Iranian Authorities Summon Organizers Of Shiraz Marathon After Women Run Without Hijab
07 May 2023
• Iranian Authorities Summon Organizers Of Shiraz
MarathonAfter Women Run Without Hijab
• Princess of Wales Kate
Middleton Wears Bahraini Pearl Earrings For Coronation Celebrations
• Female Scholar Calls For Apology As Iran Clerics
Remain Defiant
• Iran’s Female Athletes Raise Voices Over Entrenched
Discrimination
• UNDP Warns That Restrictions On Women’s Rights Will
Worsen Economic Catastrophe In Afghanistan
• In Coastal Bangladesh, Climate Change Devastates
Women’s Reproductive Health
• Kaneez Fathima, Lone Congress Muslim Woman Candidate
In Karnataka Fought For Girls’ Right To Wear Hijab, Faces BJP Challenge
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-shiraz-hijab-marathon/d/129720
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Iranian Authorities Summon Organizers Of Shiraz Marathon
After Women Run Without Hijab
Two women running at a
marathon race in Shiraz/ Iran International
------
7 May 2023
Iranian authorities have summoned the organisers of a
marathon race in Shiraz after a number of women ran without hijab.
The Judiciary of Iran’s Fars Province has filed a case
after the marathon race was held on Friday in the central streets of the city
of Shiraz.
Mustafa Bahraini, Prosecutor General of the southern
province said on Saturday that after this "deconstructive" action,
the director and organizers have been summoned to provide an explanation.
Since the death last September of 22-year-old Mahsa
Amini in the custody of morality police and the protests that engulfed the
country for months, many women have discarded their headscarves altogether and
vowed never to wear it again.
Only five months after the Islamic Revolution of 1979,
then leader of Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini banned women from appearing
without a veil in government offices. The ban gradually spread to the entire
society within the next two years.
Iran's women eventually gave into covering their hair,
even if partially, with headscarves and shawls and wearing tunics and trousers
that could be tight-fitting and/or colorful. The hardline religious and
political establishment considered this level of compliance faulty and called
these women "bad-hijab".
Source: Iranintl
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202305073813
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Princess of Wales Kate Middleton Wears Bahraini Pearl
Earrings For Coronation Celebrations
Kate Middleton. PHOTO: DAN
CHARITY - WPA POOL/GETTY
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LONDON, 7 May 2023
Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (Danat) too
basked in glory during the coronation of King Charles III in the UK as the
Princess of Wales Kate Middleton made her appearance wearing the Bahraini pearl
drop earrings for the celebrations in preparation for the historic event, which
is a continuation of a longstanding tradition among members of the British
royal family.
She previously wore the set to Queen Elizabeth II’s
funeral in September as pearls are typically seen as mourning jewels in British
royal etiquette.
Jamsheer highlighted that throughout history, English,
French, and American jewellers have visited Bahrain to procure the finest and
most exquisite natural Bahraini pearls directly from their source.
These pearls have been taken to various parts of the
world, where these jewellers have perfected their crafting and presentation,
she explained.
Jamsheer, reminisced about the authentic pearl
necklace and pearl earrings that the late Queen Elizabeth II had worn on
several occasions.
When asked about the reasons for her continued
preference for the necklace, the Queen reportedly stated that it was a natural
Bahraini pearl that she had acquired half a century ago, yet it still
maintained its original colour and lustre as if it were newly made.
"The adornment of Bahraini pearls by renowned
international female personalities, in the form of necklaces, earrings, and
other exquisite jewellery pieces, serves as a remarkable avenue for promoting
the distinctiveness of these unique natural pearls," she noted.
According to her, Bahraini pearls have been a
prominent cornerstone of Bahrain's regional and global reputation, further
emphasizing the message that Bahrain constantly sends to the world, reflecting
the rich heritage and civilization of Bahrain.
"Wearing or possessing Bahraini pearls not only
confers a unique sense of distinction and exclusivity but also instils a
profound source of pride for all those who cherish them," she stated.
Jamsheer pointed out that Danat Institute was
dedicated to participating in international conferences and events to promote
Bahrain as a prominent centre for natural pearl extraction and trade.
Over the past five years, Danat has successfully
implemented the National Plan for Natural Pearls, which seeks to establish
Bahrain as a global hub for natural pearl examination. Additionally, the
laboratory has become the first of its kind in the field of pearl and gemstone
testing.
