Hijab row: 'Government will not allow creation of another Taliban,' says BJP leader Nalin Kumar Kateel
New
Age Islam News Bureau
05 February 2022
• Afghan
women face increasing violence and repression under the Taliban after
international spotlight fades
• Taliban
release 14 women prisoners in Kabul
• Hijab
crisis: Kwara Muslim, Christian groups disagree over peace move
• Another
Indian college bars Muslim girls wearing hijab
• UN
approaches Taliban as two women activists go missing
• ‘All-American’
female Daesh recruit denied bail from US jail
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Hijab
row: 'Government will not allow creation of another Taliban,' says BJP leader
Nalin Kumar Kateel
05th
February 2022
Muslim
girl students, who tried to enter a government pre-university college at
Kundapur in Karnataka's Udupi district wearing hijabs, were again denied entry
to the premises. (Photo | ANI)
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MANGALURU:
Dakshina Kannada MP and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Saturday,
February 5, 2022, said that the BJP government will not allow the creation of
another Taliban commenting on the Hijab controversy.
"School
is a Sarawati Mandira. They (students) should pursue studies following the
rules laid down by the school. Let them find other ways if they do not want to
pursue studies in the school by following guidelines. Our government will take
strict action and we will not allow it to become another Taliban. Siddaramaiah
who disrupted peace by celebrating Tipu Jayanti and coming up with Shadi Bhagya
to help a few communities is talking about hijab," he said.
On
increasing cattle theft, he said the government has brought the anti-cow
slaughter act which is in court now, adding that the CM has given clear
instructions to officials to stop cattle theft. He also said the cabinet
reshuffle will be decided by the high command.
District
in-charge minister Sunil Kumar said the hijab controversy is a planned
conspiracy. "Hijab, burkha is allowed till the school compound not inside
the classrooms. They should sit along with other students in school uniforms.
Many schools are following it. Siddaramaiah and a few organizations are saying
wearing the hijab is a fundamental right. Those who talk about fundamental
rights should allow Muslim women inside the mosques. We will not tolerate a few
people making guidelines in government schools as to what to wear. It was the
Modi government that gave protection to Muslim women by criminalising triple
talaq," he said.
Source:
New Indian Express
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Afghan
women face increasing violence and repression under the Taliban after
international spotlight fades
February
4, 2022
Afghan
women march during a women’s rights protest in Kabul on Jan. 16, 2022. Wakil
Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images
-------------
The
Taliban reportedly captured 40 people in Mazar-e-Sharif, a medium-sized city in
Afghanistan, at the end of January 2022. Taliban members then allegedly
gang-raped eight of the women.
The
women who survived the gang rape were subsequently killed by their families.
The fact that the women had been raped violated a societal honor code called
Pashtunwalli, which prohibits women from engaging in sex outside of marriage.
Taliban
spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that some of the women they arrested
“remain detained because their male relatives have not yet come to escort
them.”
News
of the attack is circulating among various Afghan communities and some local
media, according to several Afghan women’s rights activists who are part of my
academic network. These colleagues cannot be named because of security
concerns.
Women’s
rights activists marched in Kabul on Jan. 16, 2022, asking where the women of
the Mazar-e-Sharif attack have gone.
But
a careful online news search in English will not reveal details about these
recent kidnappings and gang rapes – a common form of aggression by the Taliban
in the 1990s. No Western media has covered the attacks.
Afghanistan
made Western headlines in July and August 2021, as the U.S. withdrew the last
troops from the country.
Under
the Taliban’s latest rule, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in
Afghanistan are facing “grave threats” of violence and death, according to new
findings by the research and advocacy nonprofit organization Human Rights
Watch.
Violence
against women in Afghanistan also appears to again be worsening, according to
local Afghan colleagues I know. But these reports are not eliciting
international political concern.
During
a major peace and conflict conference I attended with Alexia Cervello San
Vicente, a masters student at Columbia University, in January 2022,
participants shelved questions about Afghan women’s gender-based violence in
favor of discussing trade agreements and foreign aid. Alexia assisted in the
research and writing of this story.
As
an expert on terrorism and violence against women, I find that the current
situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is reminiscent of the Taliban’s
last restrictive regime in the 1990s.
Women’s
rights in Afghanistan then and today
When
the Taliban first rose to power in 1996, it famously banned Afghan women from
holding jobs, or even leaving home without a male guardian or chaperone.
Womens’
rights violations in Afghanistan were a major topic of public concern in the
1990s.
The
general tenor of the public rhetoric at the time amplified the idea that Afghan
women needed to be helped by Western countries.
