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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 12 Nov 2022, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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The Kerala Story: The Controversial Movie About '32,000' Women Being Converted and Forced To Join Islamic State

New Age Islam News Bureau

12 November 2022

• Homira Rezai, a Female Afghan Refugee in UK, Contributes To the Development of a Drug to Save Pregnant Mothers with Pre-Eclampsia

• Female Afghan Journalist, Anisa Shaheed, Wins International Knight Award

• Iran-Born Female Wrestling Champion Melika Balali, Based In Scotland, Threatened By Regime in Tehran

• Latifa Bint Mohammed Attends Graduation Ceremony of HCT Female Students In Dubai

• Turkish-Origin Female Police Officer Files Lawsuit over Sexual Harassment At Workplace In Germany

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL:   https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kerala-story-islamic-state/d/128388

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The Kerala Story: The controversial movie about '32,000' women being converted and forced to join Islamic State

 

The Kerala Story has landed in a controversy since its teaser was released. Image Courtesy: YouTube thumbnail

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November 11, 2022

From calls for a ban to FIR against the movie, filmmaker Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story has stirred up a hornet’s nest. The teaser of the movie claims that as many as 32,000 women from Kerala were “converted” to Islam and forced to join the terror organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The teaser has evoked sharp reactions, with many rubbishing the figure, calling out the movie for spreading “misinformation”, and saying that it aims to “defame” the southern state.

What does the teaser of The Kerala Story portray? How has the controversy snowballed into a political row? Is the 32,000 figure claimed by the movie correct? How have the makers responded to the row? We take a closer look.

The Kerala Story teaser

In the one-minute-19-second long teaser, a burkha-clad woman, played by Bollywood actor Adah Sharma, says her name was Shalini Unnikrishnan and she wanted to serve humanity by becoming a nurse.

“Now I am Fatima Ba, an ISIS terrorist in Afghanistan jail,” she says, adding that there are “32,000 girls like me who have been converted and buried in the deserts of Syria and Yemen”.

“A deadly game is being played to convert normal girls into dreaded terrorists in Kerala and that too in the open,” she further adds.

The Kerala Story teaser triggers row

The movie, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, has been making headlines since the teaser was released.

Congress member and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan has called for a ban on the movie. He said it is a “clear case of misinformation” and the movie is trying to “tarnish the image of Kerala”.

“I have seen that teaser. It’s a clear case of misinformation. There is nothing like that happening in Kerala. This is to tarnish the image of Kerala in front of other states. This is spreading hatred, so it should be banned. In normal scenarios, we are against banning films, but these types of misinformation will lead to communal issues,” he was quoted as saying by India Today.

“There is no record with state police. If there is anything with central intelligence, they have to bring the public. These are the records, these are the list of women, these are the addresses of the women who joined IS, they were recruited from Kerala,” the Congress leader added.

On Wednesday (9 November), Rajya Sabha member and CPM leader John Brittas wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, asking him to take action against the makers of The Kerala Story as it “severely threatens harmony, secularism and national unity apart from defaming Kerala.”

“The teaser claims to be depicting the story of 32,000 women from Kerala who are radicalised to join ISIS terrorist group, which is absolutely rubbish and fallacious,” he wrote.

Expressing concern, he said the teaser “may topple down the public tranquillity and the secular fabric of the Nation and intended to defame Kerala.”

“Such dissemination of grossly false information may lead to inconceivable repercussions and unrest in society and the same will amount to defaming the state as well,” Brittas warned.

Journalist seeks inquiry, DGP orders FIR

On 4 November, Tamil Nadu-based journalist Arvindakshan BR shot off a letter to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Central Board of Film Certification, state film certification and others seeking a ban on the film.

Further, he also sent a complaint to the Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur to ascertain the veracity of the content.

“Some cases may have happened but 32,000 is an unbelievable number,” the journalist told BBC.

Slamming the movie he said it is “against the unity and sovereignty of India and tarnishes the credibility of all intelligence agencies of India”.

On Tuesday, Kerala director general of police (DGP) Anil Kant directed Thiruvananthapuram police commissioner Sparjan Kumar to file a case against the movie.

His order was based on the basis of the journalist’s complaint sent to the Kerala chief minister who in turn forwarded it to the DGP.

A senior police officer told Hindustan Times that a case was registered under Sections 153 A &B (promoting disharmony and enmity between different groups based on the ground of faith) and other sections of the Indian penal code (IPC).

BJP questions FIR

Talking about the case against the film, BJP’s national head of information and technology Amit Malviya asked who are those who do not want the “truth” revealed.

He wrote on Twitter, “The Kerala Story movie’s teaser has run into rough weather with powerful forces trying to scuttle the movie. A formal complaint has been filed with Kerala police to check the veracity of the claims made in the trailer. Who are these people who don’t want the truth to come out?”

