Iran Arrests Woman, Donya Rad, For Eating In Restaurant without Headscarf during the Protests over the Death of Mahsa Amini
New
Age Islam News Bureau
01
October 2022
•
Dubai's Kay Godkhindi Creates History in All-Female Chair Umpire Team at Sofia
Open in Bulgaria
•
Fifa Called On To Ban Iran from World Cup over Women's Rights
•
19 Women, 2 Men Qualify As Kingdom's First Yogasana Referees
•
Pakistan: 600,000 Pregnant Women in Flood-Hit Areas Have No Place for Delivery
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iran-donya-rad-headscarf-mahsa/d/128082
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Iran
Arrests Woman, Donya Rad, For Eating In Restaurant without Headscarf during the
Protests over the Death of Mahsa Amini
An
image posted on the Twitter account of Donya Rad on September 28, 2022, shows
her (R) and a friend eating at a cafe in the capital Tehran .(AFP)
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30
September, 2022
Iran
has arrested a woman who was shown eating out without a headscarf in an image
that went viral on social media during the protests over the death of Mahsa
Amini, her sister said Friday.
The
picture showed Donya Rad sitting in a traditional Tehran restaurant apparently
eating breakfast, in the company of a female friend who is also without a
headscarf.
The
image was widely shared on social media by users, who applauded the two women
for their civil disobedience in the face of the Islamic republic's strict dress
code for women.
Amini
died earlier this month following her arrest by the country’s strict morality
police who enforce the rules for the obligatory hijab.
“Yesterday
after this photo was published, the security agencies contacted my sister Donya
Rad and asked her to give some explanations,” her sister Dina wrote on Twitter.
“Today,
after going where she was told, she was arrested. After a few hours of silence,
Donya told me in a short call that she was transferred to ward 209 of Evin
prison,” she said, referring to a notorious wing of the Tehran jail which is
reputedly run by the intelligence ministry.
“Our
family is very concerned about her wellbeing,” she added.
Persian
media outside Iran have over the last days pointed to growing images of civil disobedience,
with women in Iran sharing images of themselves walking, shopping or in cafes
without headscarves.
“They
just went to get breakfast without headscarves. They were arrested. This is how
brutal/sick the hijab policy is in Iran,” commented prominent US-based
campaigner and journalist Omid Memarian on Twitter.
Some
on social media compared Rad’s actions to those of Rosa Parks, the American
black civil rights activist who resisted segregation on buses, putting together
images of Parks on a bus with Rad in a cafe.
Prominent
songwriter and poet Mona Borzouei was also arrested, activists said, after she
posted a video of herself reading a poem declaring: “We will take this homeland
back from your hands.”
Activists
say Iran is in the throes of one of its most ferocious crackdowns in years to
suppress the protests that erupted in the wake of Amini’s death, with some two
dozen journalists rounded up as well as activists and cultural figures.
Former
Iranian international football player Hossein Manahi was arrested Friday after
supporting the protests on his social media accounts, the state-run IRNA news
agency said.
Security
forces also arrested singer Shervin Hajipour, whose song “Baray” (“For”) made
up of tweets about the protests went viral on Instagram, the rights group
Article 19 and Persian-language media based outside Iran said.
His
song, which racked up millions of views on Instagram and prompted many to
comment that it moved them to tears, has now been removed from his account.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Dubai's
Kay Godkhindi Creates History in All-Female Chair Umpire Team at Sofia Open in
Bulgaria
Left
to right (standing): Sylvia Dacheva-Stoyanova (Head of Ballkids), Antoaneta
Dimitrova (Chief of Umpires), Milena Zubkova (Player Relations Manager), Kay
Godkhindi (Tournament Director), Sagari Godkhindi (Chief Marketing Officer),
Polia Koleva (Tournament Relations), Milena Kotzeva (Ballkids Assistant), Vesselina
Doneva (Referee); Bottom row, left to right (kneeling): Raluca Andrei (ATP
Chair Umpire), Morgane Lara (ATP Chair Umpire), Isabell Seefried (ATP Chair
Umpire), Anne Lasserre (ATP Tournament Supervisor), Aurelie Tourte (ATP Chair
Umpire), Yulia Ignachenko (ATP Chair Umpire)
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By
Joydeep Sengupta
30
Sep 2022
There’s
a strong Dubai connection to the ongoing Sofia Open in Bulgaria run by the
Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of the men's
professional tennis circuits.