"Our duties extend beyond preservation and
include ensuring their sustainable extraction, safeguarding their integrity,
and further enhancing their reputation as one of the most valuable and
distinguished precious assets. We acknowledge the weight of our obligation and
remain committed to fulfilling it with the utmost dedication and
expertise," she added
Source: Shafaq.Com
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Female Scholar Calls For Apology As Iran Clerics
Remain Defiant
07-05-2023
AlirezaArafi, the dean of the Qom Seminary says
Iranian clerics will stand firm on their position regardless of recent attacks
on by ordinary people on clergymen.
Speaking before the Friday prayers in Qomm on May 5,
Arafi was referring to at least four clerics who have been killed in recent
months and a few others who suffered serious injuries by incidents of car
ramming. He said, "The clerics' martyrdom was both painful and a source
for pride."
Arafi, however, attributed the attacks to
"conspiracies hatched and engineered by the enemies in the form of a
hybrid war." This comes while some media outlets and sociologists in Iran
say the attacks show young Iranians' anger and frustration as their demands
have been ignored for several years.
Meanwhile, prominent female
jurisconsultSedighehVasmaghi has welcomed a statement by Qom cleric Ayatollah
Mohammad JavadAlaviBoroujerdi. The cleric had recently said about the attacks
that "The clerics' words and approach has led to insecurity and created
grudge and hatred in the society."
Borujerdi had further called on the clerics who are
part of the Islamic government in Iran to apologize to women and the rest of
the nation for their words and approaches toward women and the issue of hijab.
Vasmaghi agreed with him that clerics' school of
thought has made the Iranian society insecure. She also said that the clergy
owe much to Iranian women for what they have said during the past four decades.
She also said that they should have paid attention to
warnings about public anger and the widening gap between themselves and the
people. Vasmaghi reiterated: "There should be security in the society for
all citizens. It is not possible to keep one part of the society safe at the
price of others' insecurity."
Meanwhile, the firebrand Friday Imam of Tehran, Ahmad
Khatami claimed that clerics are still popular in Iran although their image is
being tarnished on social media. Although he tried to pretend that he was
unshaken as a result of the attacks, yet he made a few fatalistic remarks such
as "We all have to leave this world one day anyway," and "We
will have to go no matter if we like it or not. We are all bound for
eternity."
Khatami also dedicated a large part of his sermon to
the attacks on clerics and praised them for facing death in cold blood. He
said, "The reason for these attacks is that the clerics' presence annoys
arrogant powers [the United States]." However, he did not explain why
major politicians like himself are safe while the attacks often target low-key
clerical figures.
Some unconfirmed social media reports said the
Ministry of Interior has warned clerics at seminaries to leave their robes and
put on ordinary outfit when they have to go into the public.
Khatami then called on the Judiciary to take swift
measures to punish those who have attacked the clerics. The latest attack still
remains a mystery in Bobol in the Caspian region where a cleric, Ebrahim Fazel,
who is the son of the dean of the city's seminary was found dead in the sea and
his death remains unresolved. He asked the Judiciary to make Iran insecure for
those who attack the clerics.
In another development, Hossein Ansarian, a prominent
cleric who has recently criticized the government for its heavy-handed and
outdated approach to compulsory hijab, said: "Some of us clerics belong to
100 years ago, some others to even 200 years ago and are not fit for today.
What we say from the pulpits are no good for the modern society." He added
that some clerics who lived in the 20th century preached in a way that served
modern men and women.
Source: Iranintl.Com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202305069314
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Iran’s Female Athletes Raise Voices Over Entrenched
Discrimination
KouroshZiabari
May 7, 2023
As the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris approach, Iran’s
female athletes are speaking out publicly about the inequities in their
professional journey, at a time the world is paying attention to the general
trend of discrimination against women in Iran.
After Iran women’s national soccer team defeated
Myanmar in April to make its way to the second round of the 2024 Olympic
qualifiers from Asia, the squad’s captain, Zahra Ghanbari, described the
victory over a higher-ranked opponent as phenomenal, lamenting the authorities’
failure to recognize them.
According to a report by Ham-Mihan Daily, each member
of Iranian men’s national football team received $15,000 for beating Wales in
the group stage of FIFA World Cup in Qatar last November. The bonus was in
addition to the generous per diem the players received while in Doha. Ghanbari
says after advancing to the second round of Olympic qualifiers, nothing has
been disbursed to her and her teammates.
