Islamic Cleric Says Men Undress Women with Their Eyes and Only Burqa Protects
New Age Islam News Bureau
10October 2024
· Islamic Cleric Says Men Undress Women with Their Eyes and Only Burqa Protects
· Punjab CM Maryam Seeks Climate Diplomacy with India to Combat Smog Challenge
· The Cruelty in Banning Afghan Women from Poetry
· University of New Haven Launches Scholarship for Afghan Women
· Taliban Publicly Flog 9 Afghan Men, Women Despite UN Outcry
· Ex-Kebbi First Lady, Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu Emerges First African President of International Cancer Control
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/islamic-cleric-burqa-undress/d/133407
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Islamic Cleric Says Men Undress Women with Their Eyes and Only Burqa Protects
Representative Photo from Files
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SIBY JEYYA
10/10/2024
This Islamic cleric's statement reflects a deeply entrenched patriarchal and misogynistic mindset that seeks to control and suppress women's autonomy. By claiming that men are "undressing women with their eyes" and blaming women for wearing tight clothes, perfume, or makeup, he shifts responsibility from men to women. This attitude perpetuates the harmful narrative that men cannot control their impulses and that women must bear the burden of preventing unwanted male attention.
Such rhetoric not only objectifies women but also enforces a culture of victim-blaming, where women are held responsible for the actions and thoughts of men. It promotes the idea that women’s bodies are inherently provocative, and their freedom should be curtailed through the imposition of strict dress codes like the burka.
Rather than addressing the underlying issue of male entitlement or inappropriate behavior, the cleric's remarks reinforce outdated gender norms that treat women as inferior. The focus on women’s modesty as a solution to male behavior strips women of their agency and reduces them to mere objects to be hidden from view. In a more equitable society, men would be held accountable for their behavior, and women would be free to dress and express themselves without fear of judgment or harassment.
Source: indiaherald.com/
https://www.indiaherald.com/Breaking/Read/994752668/Islamic-Cleric-says-Men-Undress-Women-with-their-Eyes-and-only-Burqa-protects
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Punjab CM Maryam Seeks Climate Diplomacy with India to Combat Smog Challenge
Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz
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By Web Desk
October 09, 2024
As part of her efforts to combat challenge of smog in the province, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday called for initiating climate diplomacy with India.
“The effects of smog are the same on both sides, so Pakistan and Indian Punjab should launch start similar measures to eliminate it. Smog will end not by merely pressing a button, rather by undertaking collective efforts,” she said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of “CM Climate Leadership Development Internship programme”.
Lahore remains one of the most polluted cities of the world as the main reason for the spread of smog in the mega city was the burning of residues of crops in Indian Punjab.
Addressing the event, the chief minister said that they were monitoring the smoke emitting vehicles and issuing fitness certificates.
Stressing the need for effective measures, CM Maryam said that the smog could not be controlled by merely “pressing a button”.
She highlighted her efforts for the environment and said that the PML-N government activated the environment department.
Firing a fresh salvo at the PTI in the backdrop of the former ruling party’s recent attempt to stage protest in Islamabad and Lahore, the Punjab chief minister said that they failed to spread “political smog” in the country.
CM Maryam blasted the Imran Khan-founded party for what she said promoting the culture of protests and agitation in the cash-strapped country.
She accused the former ruling party of using the KP government resources for the protest and said: “Government employees and official vehicles were brought [to stage protest in Islamabad].
“PTI’s agenda is to create chaos,” she said, asking what the opposition party was showing to the world.
“Neither they work nor let others do their work,” the Punjab chief minister said while raising questions over the performance of the KP government.
“We will not let the country fall come what may,” she added. The chief minister also slammed the PTI’s “Billion Tree Tsunami” project.
Source: thenews.com.pk
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1238429-cm-maryam-nawaz-seeks-climate-diplomacy-with-india-to-combat-smog-challenge
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The cruelty in banning Afghan women from poetry
10 Oct 2024
Poetry has served as ignition, fuel, and fire throughout many political movements across history, and is particularly prevalent in Afghanistan, where women are finding dignity in written words as their society systematically denies them of such.
Countless publications, websites and other compilations can be found online, sharing Afghan women’s poetry with the world. This phenomenon has only grown over the last three years as poetry has become a conduit through which women can express the degradation that they have experienced since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Devastatingly, as of last month, the Taliban has banned women from reciting poetry.