This
is for the first time, an all-female chair umpire team, including the ATP
supervisor, tournament director, referee and chief of umpires, was assigned to
an ATP Tour event.
Tournament
Director Kay Godkhindi, who is of Indian origin and holds an Australian
passport, grew up in Dubai and went to college in the USA.
She
told Khaleej Times from Sofia about the exciting aspect of the event.
“Truth
be told, we had no clue about history being made in front of our eyes. At the
end of the day, it’s a sport where gender is of little consequence. Besides,
gender doesn’t define an individual’s capabilities. However, it’s a wonderful
concept to have equal opportunity in both the ATP and the WTA (Women’s Tennis
Association) and empowering women as and when possible is a step towards the
right direction,” she said while lavishing praise on ATP for championing the
gender cause.
Tennis
has had several prominent female officials, including those officiating in
men’s matches, for several decades.
Anne
Lasserre, who is the ATP Supervisor for the ATP 250 in Sofia, is the
gender-bender pioneer.
“I
think it’s an honour as well to be the first female. I worked as a chair umpire
for the ATP a long time ago,” Lasserre said.
“I
think things and the situation are evolving, which I think is a good thing.
It’s an honour, I’m proud of it…
"It’s
good to think about the future and being able to break this glass ceiling and
give this opportunity to other females to do the same job as we do in every
sport,” she told atptour.com.
ATP
Senior Director of Officiating Administration Ali Nili told atptour.com: “The
ATP Officiating Department prioritises high performance and a diverse
officiating team. The tournament in Sofia is an example of our successful
efforts in that direction. While the road to progress is long, we are proud of
the direction we are heading, and the future seems bright.”
Source:
Khaleej Times
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Fifa
Called On To Ban Iran from World Cup over Women's Rights
By
Flora Drury
Oct
01, 2022
A
rights group has called on Fifa to ban Iran from this year's World Cup after
blocking women from watching games in their own country.
Open
Stadiums questioned why the country was being allowed to compete while
"Iranian women remain locked out of our 'Beautiful Game'" by
officials.
The
call comes weeks after women were allowed to attend a domestic match for the
first time since 1979.
However,
the rights group was sceptical stadiums would remain open to women.
"Iranian
women trust neither the Islamic Republic's authorities nor the Iranian Football
Federation that the Azadi stadium will remain open to them after the Fifa World
Cup 2022 concludes on December 18," Open Stadiums said in an open letter
to Fifa's president, Gianni Infantino.
It
also argues that even those who travel to Qatar to watch matches risk falling
foul of Iranian authorities, with fears state spies may keep tabs on those who
attend.
Prohibiting
women from games goes against international football rules, the letter points
out, arguing Fifa should "immediately expel Iran from the World Cup 2022
in Qatar" as a result.
Iranian
news sites reported speculation that women were allowed to attend the match in
August after Fifa sent a letter to authorities calling on them to permit more
women into stadiums. Fifa has previously told the BBC it would not "turn
its eyes" away from the issue.
There
is no official ban on women going to sporting events in Iran, but it is rare as
they are often refused entry.
Prior
to this, women had effectively been barred from domestic matches where men are
playing due to clerical disapproval under the Shia Muslim regime. Women have
attended a handful of international matches, including one in March this year,
news agency Reuters reports.
The
rights group, which campaigns for equal access to sport in Iran, also claimed
in the letter that members of the football team going to Qatar later this year
had been banned from speaking out over deadly protests currently rocking the
country. They were sparked by the death in custody of a young woman, Mahsa
Amini, after she was detained morality police.
The
letter points out that the detention centre where she died is the same one
"where female fans are usually brought to and tortured if we dare to try
to attend a football game".
Neither
the Iranian football association or Fifa have responded to a request for
comment from Reuters.
Source:
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63088887
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19
women, 2 men qualify as Kingdom's first yogasana referees
September
30, 2022
RIYADH
— The Saudi Yoga Committee announced the graduation of the first group of
yogasana referees at a yogasana sports event, which was held in cooperation
with the Leaders Development Institute in the Ministry of Sports.
