hijab in
public to stay away from trouble, but also some women who had always covered
their heads and even worn the long black veil by choice, are now saying they no
longer believe in it.
Among the latter was a former state
television presenter, Fatemeh Kia-Pasha, who used to appear on air wearing the
‘chador’ long veil.
Kia-Pasha who had not been on air for a
couple of years, about a year ago began posting photos and videos of herself on
Instagram wearing headscarves that covered all her hair.
In a post two weeks ago, the
twenty-six-year-old former presenter said she had been wearing the chador by
choice but no longer believes in it. The reason she still wears the
headcovering in the photos she posts on her Instagram page is out of respect
for her mother who believes in the necessity of wearing the hijab, she wrote.
While Kia-Pasha does not appear to have
flouted the hijab as a political statement, other women such as Sedigheh
Vasmaghi, a prominent Islamic scholar and politician, have stopped wearing the
hijab in public as a strong political and religious statement.
Vasmaghi, 63, recently removed her
headscarf after decades and even challenged Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s hijab
edict, by arguing that there is no foundation in the Quran or the Sharia for
such an edict.
Khamenei said emphatically in an April 4
speech that “based on Sharia and also politically”, discarding hijab is haram
(sinful).
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202311089947
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If these Afghan women are forced out of
Pakistan, they say Taliban horrors await them at home
7
Nov 2023
When the Pakistani government abruptly
announced all foreigners illegally living in the country had to leave, hundreds
of thousands of Afghans packed up and headed to the border.
But Zahra and Paavaana, whose names have
been changed for their safety, are staying put.
Both women worked with international
NGOs in Afghanistan but fled to Pakistan after the Taliban returned to power.
They say the fear of retribution if they
go back is worse than the risk of going to prison if they remain where they
are.
They spoke to the ABC from a flat in
Pakistan, where they are hiding from authorities, and have not left their small
room in a week out of fear they may be caught.
Zahra worked for an Australian
government-funded program in Afghanistan helping women in rural areas.
"If I'm deported back to
Afghanistan, definitely, we will be arrested by the current regime, and they
will punish us, because our crime was we worked for international
organisations," she said.
"I want to request to the Pakistan
government, please don't send us back, we worked to promote women's empowerment
and now our life is in danger."
Pakistan ordered undocumented foreigners
to leave by November 1, saying they'll face arrest and deportation from that
date.
The ruling mostly affects 1.7 million
Afghan migrants, many of whom escaped Taliban rule.
By staying, Zahra and Paavaana are
resisting immense pressure from Pakistan authorities who have been engaging in
a widespread crackdown on refugees.
This has included bulldozing places
housing Afghans, going door to door to find them, and offering rewards to
people tipping off authorities about migrants.
"I don't feel safe now, because I'm
living like I'm in a jail, I can't go out," Paavaana said.
"I just want to live in a safe
place, I can't live independently right now … I'm locked down because of this
situation."
The fear of being forced back into
marriage
Other Afghans have been rushing to the
border worried about arrest in Pakistan.
Many initially left Afghanistan because
of the Taliban, which has been internationally condemned for taking most rights
away from women and girls since it took over in 2021.
Paavaana divorced her abusive husband
and left the country last year, but she believes he will go to the Taliban's
courts to force her to re-marry him if she returns.
Under the Taliban, women are not allowed
to serve as judges, practice law, or prosecute crimes in Afghanistan and
Paavaana would struggle to fight her husband in court.
She's also from the Hazara ethnic group,
which has faced persecution by the Taliban.
"I'm worried that if I return back,
the Taliban will put me in jail," she said.
"It's too hard in Afghanistan for
women and girls, they force marriage, it's the story of millions of girls in
Afghanistan, I'm just an example of millions of girls."
Paavaana and Zahra, along with other
Afghan migrants being forced to leave, are the casualties of a political battle
between Pakistan's government and the Taliban.
Pakistan's interim interior minister
Sarfaz Bugti said expelling Afghans is a security measure, claiming more than
half of suicide bombings this year were by Afghans.
There's been an increase in attacks in
Pakistan, but the Taliban has rejected that figure and issued an ominous
warning on Friday.
"As you sow, so shall you
reap," the Taliban's defence minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob said.
The ABC has made requests for an
interview or comment from Pakistan's caretaker government, but has not received
a response.
Pakistan is grappling with its own
problems
Pakistan is in caretaker mode before it
heads to an election in February and the interim government is widely believed
to be guided by the powerful military.
The country is also facing a
debilitating economic crisis and the government has said undocumented Afghans
who don't pay taxes are a drain on the system.
The UN and human rights groups have been
urging Pakistan to stop the expulsion, but government officials have insisted
this move is following international law.
Terror attacks on the military,
politicians, police, and public places have gone up this year in Pakistan.
Some of the attacks are linked to the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which shares an ideology with the Afghan
Taliban.
The TTP largely operates along the
Afghan-Pakistan border, and it has long wanted to overthrow the government in
Islamabad by waging terror attacks.
Many experts and human rights groups
argue expelling vulnerable Afghan refugees is not the solution to the increase
in militancy.
Some have lived in Pakistan for
generations, fleeing the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 80s, decades
of militant persecution, or war waged by Western countries including Australia.
"They have a moral right to seek
refuge in this country and to be treated with dignity and empathy."
Zahra and Paavaana are bunkering down
and will do anything to avoid going back to Afghanistan.
As early childhood educators, all they
want to do is work and learn.
"We are struggling with a difficult
situation and just we want to work, we want to continue our education, we want
to leave, we want to help the community," Zahra said.
"I want to call on the
international community, please, please don't forget us."
Source: abc.net.au
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-08/afghan-women-stay-in-pakistan/103071896
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/farzaneh-motamedi-afghan-girls/d/131079