To a Western audience, this latest banning might seem trifling given the severity of other Taliban rulings that deny women rights to work, education, and independence. But a ban on women from the art and practice of poetry is soaked in layers of cultural significance and its cruelty cannot be understated.
Afghan women have a deep and culturally rich history intertwined with the creating and sharing of poetry. For Pashtun women in Afghanistan, a specific type of poetry called the landai has been used for thousands of years to express love and grief. Poetry also has historic precedent as a tool of Afghan resistance, with famous war-time female poets such as Malalai of Maiwand. Hence, many women in Afghanistan have grown up reading and writing poetry. The medium has immense sentimental value and symbolises feminine strength. Poetry is a deeply emotional communication tool for many women.
Source: lowyinstitute.org
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/cruelty-banning-afghan-women-poetry
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University of New Haven launches scholarship for Afghan women
OCT 09, 2024
By this time next fall, 14 Afghan women will be studying on full scholarship at the University of New Haven.
As part of the recently announced Afghan Women’s Scholars program, the university will host 10 undergraduates and four graduate students, thanks to a seven-figure donation from Scandinavian business executive Henrik Nielsen. The focus on Afghan women is due to “what is happening in Afghanistan,” a university press release said.
“The outcomes are going to be nothing short of being transformative and inspirational,” said University of New Haven President Dr. Jens Frederiksen. “This is what you want to do as a university — you want to set students who are just exceptionally motivated and yet have had sort of incredibly tough set of circumstances to overcome. You want to set them on a path to success.”
The program follows the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, and the re-establishment of Taliban control. Since taking power, the Taliban government has severely restricted women’s access to public life and education, with a recent UNESCO press release stating that 1.4 million girls have been “deliberately deprived” of schooling.
Frederiksen said a UNH faculty member with ties to non-profit efforts supporting women in Afghanistan brought the idea to the administration. Nielsen, who knew the faculty member, expressed interest in supporting the scholarship.
Alongside the scholarship itself, healthcare insurance, housing and food, career advising and on-campus jobs will be available to the students during their time on campus.
“We are supporting these students year-round, 365 days a year,” University Vice President Gregory Eichhorn told the News.
The application process for the program will take place this fall. According to Eichhorn, candidates will be evaluated based on not only academic performance, but also what they will bring to campus “as individuals.” Finalists will complete an interview stage, allowing the university to speak to the students personally and learn their stories.
The University of New Haven has worked alongside institutions such as The American University of Afghanistan to publicize the program. Eichhorn told the News, however, that outreach has not been an issue for the program.
“We’re clearly getting dozens of inquiries every single day,” said Eichhorn. He added that demand will be “far greater” than what the university will be able to support.
Frederiksen similarly described recent interest in the program as “overwhelming.”
UNH has hosted calls with the American University of Afghanistan as well as prospective applicants.
“[The calls] have been moving, emotionally moving, when you hear from these young women — just a fraction of what they’ve been through,” Eichhorn said. “But then you hear their passion and their hard work and what they’ve been through and how they’ve been successful. I fully expect we’ll do everything in our possible capabilities that several of these people wind up working for the university.”
Due to financial constraints, however, the program will not be cyclical. While the students who receive the scholarship this year will be supported throughout their time at the UNH — four or two years for undergraduate and graduate school respectively — another cohort of students will not enter into the program next fall.
Eichhorn acknowledged that the application process will be “challenging” as a result because of the limited capacity. He said that the university hoped to secure additional funding and expand the number of recipients, admitting a new class every year.
The immigration process for each student will vary depending on individual circumstances. Some of the women would likely already have a “pathway” — or a way of entering the U.S. from an immigration standpoint — due to their refugee status, Eichhorn explained. Others would not, however, and the university is preparing to help those students “more directly” through the process.
When asked if he believed that the outcome of the 2024 presidential election could potentially affect this process in any way, Eichhorn told the News he did not: “I can’t imagine any side would find issues with what we’re all trying to do here. I gotta believe it’s across all lines, that this is clearly the right thing to do.”
The University of New Haven’s central campus is located in West Haven.
Source: yaledailynews.com
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/10/09/university-of-new-haven-launches-scholarship-for-afghan-women/
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Taliban publicly flog 9 Afghan men, women despite UN outcry
10th October 2024,
ISLAMABAD - Hardline Taliban authorities in Afghanistan reported Wednesday that nine people, including at least two women, were publicly flogged after being convicted of various crimes, such as adultery.
