Jailed Iran Activist Sepideh Qolian Describes Brutality In Letter Written Inside A Notorious Evin Jail
New
Age Islam News Bureau
11
January 2023
•
Spanish Women - Yolanda Martinez And Luna Fernandez – Who Allegedly Joined Daesh/ISIS
Repatriated From Syria
•
Turkish, Iranian Women Among Recipients Of Swedish Rights Prize
•
Afghan Women Fear For Life As Taliban Ban Male Doctors From Treating Them
•
Kannada Writer Sara Aboobacker Brought Muslim Women's Plight Under Spotlight
•
Afghan Women Athletes Barred From Play, Fear Taliban Threats
•
One Year Of Karnataka’s War On Muslim Women’s Right To Learn
•
Lebanese Designer Salim Azzam Wants To Tell Personal Stories On A Global Stage
•
Sheikh Zayed Hospital Harassment Case: 10 Women Step Forward, Record Statements
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-activist-sepideh-iran-evin-jail/d/128852
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Jailed
Iran Activist Sepideh Qolian Describes Brutality In Letter Written Inside A
Notorious Evin Jail
Sepideh Qolian says a wing of Evin prison has been
turned into a 'torture and interrogation' building
-----
January
11, 2023
LONDON
— One of Iran's most prominent female activists has described how confessions
are forced out of prisoners, in a letter written inside a notorious jail.
Sepideh
Qolian has been serving a five-year sentence since 2018 after being convicted
of acting "against national security" for supporting a strike.
Writing
from Evin prison, she describes the brutal treatment of her and other detainees
by interrogators.
Their
forced confessions are later broadcast on state-run television.
Alluding
to the current anti-government protests sweeping the country, Ms Qolian writes:
"In the fourth year of my imprisonment I can finally hear the footsteps of
liberation from all across Iran.
"The
echoes of 'Woman, Life, Freedom' can be heard even through the thick walls of
Evin prison."
Ms
Qolian is currently studying law in prison. In her letter she describes how
Evin's "cultural" wing — where she takes her exams — has been turned
into a "torture and interrogation" building, and says she has
witnessed young detainees being interrogated there.
"The
exam room is filled with young boys and girls and the shouts of torturers can
be heard," she writes.
Ms
Qolian describes a scene she witnessed on 28 December 2022 as she was taken to
the wing for her exam.
"It's
freezing cold and snowing, near the exit door of the building, a young boy
blindfolded and wearing nothing but a thin grey T-shirt is sat in front of an
interrogator.
"He's
shaking and pleading: 'I swear to God I didn't beat anyone.' They want him to
confess. As I am passing I shout: 'DO NOT confess,' and 'Death to you tyrants.'"
So
far, at least 519 protesters — including 69 children — have been killed and
19,300 arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA).
Thousands have been imprisoned.
Many
of those arrested face the death penalty and so far four protesters have been
hanged after their confessions were shown on TV.
Human
rights activists and lawyers say their trials were held without legal
representation, and after the defendants were tortured. Authorities deny these
claims.
Since
the start of the mass protests in September last year, dozens of forced
confessions of detained protesters have been broadcast.
In
her letter, Sepideh Qolian recalls her own interrogation and forced confession
in 2018, after she was arrested for supporting the workers' strike and protest
at a sugar factory in Iran's Khuzestan province.
Ms
Qolian describes being interrogated by a woman who she hoped might be softer on
her than her male interrogators and "at least she won't sexually assault
me".
But
she writes that her hopes were short lived.
In
December last year, Nargess Mohammadi, a female human rights activist who is
serving a 34-year prison sentence, gave a detailed account of how women
arrested in recent protests are being sexually abused in prison.
Ms
Qolian says her female interrogator lifted her blindfold and ordered her to
describe her alleged sexual relations on camera. Ms Qolian refused to
cooperate.
She
describes that after hours of being interrogated, she begged to be taken to the
toilet. Once they got to the women's toilets the female interrogator shoved her
inside and locked her in.
According
to Ms Qolian, the toilet she was locked in was inside an interrogation room,
and she could hear a man being tortured and whipped.