Women’s
rights did improve significantly after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, as women and
girls were again allowed to attend school, participate in the workforce and
hold positions of authority in government.
Violating
a code of conduct
My
previous research on women’s human rights and gender-based violence in places
like Nigeria and Iraq shows that violence against women can follow a common
trajectory.
Women
are doubly victimized, first by gender-based violence and then by their
communities, which fault women for violating patriarchal codes of conduct.
These codes blame women for being sexually harassed or assaulted.
The
fact that these codes target women discourages them from reporting gender-based
violence and creates an atmosphere of impunity for men who brutalize women.
This permissive environment has led to increased violence against women in
Afghanistan over the last six months.
A
similar incident to the gang rapes happened in 2014, before the Taliban
returned to power – but the situation played out very differently: Former
Afghan president Hamid Karzai signed death warrants for the men who gang-raped
four women.
Legal
retribution for the recent alleged gang rapes is unlikely, given that the
Taliban have eliminated the women’s affairs office, which worked to secure
women’s legal rights. They replaced it with the previously disbanded ministry
of vice and virtue. This notorious government office imposed stringent restrictions
on women and girls.
Afghanistan
falling through the cracks
International
media coverage of Afghanistan in August 2021, and shortly thereafter, focused
on whether the country would lose two decades of human rights progress.
Global
interest in Afghanistan and women’s rights appears to have since dissipated.
One likely contributing factor is that most Western and Afghan journalists
alike left Afghanistan as the Taliban gained control of the country.
But
the reality for women in Afghanistan today remains unchanged. Some experts have
described Afghanistan being set back 20 years.
The
Taliban’s recent decree on women’s rights omitted previous promises it made to
allow girls to attend school, for example.
Most
secondary schools in Afghanistan remain shut, despite the Taliban’s early
pledges to allow girls to attend.
A
new law forbids women from undertaking solo, long-distance road trips.
Meanwhile,
there are reports from the human rights nonprofit Amnesty International that
the Taliban has closed women’s shelters and other social services for women
experiencing abuse.
These
new restrictions are making women virtual “prisoners in their own homes,”
according to Human Rights Watch.
A
new template for improving Afghan women’s rights
Some
Afghan civil society groups have tried to encourage Muslim and traditional
religious authorities to advocate on behalf of women and to give sermons about
preventing gender-based violence.
The
likelihood of any moderation is slim under the Haqqani network, a Sunni
Islamist militant organization that is part of the Taliban.
But
religious authorities in other Muslim countries could provide a template for
improving women’s situation in Afghanistan.
[Get
the best of The Conversation’s politics, science or religion articles each
week.Sign up today.]
As
part of Western countries’ push to normalize relations with the Taliban, they
could also establish connections between receiving foreign funding and
protecting women’s peace and security.
Financial
incentives could help prevent women from being stigmatized or killed. There is
a historical precedent for this strategy in Muslim countries.
Women
were specifically targeted when Pakistan invaded Bangladesh in 1971. An
estimated 200,000 to 400,000 women were raped by the Pakistani military and Razakar,
a Pakistani military group, in a systematic fashion.
The
newly formed Bangladeshi government then offered financial incentives for men
to marry the victimized women, reducing the stigma around their assaults.
Source:
The Conversation
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Taliban
release 14 women prisoners in Kabul
04
Feb 2022
Office
of Prisons Administration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced that
they have freed 14 women from female prison in the Afghan capital Kabul.
The
body said that the inmates were let out as a result of an assessment conducted
by a government delegation.
A
statement sent to media by OPA reads that “14 women prisoners were released on
Thursday, February 3 as a result of an assessment conducted by a five-member
delegation.”
Deputy
of the counternarcotic body in the ministry of interior affairs of the IEA
Moulayee Abdulhaq who was part of the delegation said that all prisons in
Afghanistan have been commanded to prioritize the files of women prisoners.
Abdulhaq
also said that the prisoners released promised not to do carry out activities
that harm societal order and that are illegal and/or in opposition with Sharia
law.
It
is worth mentioning that earlier, the IEA had released tens of male prisoners
who were kept in prisons for having done nothing harmful and /or were sentenced
for small-scale crimes.
Source:
Khaama Press
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-release-14-women-prisoners-in-kabul-457457/
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Hijab
crisis: Kwara Muslim, Christian groups disagree over peace move
5
February 2022
THE
Kwara Muslim Stakeholders’ Forum and the Christian Association of Nigeria in
the state have disagreed over an acceptable way to resolve the unending
controversy over the use of the Hijab by Muslim female pupils in state
missionary schools.
The
two groups, at separate press conferences in Ilorin, the state capital; and
Ijagbo, the epicenter of the recent crisis, blamed the government for its
failure to implement the agreement reached in April 2021 on the resolution of
the crisis.