Five of the punishments took place at a sports stadium in Kandahar, capital of the eponymous southern province. Local Taliban officials, judicial officers, and ordinary Afghans were among the onlookers.
The Taliban's Supreme Court announced the details, saying the five individuals were found guilty of adultery, sodomy, and robbery, with each of them receiving 39 lashes and prison sentences ranging from two to seven years. It did not say whether females were among the convicts.
The court separately announced that two men and two women were publicly flogged Wednesday for adultery in the northern Afghan provinces of Takhar and Samangan.
Hundreds of men and women have been lashed in sports stadiums across Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in 2021.
In June this year, the Islamist leaders carried out a mass lashing of 63 convicts, including 14 women, in a packed northern sports stadium for committing "immoral crimes,' such as adultery and homosexuality.
The Taliban have also executed at least five Afghan murder convicts in crowded sports stadiums, citing the Islamic concept of retributive justice known as qisas.
Global outcry
The executions and corporeal punishments have drawn an outcry and calls from the United Nations to immediately end them for being in breach of human rights and international law.
Taliban leaders defend their criminal justice system, arguing that it is in line with their interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia. They also rejected criticism of their curbs on Afghan women's access to education, employment, and public life at large.
The United States and the world at large have refused to recognize Taliban authorities as the official government of Afghanistan, citing their treatment of women, among other human rights concerns.
"We continue to make clear that any significant steps towards normalization of relations is contingent upon a profound shift in the Taliban's human rights conduct," said Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, speaking to reporters Tuesday. "And there has been remarkable unity among the international community on that question."
Girls ages 12 and older are not allowed to attend secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world with this restriction, while female students have been barred from universities. Most Afghan women are prohibited from working in both public and private sectors, including the U.N.
The Taliban last month enacted so-called "vice and virtue" laws that, according to critics, have dealt another blow to women's rights in Afghanistan. The contentious decree deems the sound of a woman's voice in public a moral violation and requires them to cover their entire bodies and faces when outdoors. It also forbids women from looking at men to whom they are not related and vice versa.
Source: bignewsnetwork.com
https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274689512/taliban-publicly-flog-9-afghan-men-women-despite-un-outcry?utm_source=feeds.bignewsnetwork.com&utm_medium=referral
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Ex-Kebbi First Lady, ZainabShinkafi-Bagudu Emerges First African President ofInternational Cancer Control
9 October 2024
By Richard Ogunsile
KebbiState ‘s former first lady, Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, has been elected as the new president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
Naija News reports that Shinkafi-Bagudu, a paediatrician consultant, made history by becoming the first African to hold this position following a virtual election conducted during the UICC General Assembly on Tuesday, October 8.
Her election was confirmed in a statement released by the UICC.
The statement also revealed the election of a new board of directors consisting of 14 members.
In response to her election, Shinkafi-Bagudu expressed appreciation for the electoral process and committed to being a collaborative leader, drawing on the experiences, insights, and energies of her colleagues to guide the union in the coming years.
She is set to serve as UICC president from 2024 to 2026.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Shinkafi-Bagudu on her latest achievement.
In a statement on Wednesday through his Special Adviser, BayoOnanuga, President Tinubu highlighted the historic importance of her election as the first African and fifth woman to lead the global cancer control organization.
He hailed her competence and character, affirming “the enormous talents that abound in Nigeria”.
The president described Shinkafi-Bagudu’s rise as “a landmark achievement and a testament to Nigeria’s growing influence in global health leadership”.
“President Tinubu recalls DrShinkafi-Bagudu’s invaluable services to Kebbi state and the country, for which Nigeria is deeply grateful.
“He lauds her stewardship as Chairperson of the First Ladies Cancer Initiative and her contributions to establishing the Kebbi State Strategic Plan for Cancer Control during her tenure as the First Lady of Kebbi State.
“President Tinubu expresses confidence in Dr. Shinkafi-Bagudu’s ability to use her new office and leadership to improve cancer control and global health.
“The Geneva-based UICC was founded in 1933 and has more than 1100 member organisations in over 170 countries and territories,” the statement added.
Source: naijanews.com
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/10/09/ex-kebbi-first-lady-shinkafi-bagudu-emerges-first-african-president-of-uicc/
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/islamic-cleric-burqa-undress/d/133407