Experts
from the Asian Yogasana Sports Federation, headed by Ramesh Lohan, President of
the Federation, and Jaten Tomar, Technical Adviser, were present at the
ceremony.
Lohan
praised the great progress witnessed by the sports sector in the Kingdom in
general and yoga in particular.
Nouf
Al-Marwaai, Chairman of the Saudi Yoga Committee, expressed her happiness at
the graduation of the first group in Riyadh, especially as most of the
graduates are women. In addition to two male referees, 19 women belonging to
different regions of the Kingdom qualified.
Al-Marwaai
encouraged all practitioners and professionals of yogasana to take the
initiative to register for courses that will be held in the near future and to
benefit from the courses offered by the Saudi Yoga Committee for various other
types of yoga.
Al-Marwaai
emphasized that the increasing number of practitioners and professionals of
yogasana was an impetus to provide such cadres of Saudi male and female
referees to supervise the arbitration of local yogasana tournaments, and then
start to participate in the arbitration of regional and international
tournaments.
The
yogasana sport is the types of professional competitive yoga for high
performance, and is characterized by the use of specific strategies for
physical postures (asanas), and depends on the integration of the physical
structure and the concentration of the deep mind in a harmonious manner. It
also contributes to enhancing strength and physical flexibility significantly,
and help to reach high degrees of focus and access to peace and calm. — SG
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/625580
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Pakistan:
600,000 pregnant women in flood-hit areas have no place for delivery
September
30, 2022
Zubair
Qureshi
ISLAMABAD:
Around 600,000 pregnant women in the flood-affected areas of Sindh, South
Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan are coping with scant maternal
health services and have no safe place even to deliver.
Besides,
there are over 5 million children who have little or no immunisation and
nutrition care and the government as well as the humanitarian
agencies/organisations need to make fast-track efforts to restore reproductive
health services for women, pregnant women and children.
These
views were shared at the 7th meeting of the Parliamentary Forum on Population
(PFP) organised by the Population Council and United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA).
Minister
of State for Finance and Revenue, Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha was present. Members of
the Senate, legislators from the national and provincial assemblies and
regional body of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) representing all major political parties
attended the meeting. The PFP is a cross-party platform to raise parliamentary
awareness on population and development, sustain cross-party political
commitment and advocate for population stabilisation.
Addressing
the forum, Dr. Aisha Pasha said the international community should channel
funds on a priority basis so that support for the climate-hit Pakistan can be
ensured.
Dr.
Zeba Sathar, Country Director Population Council highlighted that floods in
Pakistan have aggravated pre-existing vulnerabilities of marginalised
populations. Citing national data, she said 19 million people out of the 31
million living in the severely-affected areas were poor.
More
than 22.7 million Kuccha Houses (mud huts) where the displaced population of
severely-affected areas lived were most likely destroyed.
Besides
women and children, around one million people of 65+ age are living in severely
flood affected areas who require special care. People living in agro-climatic
zones have lost their cattle and crops and have no access to health services.
Samia
Ali Shah Project director Population Council shared the plight of women and
children affected by the floods in the severely affected districts, especially
how lack of reproductive health services was impacting their lives and that “we
must strengthen the community-based service providers to help their
communities”.
Need
to prioritise women, children’s issues
Parliamentarians
called on the donor community to urgently prioritise the needs of women and
girls who disproportionately bear the brunt of the devastating impacts of
climate change as we are witnessing during the current floods.
They
emphasised the need for accelerating provision of maternal health, reproductive
health and family planning services along with safe space for women and girls.
Dr
Bakhtior Kadirov, Country Representative a.i. UNFPA strongly advocated a
comprehen-sive strategy with family planning taking center stage. The policy
needs to be implemented by taking all the stakeholders on board, said Dr
Bakhtioradding the parliamentarians had a pivotal role to play for the success
of this resilience rehabilitation.
He
said, “Family planning is part of the healthcare services package that we all
are delivering at this time of crisis. UNFPA is ready to play its role in
building the resilience of institutions and communities.”
Source:
Gulf News
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