Recall
that one person died during a protest over the use of the Hijab at Oyun Baptist
High School, Ijagbo, on Thursday while about 11 others sustained gunshot
injuries.
The
Kwara State Government shut down the college indefinitely as a result of the
crisis.
But
the two religious bodies called on the government to institute a high-powered
commission of inquiry to unravel the masterminds behind the violence in Ijagbo.
Speaking
on behalf of the Muslim Stakeholders’ Forum, its Chairman, Alhaji Isiaq
Abdulkareem, alleged that some Muslim parents who were staging a protest to
enforce the fundamental rights of their children were attacked by the
Christians outside the gate of the school.
“About
three weeks ago, Muslim female pupils were sent back by some members of the
Christian Association of Nigeria and yesterday, some Muslim parents followed
their children to the school to enforce their fundamental rights and while the
peaceful protest was going on, some Christians attacked them and one of the
parents of the Muslim pupils of the school, Habeeb Idris, was killed during the
fracas that also left 11 parents injured.”
He
suggested that the government should fully take over all grant-aided mission
schools and enforce its policy on the wearing of the hijab by female Muslim
students in all government grant-aided secondary schools.
But
in his address, Reverend Samuel Ajayi who spoke on behalf of CAN at Ijagbo
alleged that some Muslim fundamentalists were going around the local government
areas to instigate other Muslims on the use of the hijab in missionary schools
in the state.
Ajayi,
who said that CAN had an MoU with the state government since June 2021 on the
resolution of the hijab crisis which had not been implemented by the
government, however, said, “It has been said times without number that we
cannot and will not allow the use of the hijab in our missionary schools.
“The
schools were not taken over by the state government in 1974. There was an
agreement between the government and the school proprietors. Each has their own
part to play in the running of the schools.”
Source:
Punchng
https://punchng.com/hijab-crisis-kwara-muslim-christian-groups-disagree-over-peace-move/
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Another
Indian college bars Muslim girls wearing hijab
Shuriah
Niazi
04.02.2022
NEW
DELHI
Another
hijab row broke out in the southern Indian state of Karnataka after Muslim
students were not allowed to enter a government college for wearing a
headscarf.
This
is the second college in the state banning the hijab.
After
the latest incident, people have taken to social media platforms to support the
students. “Hijab is our Right” is trending on Twitter, showing support for
young girls.
On
Thursday, some two dozen Muslim girls in kundapura area of the Udupi district
were stopped from attending classes after some students belonging to right-wing
groups wore saffron scarves – the color favored by the ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party – and opposed Muslim girls wearing hijabs.
“Let
us all stand for the rights of our sisters. What is the reason for this
discrimination? Why are they not allowed to enter colleges.. just because they
wear hijab,” said Tousif Nandehalli, a Twitter user.
A
video has also gone viral where Muslim students were seen pleading for entry
into classrooms after they were stopped by the college principal. They also
said that denying entry just before exams will jeopardize their future.
MP
takes flak for supporting girls
Meanwhile,
opposition Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor has also come
under attack for questioning whether Sikh turban, Christian crucifix, Hindu
forehead mark are also not allowed in educational institutes.
“It's
been a strength of India that everyone is free to wear what they want. If the
hijab is disallowed, what about the Sikh turban? The Hindu's forehead mark? The
Christian's crucifix? This college is going down a slippery slope. Let the
girls in. Let them study. Let them decide,” tweeted Tharoor.
Former
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah also supported these girls.
“Individuals
are free to choose what to wear. You may or may not like their choice but
that's a right we all have. If these public representatives can wear saffron
robes, then these girls can use hijab. Muslims are not second-class citizens,”
Abdullah wrote on Twitter.
Muslims
have been demanding that barring students from wearing hijab is an attack on
the "symbols of faith.”
What
does constitution say?
According
to the Indian constitution, every citizen has the right to practice, profess
and propagate religion. This right can be curtailed only on grounds of public
order, morality, and health.
Last
month, tensions erupted in another government college in Karnataka's Balagadi
village after a group of students turned up wearing saffron scarves and asked
their female classmates from the Muslim community not to wear a hijab during classes.
Subsequently,
the authorities banned hijabs and saffron scarves on the campus.
A
student of the Women’s Government Pre-University College in Udupi, who was
denied entry into the classroom for wearing a hijab, has approached the
Karnataka High Court seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing the hijab
before the entire matter was settled.
In
Karnataka, the state government has said it will constitute a committee to
formulate guidelines on uniforms at colleges.
