‘People Tell Me I’m Hindu, He’s Muslim… Just Want To Be With Him’: Sonika Chauhan Who Is At the Centre Of ‘Love Jihad’ Saga
New Age Islam News Bureau
20 June 2025
· ‘People Tell Me I’m Hindu, He’s Muslim… Just Want To Be With Him’: Sonika Chauhan Who Is At the Centre Of ‘Love Jihad’ Saga
· Ghazala Hashmi the first Muslim Indian-American to Win Virginia Lt Governor Nomination
· Reem Al-BliwiHonoured To Be Working In Saudi Media Industry
· Old Clip of Girls Removing Hijabs Viral as Iranian Women ‘Defying’ Regime
· Netanyahu Is Using Muslim Women’s ‘Rights’ To Justify His War. What Hideous, Hollow Hypocrisy
· Philippines Passes Law Designating National Day For Hijab Awareness
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hindu-muslim-love-jihad-centre/d/135933
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‘People Tell Me I’m Hindu, He’s Muslim… Just Want To Be With Him’: Sonika Chauhan Who Is At the Centre Of ‘Love Jihad’ Saga
by Neetika Jha
June 20, 2025
The mob entered the shop of a youth Akbar Khan and vandalised it. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
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“Every day, someone new comes and tries to convince me that I have brought disrespect to my family because I married a Muslim man,” said Sonika Chauhan, 25, who is at the centre of a saga that includes an interfaith wedding, allegations of kidnapping, and vandalism.
On May 25, Sonika’s father, Laxman Singh Chauhan, filed a complaint with the Ghaziabad Police, alleging that his daughter had been kidnapped and wrongfully confined by a man named Akbar.
The police registered an FIR, after which the couple surrendered at the Indirapuram police station. Hours earlier, they had shot a video in Akbar’s car, stating they were married and requesting that their families not be harmed. Akbar’s shop was also vandalised by a group of men belonging to the Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Indirapuram Yuva Morcha, and Uttarakhand Samaj Adhikarik, who raised allegations of ‘love jihad’.
Akbar was arrested on May 26, as were his relatives, including his sisters. He was finally released on bail on June 8.
The police are yet to produce Sonika in court to record her statement.
Speaking to The Indian Express, she said, “People keep telling me that I am Hindu and he is Muslim, that I have brought disrespect to my family… I just want to be with him. When will all this end?”
Akbar, meanwhile, who spent 14 days in jail before being granted bail by the Ghaziabad district court, said his private life had been turned into a political drama.
Dressed in a white shirt and a pair of black jeans, he said, “People are talking about love jihad, but do they know our story? Do they realise that she is my wife? We are married, I am not a criminal,” he said.
Akbar recalled what had led to the FIR and vandalism of his two shops.
“On May 24, I was at my shop, and Sonika was at her salon, which is right next to my shop. Around 1 pm, Sonika’s mother called her home,” said Akbar, showing CCTV footage from the cameras installed outside his shop.
He said at 1.28 pm, Sonika returned with her mother to meet him, claiming that gold jewellery was missing from the house.
“I told them that I would figure it out. By 4 pm, Sonika returned to her salon, and my friend dropped her mother home. Later that evening, her mother returned to confront us about our marriage,” said Akbar, as he showed a copy of the marriage certificate, dated August 29, 2022, on his phone.
Kalpana (25), Sonika’s helper at the salon, said it was around 6-7 pm when Sonika’s mother came to the salon and asked her to shut it down. “There weren’t many customers in the salon… When Sonika refused, her mother hit her. Soon, her father came as well,” said Kalpana.
Akbar said that when Sonika’s father confronted him about their marriage, he asked her to tell them the truth. “She did, and we left for Allahabad, shot a video in the car to ensure that our family does not suffer. But everything was ruined… We were on our way to Kanpur when a police officer called and asked us to surrender. We came back, hoping to get police protection…”
Akbar and Sonika, neighbours said, had known each other since they were children but fell in love nine years ago.
“I had known her since childhood, but it was all very formal. She studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya and went to school on the bus… some days, after school, I would stand at the bus stop and look for her. This is how we began talking,” Akbar said.
“Over the next five years, we completed school and college. Sonika wasn’t interested in studying and planned to open her salon. So she opted for open school for graduation and joined a VLCC training programme that would last for 1.5 years,” Akbar said.