"The
sounds of torture continued for hours or maybe a day, maybe more, I lost track
of time," she writes.
Ms
Qolian explains that after being released from the toilet, sleep-deprived after
three days of continuous interrogation, she was taken to a room where a camera
was set up.
"I
took the script from her as I was half-conscious and sat in front of the camera
and read it," she writes. Based on those very confessions, she was
sentenced to five years in prison.
In
2019 Ms Qolian was in Qarchak prison and recognised her interrogator while she
was watching the forced confessions of another prisoner on TV.
In
a public letter she identified the interrogator as Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, an
"interrogator-journalist" with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps.
In
November 2022, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Ms Zabihpour for her role
in obtaining and broadcasting forced confessions of dual nationals and other
prisoners.
Ms
Zabihpour sued Ms Qolian, who received an additional eight-month sentence
because of her accusations.
Ms
Qolian ends her letter describing the protests as a "revolution".
"Today
the sounds we hear on the streets of Marivan, Izeh, Rasht, Sistan and
Balouchestan and across Iran is louder than the sounds in interrogation rooms,
this is the sound of a revolution, the true sound of woman, life,
freedom." — BBC
Source:
Saudi Gazette
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Spanish
Women - Yolanda Martinez And Luna Fernandez – Who Allegedly Joined Daesh/ISIS
Repatriated From Syria
Three women who were married to ISIS fighters –
Yolanda Martinez, Lubna Miludi and Luna Fernandez, in March 2019 in Al Hol camp
(Syria).
Photo by: NATALIA SANCHA GARCÍA – El Pais
-----
Alyssa
McMurtry
10.01.2023
OVIEDO,
Spain
The
Spanish government has repatriated two Spanish women and their 12 children from
Syria, where they allegedly moved to join the terror group Daesh/ISIS in 2014,
according to Spanish daily El Pais.
Government
sources told Spanish media that the families landed in the Torrejon de Ardoz military
airbase outside of Madrid late Monday night.
According
to La Vanguardia newspaper, the two women – Yolanda Martinez and Luna Fernandez
– were detained upon arrival and could face charges of collaborating with a
terrorist organization.
The
women, however, argued that their husbands tricked them into going to Syria and
said that they did not fight or participate in terrorist activities.
The
two families had been staying in the Roj refugee camp in northeast Syria.
Spain
has agreed to repatriate a total of four women and 16 children from Syria with
links to Daesh/ISIS. But, according to El Pais, the Spanish government has been
unable to locate the other two families.
Three
of the women had been requesting repatriation since 2019. However, as most EU
countries started to enact policies to repatriate women who had joined
Daesh/ISIS and their children, the Spanish government eventually decided to
join the trend late last year.
Police
sources told La Vanguardia that the two women now in Spain are registered as
"dangerous" in the files of the Spanish state.
In
2018, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation estimated that
around 1,000 women from Europe joined Daesh/ISIS.
In
July, the Spanish think tank Real El Cano estimated that 154 European women
were still in Syrian refugee camps after 58 had been repatriated by other
European nations.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Turkish,
Iranian women among recipients of Swedish rights prize
10/01/2023
STOCKHOLM-
Three
women from Ukraine, Iran and Turkey on Monday won Sweden's Olof Palme human
rights prize for 2023 for championing women's rights and freedoms.
Marta
Chumalo of Ukraine, Iran's Narges Mohammadi and Eren Keskin of Turkey were
honoured for "their efforts in the fight to secure women's freedom, in an
age when human rights are threatened by war, violence and oppression," the
Olof Palme Memorial Fund said in a statement.
Chumalo,
a psychologist and feminist, was highlighted for being one of the founders of
"Women's Perspectives," an NGO promoting women's rights and combating
violence against women.
"Since
2014, and especially since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,
Marta Chumalo has been heavily involved in raising awareness about the effects
of the war, and in addressing the needs of its victims," the fund said.
Journalist
and human rights activist Mohammadi "has been a central figure in the
struggle for women's rights and freedom of speech in Iran," the jury said.
She
was one of the founders of the Iranian National Peace Council. Her involvement
in championing women's rights "has led to her repeated arrest, and she has
served several prison terms."
