Indian Woman, Anju, Arrives In Upper Dir, Pakistan, To Meet Facebook Friend, Nasrullah
New Age
Islam News Bureau
24 July 2023
• Indian Woman, Anju, Arrives In Upper Dir,
Pakistan, To Meet Facebook Friend, Nasrullah
• Iran Bans Film Festival That Put Out Poster Of
Actress, Susan Taslimi, Without Hijab
• No Religious Scholar Opposes Female Education:
Islamic Emirate Ambassador Of Pakistan
• Female Afghan Judge, Yosra, Wins Landmark Case
Against UK Government
• 'Defiance To Hijab Shattered Regime’s
Authority,' Says Narges Mohammadi Jailed Activist
• Muslim Women Train 1,198 Bauchi Youths In
Skills
• ‘There’s No Other Option But To Fight’: Iranian
Women Defiant As ‘Morality Police’ Return
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/indian-woman-anju-pakistan-nasrullah/d/130291
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Indian
Woman, Anju, Arrives In Upper Dir, Pakistan, To Meet Facebook Friend, Nasrullah
29-year-old Nasrullah says Anju's family has no issue with their
relationship. PHOTO: EXPRESS
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July 24,
2023
LOWER
DIR: A 35-year-old Indian woman, Ms Anju, has arrived in the Upper Dir district
here to spend time with her 29-year-old Facebook friend, Nasrullah.
Official
sources disclosed that the woman, belonging to Kailor area of Uttar Pradesh, is
holding valid travel documents for visiting village Kulsho, Upper Dir district,
to which Nasrullah belonged.
Born on
Dec 25, 1988, Ms Anju briefly told local journalists at Dir Khas on Sunday that
she loved Nasrullah.
She said
that first they interacted on Facebook and their friendship turned into a deep
love, after which she decided to leave her country for Pakistan. She said that
she had applied for a visit visa and luckily she reached her destination.
Holding
valid travel documents, Anju seeks to marry Nasrullah
Official
sources said that both the man and woman had told the police that they were in
love with each other and intended to marry.
The
woman, belonging to Christian faith, is stated to be a divorcee.
This is
her first visit to Pakistan and has reached Rawalpindi from where she was taken
to Dir Upper by Nasrullah on July 22.
The man
is a permanent resident of the said village and had done his BSc from
Government College, Dir.
Nasrullah
has four brothers named Sharifullah, Shakirullah, Rahatullah and Hameedullah.
Occupation of all the four is making of the traditional shiv of Dir at their
home.
According
to an official document of the ministry of interior sent to the Pakistan’s High
Commission in Delhi, the chancery was informed that it had been decided to
grant 30-day visa to Indian national Ms Anju, valid for Dir Upper only.
According
to a senior police official from the region, the travel documents of the Indian
lady have been found to be in order and she has been allowed to stay with
Nasrullah, who has been instructed to look after her.
Upper
Dir district police officer Mushtaq Khan told journalists that her visa was
legal and she could stay there for a month.
He said
that several journalists rushed to the house of Nasrullah when the news about her
arrival went viral on social media but they were told she was not present
there.
Source: dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1766392/indian-woman-arrives-in-upper-dir-to-meet-friend
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Iran
Bans Film Festival That Put Out Poster Of Actress, Susan Taslimi, Without Hijab
Jul 23,
2023
Iranian
authorities late Saturday (July 22) banned a film festival that had put out a
publicity poster featuring an actress not wearing the hijab. According to a
report by the state news agency IRNA, "The culture minister has personally
issued an order to ban the 13th edition of the ISFA Film Festival, after using
a photo of a woman without a hijab on its poster in violation of the law."
The ban
comes following the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA) releasing a poster
for its upcoming Short Film Festival featuring actress Susan Taslimi in the
1982 film "The Death of Yazdguerd".
The
festival was due to be held in September.
Wearing
a hijab has been compulsory for all Iranian women since shortly after the 1979
Islamic revolution. However, since September last year, women have flouted the
dress code following protests triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa
Amini, who was arrested over an alleged violation of the dress code.
Earlier
in July, the police said that patrols had been relaunched to catch the
increasing number of women ignoring the law.
Iranian
actress sentenced to 2 years in prison for not wearing hijab
Local
media reported on Wednesday that prominent Iranian actress Afsaneh Bayegan was
sentenced to two years in prison. "Afsaneh Bayegan was sentenced to two
years in prison, suspended over five years, for wearing a hat and failing to
comply with the hijab law," the Fars news agency reported.