“In 2019, when her training institute denied her a learning certificate, she introduced me to her father. My brother is a lawyer. Several other girls did not get the certificate. I filed the complaint on behalf of 140 girls, and their certificates were issued — and I became a regular in her family,” said the 29-year-old.
In 2022, Akbar said, Sonika opened her salon after many false starts and rejections.
“It was like a dream. We were financially capable of fending for ourselves and decided to get married. I was helping her all along. No friend does that, her parents knew that we were in love,” Akbar said.
He reiterated that neither of them abandoned their religion, and they got married under the Special Marriage Act. “I respected her religion and went to each temple that she wanted to go to. All I knew was that we wanted to be together, and I loved her. We thought that once we get married, our parents will not be able to pressure us,” Akbar said.
“Today, people are threatening those who were witnesses to our marriage. The problem is not the police or her parents, it is society,” he said.
When The Indian Express contacted the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Trans-Hindon, Patil NimishDasharath over Sonika not being produced before the court for her statement, he said, “We are trying. We will produce her when she is ready.”
Akbar, however, is heartbroken.
“Bring her to court, let her say what she wants,” he said.
“I cannot take this separation. I am suffering, I cannot show the world, but I am breaking apart.”
Source: indianexpress.com
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/hindu-muslim-intercaste-marriage-ghaziabad-woman-10077267/
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Ghazala Hashmi the first Muslim Indian-American to Win Virginia Lt Governor Nomination
Jun 19, 2025
Source- Instagram
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Senator Ghazala Hashmi made history on Wednesday by winning the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Virginia. She is now the first Muslim and the first Indian-American ever nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.
Hashmi defeated five Democratic candidates, including former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, clinching the nomination by a razor-thin margin of less than one percentage point.
She will now face Republican John Reid in November. Reid is the first openly gay man nominated by a major party for statewide office in Virginia.
With Hashmi joining gubernatorial nominee Rep. Abigail Spanberger and attorney general candidate Jay Jones, Democrats have now completed their statewide ticket. The general election could be historic in multiple ways, including the possibility of Virginia electing its first woman governor.
Who is Ghazala Hashmi?
Hashmi is the first Muslim woman and first South Asian American elected to Virginia’s state Senate.
She was born in India and moved to the US at age 4, settling in Georgia with her family.
Hashmi holds a PhD in American literature and spent most of her professional life as a professor.
She taught at the University of Richmond and later at Reynolds Community College before entering politics.
In 2019, she entered the Virginia Senate by defeating Republican Glen Sturtevant in a closely watched race. She was re-elected in 2023.
In the Senate, she championed reproductive rights. One of her key bills aimed to protect Virginians' access to contraception. The bill passed both chambers but was vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Source: indiatimes.com
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/who-is-ghazala-hashmi-indian-american-wins-lieutenant-governor-nomination-democrat-to-contest-virginia-race/articleshow/121947589.cms
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Reem Al-Bliwi Honoured To Be Working In Saudi Media Industry
Hussam Al-Mayman
June 19, 2025
RIYADH: Reem Al-Bliwi, one of Saudi Arabia’s youngest and most recognizable TV presenters, recently spoke on The Mayman Show about the honor of working in the Kingdom’s media industry.
Al-Bliwi burst onto the scene with Studio SBC, a TV show that is a part of the Saudi Broadcasting Authority network.
“Well, I think I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to be doing something I wanted to do, but did not expect to be doing (it) at such an early age,” she said.
Al-Bliwi quickly earned her spot in the national spotlight with her poise and presence.
With a background in modeling and an identity shaped by her Mexican mother and Saudi father, Al-Bliwi brings a unique blend of confidence, curiosity, and cross-cultural understanding to her work.
Al-Bliwi began pursuing a television media career while she was at university.
“So, I took the opportunity, and at first, I’m not going to lie, I was afraid, because it felt like I had zero experience at the time. I was still doing my bachelor’s degree in public relations — I had just been accepted.”
Al-Bliwi recalled that she was hesitant due to the difficulty of finding a balance between studying and working.
“So, it felt like I’m either going to succeed or I’m going to ruin it for myself ... like maybe forever who knows. So I took the opportunity, and I said, OK, why not. I’ll do the casting, and I got accepted. I was rehearsing for like maybe a couple of months.”
After her training Al-Bliwi was offered a fashion and beauty segment on SBC’s morning show.
“For me, it was OK, because, I didn’t have much experience at the time. I had just started building my career. I had just been accepted in public relations, so it was fun ... it was a good start.”