The most popular players in Iran's men’s premier
league are paid between $200-300,000 per season, while the salary of the best
female players in the top tier of the national league doesn’t exceed $18,000,
Ghanbari said.
Discrimination against female athletes in Iran is
deep-seated and firmly rooted in the patriarchal culture. The disparities
include a persistent gender pay gap, unequal access to media and limited
publicity, and shortage of training facilities.
FarzanehFassihi, who competed for Iran’s track team in
the Tokyo Olympics, holds the national record in the indoor 60-meter dash. She
revealed this month that when she clinched a rare gold medal at the 2023 Asian
Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, she was offered only $1,600, by the
athletics federation and the national Olympic committee. Ironically, she had to
top up the bonus with 1,700 euros of her own savings to settle an outstanding
debt to her international coach.
The religious zealots’ opposition to women’s sports
hasn’t abated notably, even though they tend to rein in their inflammatory
rhetoric on female athletes because the PR value of women in international
events is significant. But female athletes on the provincial level or in
smaller cities must overcome a multitude of barriers, including resistance by
conservative families.
After the female rower Homa Hosseini was picked to be
the country’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of the city of Mashhad,
called the decision “a war on values.” AbdollahJavadiAmoli, a senior cleric and
jurist, said after the successes of women karatekas in 2014 Asian Games that
“the perfection of a woman lies in motherhood” and that “it is not a virtue for
our women and girls to go and stretch their legs and kick someone and earn a
medal for us.”
Negar Partow, a senior lecturer in security studies at
Massey University in New Zealand, told Al-Monitor, “Since 1979, any achievement
in setting up or maintaining women’s athletic teams in Iran has been because of
the courage, determination, resilience and resistance of women against the
oppression of the regime.”
Unfavorable professional conditions and pressure by
the authorities, including compulsory hijab and strict gender segregation
rules, have swayed many renowned sportswomen to leave Iran and seek asylum in
other countries.
Kimia Alizadeh, a taekwondo practitioner and the first
woman from Iran to win an Olympic medal, defected in 2020, describing a lingering
pattern of exploitation and oppression. In the 2022 European Championships, she
represented the Refugee Olympic Team.
When she became a national celebrity by winning her
bronze medal in Rio in 2016, state media
asked her leading questions on how proud she felt representing her home country
with the hijab, which she acknowledged. After leaving Iran, she said those
statements didn’t reflect her true intentions, and were made under pressure.
She removed her headscarf upon migrating.
AzadehDavachi, a Melbourne-based women’s rights
activist and researcher, believes unfair treatment of women in sports in Iran
is a structural problem.
“Systematic discrimination means that girls’ schools
have fewer sports facilities. Women are still not allowed to go to stadiums to
support their favorite teams, and the involvement of women in sports is still
intertwined with the ideologies of the Islamic Republic, including the issue of
hijab,” she said.
Despite the hurdles, women continue to be passionate
about sports. Minister of Sport and Youth Hamid Sajjadi has said there are more
than 16,000 sports clubs for women nationwide. But as the government is
stiffening its crackdown on women, they seem to have a bumpy road ahead
fulfilling their dreams.
Source: Al-Monitor
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UNDP Warns That Restrictions On Women’s Rights Will
Worsen Economic Catastrophe In Afghanistan
By India Education Diary Bureau
May 7, 2023
Kabul – A new study of Afghanistan’s economy
demonstrates that without continuity for girls’ education and women’s ability
to work, prospects for the country’s recovery will remain grim.
The study, “Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023”,
released today in Kabul by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
details how Afghanistan’s economic output collapsed by 20.7 percent following
the Taliban takeover in 2021. This unparalleled shock has kept Afghanistan
among the poorest countries in the world.
And despite tentative signs of recovery, such as a
relatively stable exchange rate, an increase in exports, growing demand for labor,
and muted inflation, GDP is estimated to have further declined by 3.6 percent
in 2022.
“A sustained inflow of foreign aid, to the tune of
$3.7 billion in 2022, has helped avert the total collapse of Afghanistan,” said
UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan Abdallah Al Dardari.
The United Nations (UN) contributed $3.2 billion of
the overall $3.7 billion in foreign aid to Afghanistan in 2022. UN assistance
reached directly 26.1 million Afghans with some form of aid, while helping to
stabilize the exchange rate, curb inflation and affect other economic
indicators.