An
Iranian court, which handed over the sentence, also ordered Bayegan, 61, to
make weekly visits to a psychological centre "to treat the mental disorder
of having an anti-family personality" and to submit a health certificate
after her treatment.
The
court's verdict banned her from using social media and leaving the country for
two years. The verdict came after the actress appeared at a movie ceremony
without wearing a headscarf and then shared photos on social media.
Bayegan
had also expressed support for the protests triggered by Amini's death.
Source: wionews.com
https://www.wionews.com/world/iran-bans-film-festival-that-put-out-poster-of-actress-without-hijab-618672
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No Religious Scholar Opposes Female Education: Islamic Emirate Ambassador Of Pakistan
24 July
2023
Abdul
Salam Zaeef, the ambassador of the Islamic Emirate, in its first term to
Pakistan said that no religious cleric worldwide opposes female education in
Afghanistan.
In an
interview with TOLOnews' SibghatSepehr, Zaeef stressed the need to solve the
issue of education.
“The
world's religious clerics have not said anything about this issue of the ban,”
he said.
Zaeef
called for the formation of a deep political strategy.
“A
deeply political strategy- based on which we can engage with the people, world
and neighbors. We should have the law, a law whose legitimacy is determined,”
he said.
Zaeef
said that the engagement of the international community with the interim
government will take time, and the international community needs to change its
strategy of engagement with the Islamic Emirate. He said that the West faces a dillema in
normalizing relations with the Islamic Emirate after criticizing them for so
long, and fighting them.
“They
will be asked that if the Taliban were (now) good people, why did you fight
them this much, why did you spend that much? So that is why it will take some
time until they change their strategy,” he said.
Zaeef
said that ensuring peace and stability in the country also benefits the
regional countries, and he stressed that the Islamic Emirate needs to reach a
mutual solution with the neighboring countries for peace in the region.
Source: tolonews.com
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-184321
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Female
Afghan Judge, Yosra, Wins Landmark Case Against UK Government
July 23,
2023
LONDON:
A female Afghan judge has won a legal battle against the British government
after she was refused entry to the UK, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
The
53-year-old judge, known only as Yosra, had fled to Pakistan in 2021 with her
adult son where they were in hiding.
For two
decades, Yosra held several senior roles and presided over cases involving
Taliban members in crimes such as murder, kidnapping, violence against women,
rape, terrorism offenses and conspiring against the Afghan government.
The
judge and her son were told they were eligible for resettlement under the
Afghan relocations and assistance policy, but the Home Office initially refused
to grant them permission to enter the UK. Her lawyers lodged an appeal.
The two
have now been accepted into the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme and
recently arrived in the country, where they were reunited with British
relatives, the Guardian reported on Sunday.
The case
could pave the way for many other vulnerable Afghans hiding in Pakistan who are
eligible for one of the UK resettlement schemes, but have not been allowed to
enter the country.
“We are
overjoyed to finally be with our family in the UK,” Yosra told the newspaper.
“The
last almost two years have been the most gruelling time we’ve ever been
through. Our initial hope to be granted a visa to come to the UK over time
turned into hopelessness and despair
“In
Pakistan, the fear for our life, and the restrictions we faced as a result,
placed an enormous burden on us mentally and emotionally.
“We only
left the small apartment our family in the UK rented for us to go buy groceries
or see the doctors.
“Two
days before we flew to the UK, our apartment block got raided by police to
arrest Afghan refugees — luckily, we were out at the doctor’s at the time.
“Now
that we are finally safe in the UK, we so much enjoy being able to walk around
safely and freely, sitting in our family’s garden and feeling just peace around
us, and sleeping quietly and comfortably, knowing next day we will wake up in
our safe new home.”
A
government spokesperson told the Guardian: “While we don’t comment on
individual cases, we remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable
and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan, including female judges, and so far
have brought around 24,500 people to the UK.
“We
continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighboring
Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible
people.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2342756/world
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'Defiance
To Hijab Shattered Regime’s Authority,' SaysNarges Mohammadi Jailed Activist
24 July
2023
Iranian
rights activist Narges Mohammadi says women’s defiance to the mandatory hijab
has shattered the authority of Iran’s oppressive religious regime.
In a
letter sent out from Tehran’s Evin prison, she noted that the compulsory hijab
is a ploy devised by the religious and anti-women government to exert
"control over women" and "remove" them from the public
life.
Her
remarks came in reaction to the return of the notorious hijab or ‘morality’
police, which had vanished from the streets following nationwide protests
sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of hijab patrols last
September.