She
has been incarcerated since November 2021 after being convicted of
"propaganda activity against the state," the fund said.
Human
rights lawyer Eren Keskin was honoured for having spent decades defending those
discriminated against in her country, including "ethnic minorities,
LGBTQI+ people and refugees."
The
jury noted that she has been the target of both death threats and prosecutions
and "has also been imprisoned for her beliefs," leading Amnesty
International to name her "a prisoner of conscience."
An
award ceremony will be held in Stockholm on February 1.
The
Olof Palme Prize is an annual prize worth $100,000, awarded by the Olof Palme
Memorial Fund.
It
commemorates the memory of Sweden's Social Democratic prime minister Olof
Palme, an outspoken international human rights advocate — and vehement opponent
of US involvement in the Vietnam War — who was assassinated in Stockholm in
1986.
Since
1987, the award has honoured human rights defenders around the world, including
Congolese doctor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, former United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel
Ellsberg.
Source:
The Arab Weekly
https://thearabweekly.com/turkish-iranian-women-among-recipients-swedish-rights-prize
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Afghan
women fear for life as Taliban ban male doctors from treating them
By:
Mukul Sharma
Jan
11, 2023
In
a nondescript Kabul locality, Dr Sona (last name withheld) is fighting
depression. She is among millions of Afghan women who can no longer work in
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. In December last year, Dr Sona had secured a job at
a Kabul clinic.
"You
cannot join because of the new rules," Dr Sona was told recently when she
called the clinic for final confirmation of her employment status. This was
right before the Taliban government's new ruling that directed hospitals to
ensure that male doctors are no longer allowed to treat female patients.
"I
desperately needed that job," Dr Sona told WION in a phone conversation.
Asked
by WION what she expects from the rest of the world for the fate of women's rights
in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Dr Sona's voice turned heavy as she struggled to
fight back her tears. The sea of emotions waved their way into the
conversation. "I want to tell the world that please support us. We want to
be out of this misery," Dr Sona said.
Taliban's
rulings targeting education and employment rights of women and young girls have
resulted in widespread international outcry but no impact in reversing the
extremist rulings. The UN Security Council expressed last week that it is
"deeply alarmed" at erosion of women's rights in the country. It
urged the Taliban "to reopen schools and swiftly reverse these policies
and practices, which represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human
rights and fundamental freedoms."
The
Group of Seven (G-7) countries, too, have called upon the Taliban to 'urgently
reverse' ban on women aid workers.
But
in Kabul's rearranged power corridors, women have been pushed to the margin,
almost as a means of assertion of administrative authority of Afghanistan's new
hardline rulers.
"God
willing, I pray that things become as they were before them (Taliban). But I
don't know if I should hope that much or not," Dr Sona said.
'I
dream of going to University every night'
For
Bahisht, 21, becoming a doctor was a dream that she lived each day when she
went to a Kabul university to study medicine. "Ever since the university
has closed, every night I dream of going to university," Bahisht told WION
in a phone conversation from Kabul.
Born
in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement, Bahisht moved to Kabul
with her family 12 years ago. "I had so many dreams, I wanted to appear
for USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination). My family did not have
the financial means to make me study abroad. But I knew that if I worked hard,
I would be able to live my dreams," Bahisht said.
Last
month, the Taliban operatives literally shut the door of the University on
Bahisht's face.
Bahisht
said that she made it a point to enter the university premises early in the
morning. "I was the first one to enter the gates. I started studying
whatever I could for the exam that was scheduled," she said.
A
couple of hours later, amid huge commotion by Bahisht's fellow university mates
also attempting to enter the university, she was the only student inside.
"They
(Taliban operatives) were shocked when they realised I was inside. They didn't
know I had come early on," Bahisht said.
"Get
out. From today on, the university is closed for you forever," Bahisht was
told by Taliban operatives as she was pushed out of the university gates.
"The
Taliban surrounded our University to ensure that not one girl could enter. It
was as if we were the terrorists and they were present there to apprehend us.
The Talibs were all over the police jeeps," Bahisht said.