The new report projects that the 2023 GDP in
Afghanistan could increase by 1.3 percent if the level of foreign aid remains
at $3.7 billion. However, prospects for economic recovery remain weak and
insufficient over the long term, especially if foreign aid is withheld as a
result of restrictive Taliban policies.
“There will be no sustainable recovery without the
active participation of Afghan women in the economy and in public life, which
includes delivering on humanitarian and livelihoods-saving projects,” said UNDP
Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, KanniWignaraja. “Only the full
continuity of girls’ education and women’s ability to pursue work and learning
can keep the hope of any real progress alive.”
The edicts restricting the rights of women and girls,
including a directive banning Afghan women from working for the UN, directly
affect economic productivity and may also impact the level of aid inflows.
There are also considerable headwinds arising from adverse geopolitical factors
and economic difficulties in the neighboring countries, which could spill over
to Afghanistan.
The new UNDP paper analyzes the potential impact of a
hypothetical aid cut on Afghanistan’s economy. Using an indicative value of a
30 percent reduction in aid from $3.7 billion to $2.6 billion, UNDP projects
that Afghanistan’s GDP would further contract by 0.4 percent, a decline that
would send the country hurtling to the bottom of the global poverty scale.
The study notes that impoverished Afghans are already
taking extreme measures to survive. “Some have been compelled to sell their
homes, land, or assets that generate income; others have resorted to the
distressing practice of commodifying their own family members, turning children
into laborers and young daughters into brides,” the report states.
“Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse,
exacerbated with the takeover in August 2021. The effects of the pandemic,
followed by an extraordinary 20.7 percent contraction of the economy, and an
unusually severe drought, have resulted in the loss of food, livelihoods and
access to basic services,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in a
statement. “Only the continued provision of international aid and basic services
to millions of Afghans have prevented a full collapse.”
The research finds that the number of people living in
poverty skyrocketed from 19 million in 2020 to 34 million in 2022. “If foreign
aid is reduced this year, Afghanistan may fall from the cliff edge into the
abyss,” Al Dardari cautioned.
Source: india education diary
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In coastal Bangladesh, climate change devastates
women’s reproductive health
May 7, 2023
By TanbirulMiraj Ripon
SATKHIRA, Bangladesh — On a cloudy Friday morning,
Asma Akhter took a break from fishing for minnows. Her clothes still wet, she
sat outside her two-room home, gazing out at the waters that are both her
salvation and her doom.
Like most people who live in this part of southwestern
Bangladesh, Akhter’s survival depends on the river. Day after day, she nets
fish in the same waterway where others farm shrimp and crabs. But in recent
years, rising sea levels together with intense cyclones and catastrophic floods
have reshaped the region and caused salt water to spill into the rivers,
streams and soil all around Akhter — ravaging not only her livelihood but also
her body.
Six months ago, Akhter, 25, underwent a hysterectomy
after suffering what she described as “unbearable pain” following the birth of
her second child. Even after the operation, she said she still experiences
bouts of fever and vomiting. Her illness, according to her doctors, is caused
by excessive exposure to salt water.
“After collecting minnows, we go to the pond to bathe
and the water is still salty,” Akhter said in an interview conducted in
Bengali, as her daughter played on the balcony of their house just feet from
where the river tide touches their yard. “The water we are drinking is also
very salty. Salt water is killing us and our dreams and destroying hope.”
Thousands of Bangladeshi women like Akhter face
devastating reproductive health issues caused by the increasing salt content in
the waters in which they live and work, threatening not only their personal
health and safety but also the well-being of their families and the stability
of their communities.That salt comes from the Bay of Bengal, where Bangladesh’s
major rivers meet the sea. Hundreds of rivers snake across the country, the
eighth-most populous in the world, buttressed in the south by the planet’s
largest mangrove forest.
Yet as global temperatures climb and the planet’s
glaciers melt, the region’s low-lying delta can only do so much to stave off
the rising sea. Here, even seemingly small changes to sea levels — a few
millimeters per year — can waterlog coasts and erode the shores. As such,
experts and advocates often refer to Bangladesh as “ground zero” for the
climate crisis.
But the advancing tides do more than swallow up the
coasts and inundate the land. As the seas swell and salty water seeps deep
underground, the quality of soil for farming, ponds for washing and rivers for
cultivating freshwater fish and crustaceans become severely degraded. Worse
still, entire communities can become cut off from access to clean drinking
water.
These impacts have far-reaching societal implications,
and among those most at risk are women living in parts of the world that are
least responsible for global warming, yet are often powerless to stop the consequences.