Mohammadi
stated that the world now witnesses the power of women's resistance, which has
elevated them in Iranian society to a position never seen since the
establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. “
“Iranian
women have achieved power and a historical position in their struggle to create
revolutionary and peaceful changes,” Mohammadi said.
The
fight against compulsory hijab is “a matter of freedom and liberation from
tyranny, an issue of justice against oppression, a means to achieve peace,
democracy, and human rights, and breaking free from violence and
discrimination."
Highlighting
the regime’s "inability" to confront Iranian women who are fighting
for their basic rights, she said, "The terrified regime is engaged in a
fierce struggle to prevent its collapse, but it is clear that it has no hope of
succeeding."
A lawyer
often defending dissidents, Mohammadi has been imprisoned several times over
the past two decades for her work fighting for human rights. She is the
vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Association, the Chair of the
executive board of the Peace Council of Iran, and a member of
"Step-by-Step Abolition of Execution" campaign.
She was
freed from Evin Prison in September 2020 after serving more than five years on
trumped up charges, without due process of law. She was arrested again on
November 16, 2021, released for a short time and one year later was detained
again. Currently, she is serving a total sentence of 9 years and 8 months,
along with 154 lashes and additional penalties in Evin Prison. She has also
been denied access to medical care amid deteriorating health and was deprived
for long periods of any contact with her husband and children who live abroad.
The
return of morality police patrols’ has immediately led to online uproar as well
as a few bouts of street protests, the biggest of which broke out in the northern
city of Rasht.
As the
anniversary of the Mahsa Movement in September approaches, the regime is
worried about the possibility of unrest in universities spilling over to the
streets.
“The
enemy has not given up. They’ve said that universities are the first place
where new riots should begin,” the official in charge of Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei’s representatives in universities across the country, Mostafa Rostami,
said at a gathering.
People
on social media have reacted to the resurgence of hijab patrols, saying if
Iranians do not pour into the streets on Amini's death anniversary, the regime
will further tighten the noose.
Iran’s
former president Mohammad Khatami also warned that the return of morality
police may lead to the regime's overthrow by itself and social collapse. “It
seems that the danger of self-overthrow, which has been talked about many
times, stands out more than ever with the return of morality police."
Top
officials of the regime refuse to take responsibility due to “concern over the
upcoming elections," according to Tehran's leading reformist daily,
Etemad. President Ebrahim Raisi's aides have advised him against implementing
any plan that could provoke people until after the next presidential election
in 2025 to secure his re-election.
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202307232214
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Muslim
women train 1,198 Bauchi youths in skills
By Rauf
Oyewole, Bauchi
24 July
2023
Federation
of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), in partnership with Fahimta
Women and Youth Development Initiative (FAWOYDI), has trained 1,198 youths from
seven local councils of Bauchi State in various skills.
Beneficiaries
of the training were drawn from Bauchi, Dass, Gamawa, Jama’are, Katagum, Toro
and Warji councils.
The
programme was designed to reduce the rate of street hawking, drug abuse and
early/forced marriage by empowering out-of-school adolescents with basic life
skills.
Executive
Director of FAWOYDI, Mrs. Daniel Istifanus, described the Life Skills Programme
for Girls and Boys (LSP4G&B) as a practical tool to provide a safe
environment for empowerment with activities encouraging interactivity,
creativity, motivation, innovation and a positive learning process.
She
said: “LSP4G&B is a project on gender and social inclusion strategy aimed
at promoting gender equality and changing gender social norms and
socio-cultural factors affecting adolescent empowerment, which stems from
deprivation, discrimination and dependency practices that dehumanise and reduce
the status of adolescents, especially girls, in society.”
Source: guardian.ng
https://guardian.ng/news/muslim-women-train-1198-bauchi-youths-in-skills/
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‘There’s
no other option but to fight’: Iranian women defiant as ‘morality police’
return
Mon 24
Jul 2023
The
return of Iran’s infamous Gasht-e-Irshad (“morality police”) has been greeted
with dismay, but protesters who spoke to the Guardian said they would not be
dissuaded from taking to streets again.
A police
spokesperson confirmed last week that they had started patrolling the streets
to deal with civilians who “ignore the consequences of not wearing the proper
hijab and insist on disobeying the norms”.
The
announcement comes just two months ahead of the anniversary of the death in
custody last September of Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been detained for allegedly
not properly wearing the Islamic headscarf. Her death led to the largest wave
of popular unrest in years in Iran.