In
the visuals seen by WION, men mounted on a police jeep surround the bus of the
university in which Bahisht studied. The men could be seen holding barricades
and weapons, exactly the way Bahisht explained.
"They
took away everything from us. Our freedom, our happiness. It was just the
education that we were left with. They took that away as well," Bahisht
said.
In
a critically-acclaimed biographical account of late Afghan politician and
military commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, Scottish journalist Sandy Gall – in a
chapter titled ‘Marriage and War’ – quotes a close aide of Massoud as saying:
"When you respect people's dignity, they join your side."
Afghanistan’s
female medical professionals and students expect that erosion of their dignity
under Taliban will result in the downfall of the country's current rulers.
“If
women are sick now, they can no longer visit the male doctors. Like that the
women will die for the lack of medical supervision,” Bahisht said.
“Women
can no longer be the sick ones; the patients in Afghanistan. Let alone
doctors.”
Source:
WIO News
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Kannada
Writer Sara Aboobacker Brought Muslim Women's Plight Under Spotlight
Jan
11, 2023
MANGALURU:
Eminent Kannada writer Sara Aboobacker, who highlighted the plight and
predicament of marginalized Muslim women in the border district of Kasaragod
through stark novels and short stories in her decades-long literary innings,
passed away at a private hospital in Mangaluru on Tuesday. She was 87.
Sara
was born to advocate P Ahmed and Zainabi on June 30, 1936 in a village on the
banks of Chandragiri river in Kasaragod district of Kerala. She completed
schooling in Kasaragod. She was the first Muslim girl in the district to complete
SSLC in 1953. The same year, she was married to M Aboobacker, an engineer from
Mangaluru. She is survived by four sons.
Sara
is, perhaps, among the few - if not the only -- woman writers who have emerged
from the Muslim community in this region and demonstrated admirable courage in
taking up issues on behalf of the women of her community through her writings.
Written in lucid style, her works were appreciated in Karnataka and Kerala
where she is widely translated and discussed. The focus of her writing was
largely on the lives of Muslim women living in the Kasaragod region.
Sara
was inspired by legendary Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Her first
novel 'Chandragiriya Theeradalli' was well appraised by the literary world. The
book was translated into Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Oriya.
Sara
fought for women's education
Sara
has written 10 novels, six anthologies of short stories, five dramas for radio
and travelogues. She fought for the education of women. She is the author of
novels Sahana, Vajragalu, Kadanavirama, Suliyalli Sikkavaru, Tala Odeda
Doniyalli, Pravaha Suli, Panjara, Ilijaaru and Kaanike. Sara has translated
several Malayalam books to Kannada, including 'Manomi' by Kamala Das.
Sara
served as president of Karavali Lekhakiyara Mattu Vachakiyara Sangha. She has
received Karnataka Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Rajyotsava awards, Nadoja Award
from Kannada University, Hampi, in 2006 and an honorary doctorate from
Mangalore University in 2008.
CPI
Dakshina Kannada district secretary B Shekhar said Sara was not just a
litterateur, but a social activist with real concern towards society. The
writer had made communal harmony a prominent aspect in life, he added.
Pragathipara Chinthakara Vedike secretary Krishnappa Konchady said Sara gave
predominant consideration for human rights and progressive ideologies in her
life. DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla said the writer was an inspiration
for activists who led fights for equality of women and human rights.
Source:
Times Of India
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Afghan
women athletes barred from play, fear Taliban threats
January
11, 2023
Noura’s
determination to play sports was so great that she defied her family’s
opposition for years. Beatings from her mother and jeers from her neighbors
never stopped her from the sports she loved.
But
the 20-year-old Afghan woman could not defy her country’s Taliban rulers. They
have not just banned all sports for women and girls, they have actively
intimidated and harassed those who once played, often scaring them from even
practicing in private, Noura and other women say.
Noura
has been left shattered. “I’m not the same person anymore,” she said. “Since
the Taliban came, I feel like I’m dead.”
A
number of girls and women who once played a variety of sports told The
Associated Press they have been intimidated by the Taliban with visits and
phone calls warning them not to engage in their sports. The women and girls
spoke on condition of anonymity for fear they will face further threats.