At the heart of the issue is the fact that, while no
one is immune to the effects of climate change, global warming does not affect
everyone equally, said Gitanjali Singh, the country representative for
Bangladesh at UN Women, a branch of the United Nations that champions gender
equality and women’s human rights.
“Because of pre-existing vulnerabilities, the impact
on women and girls and other gender-diverse communities is different,” Singh
said. “Certain vulnerabilities, discriminations and deprivations get
exacerbated.”
A 2018 study published in the journal Agricultural
Economics found that around 20 million people in coastal areas of Bangladesh
are affected by increased salinity in drinking water.
Excess salinity in drinking water can cause sodium
intake levels to spike, which increases blood pressure and has been linked to
higher risks of hypertension and preeclampsia in pregnant women. Bathing or
standing waist-deep in saltwater for hours to fish can increase a woman’s risk
of reproductive tract infections and affect normal menstruation. Elevated
exposure to salt water has also been associated with skin diseases, diarrheal
diseases and outbreaks of cholera.
LipiKhanom, 28, lives in Kolibari, a village near the
Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest. She said that when the tide
comes in, salt water often spills into her house and into a nearby pond where
she used to bathe. For the past two years, she said she has dealt with
irregular periods and pain in her lower abdomen. Khanom and her husband have
also struggled to get pregnant with a second child.
“My husband and I are quarreling about not having
children,” she said in Bengali. “He is blaming me.”
Source: Nbc News
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Kaneez Fathima, Lone Congress Muslim Woman Candidate In
Karnataka Fought For Girls’ Right To Wear Hijab, Faces BJP Challenge
by Johnson T A
May 7, 2023
With barely 15 minutes remaining for the Election
Commission (EC)-stipulated 10 pm deadline for a day’s campaign, Kaneez Fathima,
the Congress MLA and candidate for the Gulbarga North constituency, arrives at
Kalaburagi city’s Shaik Roza area — the final stop for her hectic
electioneering Friday.
Fathima then makes a hurried speech highlighting the
Congress’s pledges for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls. She urges locals
to vote for her and not others who, she charges, merely claim to be the
“protector” of the interest of the people of the constituency, 60 per cent of
whom are Muslims.
“A win in Karnataka for the Congress will mark a
beginning for change in the country,” says Fathima, 63, who was pulled away
from her domestic role into the spotlight of public life a few months before
the 2018 Assembly polls, when her husband Qamarul Islam, a minister and
six-term local MLA, passed away.
Fathima is the lone Muslim woman candidate fielded by
the Congress in this election. The JD(S)’s lone Muslim woman nominee Sabina
Samad is in the fray from the Kapu seat in the Udupi region. The BJP has not
fielded a Muslim candidate in any of the state’s total 224 seats.
A devout Muslim, Fathima, who wears a hijab in public,
had led protests in Gulbarga over the ban on hijab in colleges imposed by the
Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in 2022, which had led to Muslim girls
being barred from government colleges for insisting on wearing hijab as well as
for participating in anti-CAA protests in 2020.
“It is our right to wear hijab. In Independent India
we have our freedoms. We do not question people on their clothes. Girls must
not be prevented from going to colleges over this issue,” Fathima had said at
the peak of the hijab row.
A politician in her own right now, Fathima is however
facing a stiff challenge from the BJP’s Chandrakanth Patil, a Lingayat youth
leader who had lost the 2018 election to her by just 5,940 votes, even as she
has also nine Muslim rivals in the seat, including the JD(S)’s Nasir Hussain
Ustad.
On March 23 this year, three days before the Karnataka
polls were announced, the Congress lost its traditional hold over the Gulbarga City
Council with the BJP winning the Mayor’s post despite the Congress having
emerged as the single largest party in the 2021 civic polls.
In the 55-member Council, the Congress won 27 seats,
BJP 23 and JD(S) four. With 32 votes (including votes of the MPs, MLAs and MLCs
in Kalaburagi) required to clinch the mayoral position, the Congress was pipped
by the BJP by a vote despite its alliance with the JD(S).
The local Congress unit blamed the absence of a JDS
councillor on the voting day for the defeat, even as there were also
suggestions that it was the absence of the Congress president and Rajya Sabha
MP Mallikarjun Kharge that sealed the deal for the BJP. Kharge had been the Lok
Sabha MP from Gulbarga during 2009-19. The Congress’s defeat saw the BJP gain control
of the Kalaburagi civic body after 12 years.