The
Guardian spoke to women who took part in the nationwide protests after Amini’s
death, who said they have already seen police harassing girls on the street for
not wearing the hijab.
“I felt
indifferent to the news that the ‘morality police’ have been reinstated.
Western media insists on telling us Iranians that Gasht-e-Irshad was abolished,
but I don’t know a single Iranian friend of mine who believed that,” says a
22-year-old from Rasht.
“They
[the morality police] were never gone and were being deployed as security
personnel in universities or as civilians in public places. What the world sees
is a tiny glimpse of what’s happening here. Although everything looks normal to
the ones who don’t care about us women, if you notice, they are everywhere.
“I have
worn the headscarf all my life, by choice, and my sister doesn’t. I have always
worn it halfway on my head. They killed Mahsa for showing less hair than I do
and I know with this official announcement they have now been given a free hand
to turn more violent.”
In
recent months, Iranian women and girls have been posting pictures and videos of
themselves on social media defying the mandatory hijab law. “So many dozens of
kids didn’t die [in vain] so a year later we will go back to how we were before
September 2022,” says a university student from Tehran.
“Whether
or not the regime wants to accept, we will hit the streets again and there’s no
going back. We are already planning huge protests leading up to the one-year
anniversary of Mahsa’s death. There will be more arrests or worse. These are
scare tactics and we won’t fall for this.
“The
morality police harassed me even before the protests began. The security forces
shot me with a paint gun on my head. I don’t fear them. If we fear them and
back off, what will be left of the sacrifices made by the protesters who lost
their lives and their families? I am ready to continue the fight.”
Among
those killed during protests after Amini’s death was MinooMajidi, a 62-year-old
mother who was shot with 167 pellets. She reportedly said to her family before
attending protests in Kermanshah: ‘If I don’t go out and protest, who else
will?’ Her daughter Mahsa Piraei said her mother always valued women’s rights
and freedom.
“By
intensifying repressions, arrests and harassment under the pretext of hijab
law, the Islamic Republic sends a message to the Iranian people: that we will
beat and kill, and if anyone protests, they will be killed too, just like they
killed my mother. This circle will continue as [long as] this regime will
remain in power, as its foundation is built upon violence and crimes.”
Although
the morality police have existed in some form since the Islamic revolution in
1979, the current form, the Guidance Patrol, was formed as an arm of the police
force in 2005. Since then, it has enforced strict hijab laws with multiple
reports of violent arrests and detentions.
In 2014,
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist, launched My Stealthy
Freedom, an online movement encouraging women to share pictures of themselves
without a hijab. Alinejad continues to receive images and videos of defiant
Iranian women and girls.
“The
battle over the hijab became a powerful rallying [cry] against the gender
apartheid regime in Iran and a sign of regime change,” said Alinejad, adding
that, after Amini’s death, demonstrations quickly escalated into calls for the
overthrow of Iran’s clerical regime.
“Women
were burning their headscarves, cutting their hair and burning morality police
vans. These women became the nightmare of the whole regime and that is why the
government try to resume hijab laws to prevent another uprising on the
anniversary. They know very well that the next wave of women-led revolution in
Iran will be much heavier.”
University
students have faced harassment, suspensions and expulsion for refusing to wear
a hijab. News of morality police patrolling the streets has created more
anxiety.
“I’m
almost getting cold and numb with this news,” says one university student from
a city in north-east Iran. “The events of last year are repeating themselves,
even though my life is the same. Even simple things have become a dream for us.
In this hot weather of 38 degrees do they expect us to go out in a chador?”
The
student added that the move to reinstate the morality police was only to
provoke women to go out in protest so they can be arrested as a warning to
others.
A
resident in Tehran said morality police had been noting down the car number
plates of women spotted without a hijab. “They have been clicking pictures of
me and my friends who have been stepping out without our headscarves. I fear
they have already collected enough data to go after us, one by one,” she says.
“I got
into an argument with one of them recently outside a court. The agents harshly
ask women to wear a hijab and when we refuse, they take our pictures, videos
and our ID cards. Then we are summoned to the court. I am still going out
without a hijab despite the announcement, because we are too many of us who
have now decided to defy the law and fight.
“If we
fear, they will behave worse and torture more of my people. As an Iranian
woman, I say that there’s no other option but to fight. We are not afraid of
the morality police.”
Source: theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/24/theres-no-other-option-but-to-fight-iranian-women-defiant-as-morality-police-return
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/indian-woman-anju-pakistan-nasrullah/d/130291