Indian
Muslims have witnessed a deterioration of the right to practice faith under the
rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing BJP.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/another-indian-college-bars-muslim-girls-wearing-hijab/2494257
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UN
approaches Taliban as two women activists go missing
February
5, 2022
KABUL:
The United Nations has demanded the Taliban provide information on two more
women activists allegedly detained by the group this week — bringing to four
the number missing in Afghanistan this year.
Since
their August return to power, the Taliban have cracked down on dissent by
forcefully dispersing women’s rallies, detaining critics and beating local
journalists covering protests.
The
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said late Thursday it
had sought “urgent information” on the reported detention of two more women
activists by the Taliban in the capital Kabul this week.
“UN
repeats its call for all ‘disappeared’ women activists & relatives to be
released,” it said on Twitter.
US
special envoy to Afghanistan Rina Amiri also called on the Taliban to respect
women’s rights.
“If
the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan people & the world, they must
respect Afghans’ human rights — especially for women,” she said on Twitter.
UNAMA
did not reveal the names of the two women activists gone missing this week, but
another rights advocate said that Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar had been
arrested by the Taliban.
“Zahra,
a dentist, used to work in a clinic. She has been arrested,” the activist said,
on condition of anonymity.
Ayar
was arrested on Wednesday after a male colleague asked for her address so he
could come to hand over her salary, the activist said.
“That’s
how she was trapped. The Taliban found her and arrested her,” she said.
She
said Ayar’s father had also been arrested, after mistakenly identifying
Mohammadi’s father as the man detained in an earlier interview.
The
latest detentions come less than a month after activists Tamana Zaryabi Paryani
and Parwana Ibrahimkhel went missing after participating in a Kabul protest.
The
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern for the two women and
four of their relatives, who all remain missing.
The
Taliban have denied any knowledge of their whereabouts and say they are
investigating the matter.
The
Islamists have promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised
their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.
But
the new regime has been swift to bar women from most government jobs and close
most girls’ secondary schools.
Afghan
evacuation
Meanwhile,
a lack of flights and the search for a new US reception centre are among the
hurdles facing the White House as it races to speed up the evacuation of
at-risk Afghans from their homeland, a senior US official and others familiar
with the new plan in Washington said.
According
to Reuters, other obstacles include difficulties in obtaining passports and an
affordable housing shortage in the United States, they said.
The
plan’s goal “is just to make this more enduring and less of an emergency
operation,” the senior US official said in describing the revamp, requesting
anonymity to discuss internal operations.
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673382/un-approaches-taliban-as-two-women-activists-go-missing
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‘All-American’
female Daesh recruit denied bail from US jail
February
04, 2022
LONDON:
A Kansas woman once described as a doe-eyed “all-American girl” has been denied
bail from a jail in the US, where she faces terrorism charges for allegedly
leading a female Daesh battalion in Syria.
Allison
Fluke-Ekren, 42, is accused of training children as young as 6 to use machine
guns and planning to commit “violent jihad.”
She
was denied bail after appearing in court in Virginia on Thursday, and could
face decades behind bars.
Fluke-Ekren,
a former school teacher, rose through the ranks of Daesh to ultimately command
her own battalion of fighters.
Her
former science teacher Larry Miller told the BBC that he was utterly stunned at
the news of her ties to the terror group.
“She
was a very, very good student. She was intelligent and had a sense of humor,”
he said. “Her parents were very, very supportive.”
About
15 years ago, he received an email from her saying how much she admired him as
a teacher.
“It
was this really nice letter, saying how she had this love for science and
nature, and that she was getting a degree to teach,” he said. “She never did
anything that indicated to me that she wanted to harm another living thing.”
Witnesses
later told US prosecutors that her views were “a ‘11 or a 12’ on a scale of 1
to 10, with 10 being extremely radicalized.”
It
is not clear how she became radicalized, but prosecutors believe it was around
the time that her and her husband lived in the Middle East with their children
in the late 2000s.
She
was smuggled to Syria in 2021, where she began her life as a Daesh acolyte.
Fluke-Ekren is believed to have become deeply involved with Daesh activities,
marrying several fighters after her husband died, and training women and girls
to use guns, detonate bombs and use suicide belts.
One
witness said they had observed one of her children, then aged 5 or 6, holding a
machine gun at her residence while living in Syria.
Fluke-Ekren
did not contest the judge’s ruling that she should remain in jail without bail,
a decision made on the basis of the threat she poses to the local community.
Miller
asked: “How does someone like Allison, an all-American girl, become a person
that wants to go out and kill?” She must have been “brainwashed,” he concluded.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2018211/world
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hijab-row-government-taliban-bjp-leader/d/126308