During his campaign for the May 10 Assembly polls,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted the election of a BJP Mayor and Deputy Mayor
in Kalaburagi, saying that his party’s win on Kharge’s home turf was a sign of
things to come. “This, in a way, is a sign that Vijay Yatra (of BJP) has
started in the state,” the PM said.
While canvassing door-to-door and in places like the
local vegetable market, Fathima is telling voters that the Muslim votes should
not end up divided. “Our disputes should not result in yielding benefits for
others. My effort is to bring everyone together. Qamarulsaheb took everyone
together,” she tells those Muslims perceived to be opposed to her.
“There are several Muslim candidates in the fray but
the real challenge is from the JD(S) candidate. The issue that everyone seems
to have with Madam (Fathima) is that she is a Muslim woman contesting the
polls. The campaign that is going around is that she is not capable of handling
the constituency as a woman from the minority community,” says Abrar Sait, one
of her associates. “When she entered politics she was inexperienced. The
Congress leaders asked her to contest after Qamarulsaheb died. She practises a
decent brand of politics and does not stoop to calling people names. She is
liked for this reason. The rivals know that if she is defeated then it would be
difficult for her to make a comeback.”
An advocate Mohammed QiwamuddinJunaidi, who fought the
2018 election from Gulbarga North as an Independent, says: “She (Fathima) has
kept the tradition of Muslim-Hindu unity in the region that was started by
Qamarulsaheb. We give sherbet to Ram Bhakts during Rama Navami even as we
observe roza during Ramzan. If they are opposed to hijab then we have a leader
who wears hijab and works to keep the unity among communities.”
However, a local bakery owner Mohammed Irfan notes
that “There are some doubts being created about the Gulbarga North MLA in the
constituency. She has a tough fight on her hands.”
Among the “negative points” being listed against
Fathima is that she was not active during the Covid pandemic in 2020-21. Sait
contests the charge, claiming “Madam did her best. We were distributing kits on
her behalf. She is 60-years-old and had to protect herself during the Covid
period”.
Fathima however enjoys the confidence of top Congress
leaders including Kharge, ex-CM Siddaramaiah and state party chief D K
Shivakumar, with whom her husband had been closely associated with.
At Shaikh Roza, several local Congress leaders
suggested that Fathima would be a front-runner for a minister’s post from the
minority community in the event of the Congress victory in the polls.
The BJP, which is hoping to gain from the division of
Fathima’s Muslim votes, is highlighting her “failures” in addressing issues in
the Hindu localities in the constituency.
At his campaign meeting near Shaik Roza, Chandrakant
Patil asked voters not to be distracted by offers of funding by rival parties
for women’s self help groups and improvement of local temples. “The MLA has
neglected your areas. Even though I lost the poll in 2018 I was able to bring
nearly Rs one crore of funds for development of the constituency. Imagine how
much can be done if I am elected. Through my foundation students are being
given scholarships. When I am elected in a few days there will be plenty of
funds for the development of houses in slums, do not fall for offers from
others,” Patil tells the gathering on Aland Road.
Of a total of 187 women candidates (seven percent of
all candidates) for the Karnataka polls, the JD(S) has fielded women nominees
in 15 seats, followed by the BJP at 12 and the Congress at 11, according to the
Association for Democratic Reforms. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded the
maximum number of women candidates at 17.
There are altogether nine Muslim women candidates
(five per cent of all women candidates) in the fray, including one each from
the Congress and JD(S) and several Independents.
While the Congress has fielded a total of 11 Muslim
candidates in this election, the JD(S) has given tickets to altogether 23
Muslim nominees. The AAP has fielded 17 Muslim faces in all, but none of them
is a woman candidate.
The Muslim community makes up over 12 per cent of
Karnataka’s population. In the outgoing state Assembly, there are altogether 7
Muslim MLAs, all of whom are from the Congress party.
Gulbarga North was won in 2008 and 2013 by Qamarul
Islam. The seat was created through a delimitation exercise ahead of the 2008
polls, which also saw the creation of two other seats — Gulbarga South and
Gulbarga Rural — from the erstwhile Gulbarga constituency. Prior to that,
Qamarul had won the Gulbarga seat in every successive election since 1989,
barring the 2004 polls when he had lost to the BJP’s Chandrashekhar Patil
Revoor.
Source: Indian Express
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-shiraz-hijab-marathon/d/129720