Al-Bliwi dazzled SBC’s morning show editor-in-chief who then told her that she was chosen to be a main presenter of the program.
“I was nervous, but maybe that’s the moment where I felt, ‘OK, this is what I’m supposed to be doing ... this is where I belong.’”
Al-Bliwi recalled how her first outing in the media spotlight was modeling. “I was actually very young. I started doing it very casually, then I found myself actually committed to it.”
She added that the landscape of the fashion and beauty industry was different five years ago.
“I’m proud of what we have accomplished in those past five years. I mean, we see now the Fashion Commission, everything they are doing — even for the modeling career — and all the programs they have been doing. I’m really proud of that.”
Al-Bliwi said that her mixed background has shaped her views of how to communicate with the world.
“Saudi is very rich in culture, and also Mexico is very rich in culture. So, I think, having those two parts, I get to appreciate that. And I get to learn more about culture, heritage, history and everything.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2605045/saudi-arabia
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Old Clip of Girls Removing Hijabs Viral as Iranian Women ‘Defying’ Regime
AISHWARYA VARMA
20 Jun 2025
by becoming a member).
For 50-year-old Doyjan Bibi, resident of a small village called MadhusaulmariPt.II in Assam's Dhubri, the past few years have been an ordeal. On 24 May 2025, she was picked up and deported to Bangladesh, despite a case pending in the court on this matterDoyjan’s story is not an ordinary one, nor is it the only such story coming out of Assam. Her story is representative of a larger pattern in Assam of late, where many people living there since decades, if not generations, being “pushed into” Bangladesh. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that 330 “illegal immigrants” were "pushed back" in the last few months. Moreover, he has decided to bring into action a 1950 law to "push back" "illegal immigrants" into Bangladesh. This includes any persons whom the district commissioners might find to be "foreigners" prima facie, bypassing the state's FTs.Doyjan was among those who were abruptly deported last month. But how did she find herself in the middle of this? The Deportation Prior to the deportation, jan was out on bail for the past four years. The Quint has seen a copy of the bail order. Having been declared a ‘foreigner’ by the FT in the past, she had spent two years in Kokrajhar detention camp from 2019-2021. Along with her husband Abdul Rejjak, a 55-year-old daily wage labourer, she lives with her two sons, Abdul Gaffar, 23, and Feroz Ali, 20 and her mother-in-law in a small house in MadhusaulmariPt.II village. “All she did was worry about her existence and her future, she has a fear in her heart that she lives with,” Rejjak told The Quint. This, despite the fact that Doyjan possesses the necessary documents, such as her Voter’s ID, name in the Voters list, name in the 2019 NRC. The Quint has also accessed her family’s land documents of 1969 and 1971. A housewife, Doyjan was occupied with chores when the Assam police came knocking at their door. Rejjak was not home, he recalled. He stated that the police told Doyjan that there was a meeting around 3 PM at Gauripur police station for all the former etainees who are out on bail, she called and told Rejjak, hesitatly. The police showed urgency and did not give her much time to think or decide, Rejjak said. He thought that she had been going to the police station to give her attendance as required, so he didn’t think it would be a big deal if she went. He advised Doyjan to cooperate and so she went with the police. When she did not come back home, Rejjak went to the Gauripur police station to inquire about her. They stayed there till midnight while there was no update about any meeting, he saidIslam, an ex-government teacher was also “pushed” into Bangladesh. Islam’s family had onfirmed this after they saw a video uploaded on social media by a Bangladeshi journalist, purportedly showing Islam in Bangladesh’s Kurigram district. His case is pending in the Supreme Court. Rejjak said that for 5-7 days, they tried to get more information about Doyjan’s whereabouts. The Gauripur police allegedly told them to go to Dhubri SP office, and at the office, they wer told to go to Matia detention camp, but to no avail, Rejjaklamentedd . Then CJP found out that when Bangladesh police reportedly asked Doyjan where her home was, she said Gauripur. Coincidentally, there is a place with a similar-sounding name, Gouripur in Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. It was while she was being taken to a local jail in Gouripur, when a Bangladeshi reporter took her photo and sent it to them in Assam. Thus, the family was able to confirm her deportation CJP filed a new petition in the High Court regarding her latest deportation. Following weeks of silence, during the hearing, the counsel for the FT submitted that he had received verbal instructions over phone indicating that Doyjan is currently lodged at the Kokrajhar Holding Centre. The bench comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Malasri Nandi passed an order allowing