The
ban on sports is part of the Taliban's escalating campaign of restrictions that
have shut down life for girls and women.
Since
their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have barred girls
from attending middle and high school. Last month, they ordered all women
thrown out of universities as well.
The
Taliban require women to cover their hair and faces in public and prohibit them
from going to parks or gyms. They have severely limited women’s ability to work
outside the home and most recently forbade non-governmental organisations from
employing women, a step that could cripple the vital flow of aid.
Even
before the Taliban, women’s sports were opposed by many in Afghanistan’s deeply
conservative society, seen as a violation of women’s modesty and of their role
in society. Still, the previous, internationally-backed government had
programmes encouraging women's sports and school clubs, leagues and national
teams for women in many sports.
A
20-year-old mixed martial artist recalled how in August 2021, she was competing
in a local women’s tournament at a Kabul sports hall. Word spread through the
audience and participants that the advancing Taliban were on the city’s
outskirts. All the women and girls fled the hall. It was the last competition
Sarina ever played in.
Months
later, she said she tried to give private lessons for girls. But Taliban
fighters raided the gym where they were practicing and arrested them all. In
detention, the girls were humiliated and mocked, Sarina said. After mediation
by elders, they were released after promising not to practice sports anymore.
She
still practices at home and sometimes teaches her close friends.
“Life
has become very difficult for me, but I am a fighter, so I will continue to
live and fight,” she said.
Taliban
mulls ‘separate sports venues’
Mushwanay,
spokesman of the Taliban’s Sports Organisation and National Olympic Committee,
said authorities were looking for a way to restart sports for women by building
separate sports venues. But he gave no time frame and said funds were needed to
do so. Taliban authorities have repeatedly made similar promises to allow girls
7th grade and up to return to school, but still have not done so.
Noura
faced resistance her whole life as she tried to play sports.
Raised
in a poor Kabul district by parents who migrated from the provinces, Noura
started out playing soccer alongside local boys in the street. When she was
nine, a coach spotted her and, at his encouragement, she joined a girls’ youth
team.
She
kept it a secret from everyone but her father, but her cover was blown by her
own talent. At 13, she was named the best girl soccer player in her age group,
and her photo and name were broadcast on television.
“All
over the world, when a girl becomes famous and her picture is shown on TV, it’s
a good day for her and she’s at the peak of happiness,” she said. “For me, that
day was very bitter and the beginning of worse days.”
Furious,
her mother beat her, shouting that she was not allowed to play soccer. She kept
playing in secret but was exposed again when her team won a national
championship, and her photo was in the news. Again, her mother beat her.
Still,
she sneaked off to the award ceremony. She broke down in tears on stage as the
audience cheered. “Only I knew I was crying because of loneliness and the hard
life I had,” she said.
When
she found out, her mother set fire to her soccer uniform and shoes.
Noura
gave up soccer, but then turned to boxing. Her mother eventually relented,
realising she couldn’t stop her from sports, she said.
The
day the Taliban entered Kabul, she said, her coach called her mother and said
Noura should go to the airport to be taken out of the country. Noura said her
mother didn’t deliver the message because she didn't want her to leave. When
she learned of the message — too late to escape — Noura said she cut her wrists
and had to be taken to the hospital.
“The
world had become dark for me,” she said.
Three
months later, someone who identified himself as a member of the Taliban called
the family and threatened her. “They were saying, why did you play sports?
Sports are forbidden,” she recalled.
Terrified,
she left Kabul, disguising herself in her burqa to travel to her family’s
hometown. Eventually, she returned but remains in fear.
“Even
if my life was difficult, I used to have confidence in myself and knew that,
with effort, I could do what I wanted,” she said. “Now I don’t have much hope
anymore.”
Source:
The Hindu
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One
year of Karnataka’s war on Muslim women’s right to learn
Ayesha
Sayed was in the middle of a bachelor’s degree programme when her family
received a marriage proposal for her.
Sayed
worried that her studies would be disrupted. Her education had already been
halted a few years earlier, after graduating from Class 12, because her family
faced financial constraints. She had then worked at a call centre to support
her family – it was only four years later that she could sign up for a bachelor
of arts programme in sociology, economics and history at a college in Udupi.
So,
when the marriage proposal arrived, Sayed accepted only after extracting a
promise from the groom’s family that she would be allowed to continue studying
afterwards. She graduated in 2019.
She
then decided to pursue her dream of studying law. From a young age, Sayed said,
she had had a special interest in the Indian Constitution and had dreamt of one
day practising law in the Supreme Court.
When
she decided to apply for her law programme in 2021, she had to sit her in-laws
down and convince them to allow her to take up the course. The nearest college
was an hour away. By this time, she also had a young child, aged three, to look
after, so the logistics were not going to be easy.
But
she persuaded them, and found a neighbour to babysit the child. Her classes
started in January 2022. Every morning, Sayed would leave her child in the
neighbour’s care and take a bus to her new college. Despite the long travel
hours, she managed to study and look after her child and her home.
She
found her studies thrilling. But that wasn’t all she enjoyed – Sayed was also a
sportsperson. She showed me a video on her phone of herself in the college
sports field with a javelin in her hand.
But
the happiness she felt on her return to academics was short-lived. In early
January, protests broke out in parts of Karnataka, beginning in Udupi, against
a long-accepted practice of allowing Muslim women students to wear their
hijabs, or headscarves, to college. While most colleges prescribed uniforms,
their administrations typically accepted that the headscarves were an integral
part of Muslim students’ identity and religious practice, and did not object to
them.
In
late December, the Government Pre-University College, in Udupi, prohibited
Muslim students from wearing hijabs inside the classroom. Six students
protested this move. The administration refused to change its new rule, leading
to further protests from Muslim students. Subsequently, in January, hundreds of
Hindu students arrived at their colleges with saffron scarves around their
necks, demanding that students with hijabs be denied entry into campuses. They
argued that hijabs violated their institutions’ rules on uniforms.
Some
other colleges, too, decided to ban students from wearing the headscarves. In
the following days, several videos emerged of Muslim female students being
stopped at college gates, being forced to remove their burkas and hijabs
outside, being harassed by teachers and right-wing student groups, and in some
cases, being sent home if they refused to take off the headscarves.
On
February 5, the Karnataka government issued an order stating that colleges
should adhere strictly to uniform rules, and that no exceptions would be made for
hijabs.
Several
Muslim organisations and students filed petitions against this order. On
February 10, a little over a month after Sayed had started her course, the
Karnataka High Court issued an interim order restraining students from wearing
“saffron shawls, scarves, hijabs, religious flags or the like inside the
classrooms”.
The
order left many in shock and disbelief. Muslims already enjoyed relatively low
access to education – according to the All India Survey on Higher Education,
2017-’18, the enrollment of Muslims in higher education is the lowest among all
disadvantages groups, including Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. Now,
faced with the threat of being barred from their colleges, some students were
forced to remove their hijabs to continue their studies. Some shifted to
colleges that did not impose a ban on the scarves, most run by Muslim
organisations, while some dropped out of college.
When
the protests had started, Sayed, who was the only student in her class who wore
a hijab, hadn’t been too worried. She felt sure that her college would not be
affected by the problem.
She
was partially right. Her college administration did not impose a ban on hijabs
after the high court’s interim order.
But
things changed in March, when the Karnataka High Court delivered a verdict in
the matter, upholding the rights of colleges to prohibit students from wearing
hijabs – a slew of colleges across the state began to enforce bans on hijabs,
in what broadly began to be referred to as the “hijab ban.” The court stated,
“Petitioners have miserably failed to meet the threshold requirement of
pleadings and proof as to wearing hijab is an inviolable religious practice in
Islam and much less a part of ‘essential religious practice’.”
The
court also claimed that the prescription of dress codes would be a “step in the
direction of emancipation”. The judgement read, “It hardly needs to be stated
that this does not rob off the autonomy of women or their right to education
inasmuch as they can wear any apparel of their choice outside the classroom.”
The petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court — in October 2022, a two-judge
bench delivered a split verdict, following which the matter was referred to the
Chief Justice of India. Effectively, from the time of the high court verdict,
to the present, when petitioners await the constitution of a new bench to hear
the matter, the hijab ban has effectively remained in place.