Rejjak, along with one family member, to visit Doyjan at the holding centre. The next hearing matter is on 25 June. The ‘Foreigner’ Label & Past Detention ejja said that just like him, his grandfather and father were born in Dhubri. So was Doyjan, who was born and raised in a village next to theirs. Married for 35 years, both of them lived a fairly normal life until the discourse on citizenship and being declared a 'illegal immigrant' started gaining ground. In 2017, Rejjak received a notice from Assam's border force. Rejjak stated that they hired a lawyer for help. “We were not informed about the hearings and we couldn’t appear in some of them. here was some miscommunication between the lawyers and us. Hence, there was anThen they filed an appeal in FT. The lawyers told them to keep their papers ready, he noted. Around two months later, they went to the lawyers who told them that their case had become messed up and Doyjan had been declared a foreigner, Rejjak stated. Adding that the lawyers told them to stay safe as the police could pick them up any time and advised them to approach the HC.Coincidentally, Rejjak was not home back then too. When he came home, he aw a huge crowd of neighbours and villagers gathered at his home, he recalled.Rejjak had gone through some surgeries, due to which he couldn’t work more. So he told his eldest son, Gaffar to earn more so they can bear the travel and legal expenses. Both the sons dropped out of school and work as manual labourers ever since Doyjan was detained the first time in Kokrajhar jail. The CJP Assam team intervened and was able to get Doyjan out on a conditional bail in 2021. He added that one legal hindrance in Doyjan's case is to prove her relationship with her father, officially. Doyjan does not have a birth certificate, since she did not attend school, she has no school certificate. Her father has also not given or transferred any piece of land which would have some paperworkorDoyjan and her family, this case has become a huge financial burden. Compounded by fears of being picked up and now a renewed fear that she could be deported again. Rejjak said that Doyjan has a huge regret that the little money they are ear ing is being spent on traveling to the police station, courts and in legal expenses. Doyjan had envisioned a life where she would have spent this money to develop her home. “How long will this go on?” Doyjan had once asked Rejjak, he said. Doyjan's family, and many others like them continue to search for the answer
Source: thequint.com
https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/detained-deported-and-detained-again-the-ordeal-of-a-muslim-woman-in-assam-dhubri#read-more#read-more
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Netanyahu is using Muslim women’s ‘rights’ to justify his war. What hideous, hollow hypocrisy
19 Jun 2025
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has invoked the Iranian regime’s heinous women’s rights record to justify his heinous war on Iran. This is the man whose genocide of Palestinians in Gaza killed more women and children in its first year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades.
“They’ve impoverished you, they’ve given you misery, they’ve given you death, they’ve given you terror, they shoot down your women, leaving this brave, unbelievable woman, Mahsa Amini, to bleed on the sidewalk for not covering her hair,” he told Iranians in an interview with Iran International.
It is incredible to hear Netanyahu call on the Iranian people to rise up against the very things he has subjected Palestinians to. But it is not surprising. I am all too familiar with the ways imperialists, occupiers and invaders weaponise Muslim women’s bodies and rights to justify their wars.
As an Egyptian, I know that colonisers such as Evelyn Baring, the 1st Earl of Cromer and the de facto ruler of Egypt between 1883 and 1907, supported greater rights for Egyptian women while being an anti-suffragist back home. Far from emancipating Egyptian women, Baring made it almost impossible for those opposed to the occupation and European influence to criticise traditions or religious practices without looking as though they were taking the side of the west.
As a woman of Muslim descent, I remember vividly the US claiming its invasion of Afghanistan was to “liberate” women from the Taliban’s misogyny. Twenty years after that reckless invasion, an increasingly disastrous war and occupation, and a criminally chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban once again rule.
Even worse and more shamefully, as a feminist I know that, unlike Afghan feminists, white feminists in the US were cheerleaders of that invasion, failing to understand the dangers of imperial powers co-opting women’s rights. Leaders of the Feminist Majority Foundation – including Eleanor Smeal, the former head of the National Organization for Women – attended events at the state department and met administration officials. The spring 2002 issue of Ms magazine called the invasion a “coalition of hope”.
“As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom,” said Netanyahu in another televised speech aimed at Iranians. “This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard. Woman, life, freedom – zan, zendegi, azadi.”