A
few weeks later, Sayed was back at home, doing household chores and taking care
of her son. It had already been a struggle to convince her in-laws to allow her
to go out to pursue an education; she did not feel up to the challenge of
persuading them to let her study without a hijab.
For
that matter, it wasn’t even a battle she believed in. “Every woman from every
kind of background should be allowed to study,” she said. “It doesn’t matter
whether she is wearing a bikini or is clothed from head to toe. Everyone
deserves access to education.”
But
Sayed is angry that she had been robbed of her dream. “I am not meant to be
stuck inside these four walls,” she said, glancing around at the bright yellow
walls of her bedroom, as she cradled her four-year-old son in her arms.
“There
must have been a reason why my mother gave birth to me, right?” she added. “It
couldn’t have been to just slog it out in the kitchen and scrub the bathrooms.”
Source:
Scroll
https://scroll.in/article/1041529/one-year-of-karnatakas-war-on-muslim-womens-right-to-learn
--------
Lebanese
designer Salim Azzam wants to tell personal stories on a global stage
HADIA
SINNO
January
10, 2023
BEIRUT:
Lebanese designer Salim Azzam, loved by Jordan’s Queen Rania Al-Abdullah,
started his brand to revive the skills of the artisans in Mount Lebanon and
give them international exposure.
The
designer, who has a modern take on traditional garments, told Arab News: “I’ve
used fashion for two main reasons: To tell stories and celebrate the culture
where I come from and also to give the women of the region the opportunity to
do what they do best, which is crafts.”
Azzam
said that women in Lebanon have used these crafts to create decor pieces until
the skill became outdated and people lost interest in it.
“So,
I thought fashion was an answer to actually make it current and actually allow
this craft to live between the people and be wearable and movable,” he said.
“I
wanted to share things about where I come from, but also make them a global
story,” he added.
“When
I started designing silhouettes and cuts, I was very much inspired by the
people where I come from,” he said. “So, you see a lot of whites in my
collections inspired by the white veils. You see a classic take on the
‘sherwel’ and things that are oversized because people don’t show much care
there.
“So,
I think subconsciously I’ve done design decisions inspired by where I come
from. I started illustrating things that were engraved in my memory,” he
said.
Besides
designing garments for both women and men, Azzam also creates hand embroidered
bags, table linens, embroidery kits and slippers.
Azzam,
whose designs are available in the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, believes
that the best way to compete on an international scale is to stay “authentic to
who you are and to be different.
“I
think, in fact, everything that I do has been a great point of strength that is
making me step into the outside world and have something to share and something
new to offer that is unique,” he said.
“The
challenge is to turn a personal story into a global story and make people
relate to it,” added Azzam. “Fashion is all about desire. It takes people to
different places I would love to share what we have in this country one piece
at a time in every country that we land in.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2229811/fashion
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Sheikh
Zayed hospital harassment case: 10 women step forward, record statements
NOOR
UL ARIFEEN
An
inquiry committee probing the alleged presence of an organized gang that
allegedly forced nurses and other staff at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Quetta
into prostitution, made progress on Tuesday, recording statements of at least
10 victims.
Balochistan
Health Additional Secretary Atiq Ullah Khan said that some women had
volunteered to testify via telephone to protect their identity but also wanted
to relate their ordeal in the vicious cycle run by a powerful group.
He
said that the committee wanted to establish just how the group operates and how
it can maintain power over their victims while obtaining proof in this regard.
Assuring
that he was dealing with the matter with utmost seriousness, Atiq said that he
had visited the hospital and assured the staff there that action will be taken
against the perpetrators.
He
said that the gang that allegedly run the prostitute ring in the hospital is
believed to be providing extraordinary privilege to girls who complied with the
demands of the gang while maintaining their hold. Those who did not comply,
faced the wrath of the gang in one form or another.
“We
have submitted the initial report to the secretary health with several
recommendations,” he informed.
Source:
Samaa English
https://www.samaaenglish.tv/news/40025174
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-activist-sepideh-iran-evin-jail/d/128852
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