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, in a hospital in Iran in September 2022 days after being detained by the regime’s “morality police” for allegedly not complying with the country’s hijab regulation, sparked the feminist “woman, life, freedom” revolution. Women, queer people and marginalised minorities in Iran rose up to fight not only the regime’s compulsory hijab law but its decades of repression.
They did not need Netanyahu to fight for their freedom then, nor do they need him now. On the contrary, his attempt to co-opt the courageous uprising is the quickest way to discredit feminism itself – often dismissed as “western” and alien. Wars and invasions harm, not strengthen, revolutions. As an Egyptian, I know all too well that the Egyptian regime tried its hardest to claim our 25 January revolution in 2011 was being masterminded from abroad.
Protecting the “liberal” and “western” values of women’s rights is an easy moral cover for what is an invasion, war or colonisation always motivated by a desire for power, resources or both. If western leaders really cared so much about female bodily autonomy, perhaps they could look closer to home. The same George W Bush who claimed to defend women from the burqa and the Taliban was the same George W Bush who, on his first day in office, cut off funding to any international family-planning organisations that offered abortion services or counselling.
Would the white feminists call for the invasion of the US today, where a premature baby was extracted from the decaying body of a brain-dead Black woman who, against the wishes of her partner and family, was treated like an incubator because of the state of Georgia’s ban on abortion? The patriarchy-atop-theocracy melange of Iran’s “morality police” is easier to see because it is so visibly expressed in the enforced hijab. But what is the enforced pregnancy of the Christian zealots in the US but a melange of patriarchy built atop theocracy right there?
Wars and invasions do not liberate women. Ask the women of Afghanistan today. Every time an imperial power claims to “liberate” women from “their” men, those men will seek to wrestle back control over “their women” when the invaders are gone. Taliban 2.0 have banned girls’ education and barred women from working in public and private sectors, except for Afghan healthcare and a few other departments. They have barred women from travelling long distances by road or air unless accompanied by a male relative, and from visiting public places such as parks, gyms and bathhouses without a male relative. The Taliban have shut down even women-only beauty salons.
As a feminist, I marvelled at and cheered on fellow feminists in Iran rising up for woman, life, freedom. And I am sure they know that the enemy of their enemy is not their friend.
Source: theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/19/netanyahu-muslim-womens-rights-justify-war-hypocrisy-gaza-iran
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Philippines passes law designating national day for hijab awareness
ELLIE ABEN
June 19, 2025
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed a law recognizing the Muslim headscarf as part of the country’s traditional garment culture and designating a special day to increase awareness of it.
The new law, signed on Wednesday, declares Feb. 1 each year as the National Day of Awareness on the Hijab and Other Traditional Garments and Attire “to promote diversity, awareness, and tolerance of the various religious and cultural beliefs through the wearing of indigenous and traditional clothing, head garments and coverings.”
Government institutions, in coordination with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, will under the law organize events “that promote the cultural values of wearing the hijab and other traditional garments and attire.”
Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the country’s 110 million predominantly Catholic population. Most Philippine Muslims live on the southern island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, as well as in the central-western province of Palawan.
The move to recognize the Muslim garment was welcomed by the community as a step toward promoting inclusion.
“When the government does that, it’s a recognition of the importance of hijabs to the Muslims. It’s really promoting inclusiveness in society, and it is honoring the Muslim women,” Dr. PotreDunampatan-Diampuan, a Filipina Muslim scholar from the United Religions Initiative, told Arab News.
For Samira Gutoc, chairperson of the rights advocacy group AkoBakwit, the new law meant that she was being seen as equal in nation-building.
“We, hijabis, aim to be part of the workforce — not just in the Philippine National Police or army, but to work alongside all,” she said.
“It is a vital measure promoting awareness, respect and acceptance of the hijab, reinforcing the rights of Muslim women to practice their faith freely.”
The National Day of Awareness on the Hijab and Other Traditional Garments and Attire will coincide with World Hijab Day, which has been observed on Feb. 1 since 2013 to promote understanding and awareness about Muslim religious and cultural practices.
“Muslim women in the Philippines had been looking forward to the time when they would be seen as equal — treated equally, without any judgment,” Princess HabibahSarip-Paudac, the Philippines’ first news anchor to wear a hijab on national television, told Arab News.
“We are so happy with this (law’s) passage. It only means that the government is acknowledging the concerns of its people and it is after inclusivity.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2605038/world
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hindu-muslim-love-jihad-centre/d/135933