Kerala BJP vice president KS Radhakrishnan told news agency ANI that registering an FIR against the makers of The Kerala Story is “idiotic”.

“The question that arises is whether the film is a work of art or a historical document. If you think it is a work of art, then freedom should be given to the artist to express his experience in an aesthetic manner,” he was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Hitting out at the Kerala Police over the FIR, Radhakrishnan added, “There are cases of women who have been deported to Syria and have been recruited to IS. These are the facts. So the action of the DGP to file an FIR against the teaser is absolutely ‘idiotic’. We cannot say anything more than that”.

The saffron party leader also suggested the state DGP and Chief Minister launch a judicial inquiry regarding the “number of women who have been deported from Kerala to Syria and recruited to IS to ascertain the exact number”.

As per BBC, slamming the state government for filing a case against the makers of the film, BJP’s K Surendran said the chief minister “should have the guts to act against the IS recruiters in Kerala”.

Is the 32,000 figure correct?

Sudipto Sen told fact-checking news website Alt News over the phone that he has documents to back the claims made in the teaser.

“This figure (32,000) is not mine. It was a piece of news in The Times of India… one thing I can tell you is that Oommen Chandy, the (then) chief minister of Kerala, had placed this number in the state assembly. So this is not my number, I have got all the documents with me,” he was quoted as saying by Alt News.

However, the fact-checking site said it “could not find any report by any media outlet which said that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined ISIS”.

As per India Today report published in September 2012, the then Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy informed the state legislature that “2,667 young women were converted to Islam in the state since 2006”. He did not reveal an annual figure.

Moreover, the report does not mention anything about women joining ISIS.

A group of 21 people from Kerala had left India in 2016 in batches to join an affiliate of the Islamic State jihadist militant group, reports BBC.

After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Indian officers had said four women from Kerala who had joined the Islamic State were lodged in jail there.

“One needs to check the records but our estimate is that there are not more than 10-15 women who have got converted and left to join the IS from Kerala since 2016,” a police official told the BBC.

Citing the United States Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2020, Alt News reported that there were “66 known Indian-origin fighters affiliated with ISIS as of November 2020”.

What did the director say?

After Alt News shared India Today article with Sen and asked him about the Times of India story, he told the fact-checking website, “Let the intolerance reach a crescendo. I’ll share my data after the film is released. Why should I defeat the cause of my film?”

Source: Firstpost

https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/the-kerala-story-the-controversial-movie-about-32000-women-being-converted-and-forced-to-join-islamic-state-11609951.html

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Homira Rezai, a Female Afghan Refugee in UK, Contributes To the Development of a Drug to Save Pregnant Mothers with Pre-Eclampsia

 

Homira Rezai

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November 11, 2022

A female Afghan refugee who lives and studies in the United Kingdom, has contributed to the development of a drug pill to save pregnant mothers with pre-eclampsia which takes the lives of hundreds of thousands mothers and newborn babies every year.

Homira Rezai, a female Afghan refugee who fled Afghanistan when she was only 13, has worked with a team of medical scientists and researchers to develop an anti preeclampsia drug to help pregnant mothers.

My PhD was on a drug to prevent preeclampsia and now my job is to continue this journey to save mothers and babies from this disease, Homira Rezai tweeted with the link of the news story published by The Guardian.

Seven years working on this drug to prevent pregnant women from developing preeclampsia, in this paper, I showed that this drug (dubbed MZe786) was able to prevent preeclampsia in disease models, Homira has said.

According to Homira, it will take few more years for the researchers at the clinical stage to ensure the drug is safe and effective.

Scientists at MirZyme Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, believe they have developed a drug that when given to women from 20 weeks of pregnancy could stop them developing the condition, The Guardian reported.

According to Guardian, pre-eclampsia endangers the lives of thousands of expectant mothers and their babies in the UK each year, and has no therapeutic options. Globally, it affects between 2% and 8% of pregnancies and kills up to half a million babies and 100,000 women a year.

Source: Khaama Press

https://www.khaama.com/an-afghan-refugee-contributes-to-the-development-of-a-drug-to-save-pregnant-mothers-with-pre-eclampsia-98763/

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Female Afghan Journalist, Anisa Shaheed, Wins International Knight Award

November 11, 2022

Female Afghan journalist who fled Afghanistan following the fall of the US-backed republic administration in 2021, has been recognized as a knight award winner by International Center for Journalists.

Anisa Shaheed is also the Knight International Journalism award winner who has been picked by the ICFJ for the ‘Tribute to Journalists 2022’ award, the award was given to her in a ceremony in Washington DC on Thursday.

“I dedicate this award to all of the fallen journalists who gave their lives for Afghanistan”, said Anisa Shaheed.

Anisa Shaheed is one of the bravest female Journalists of Afghanistan who has been able to report about corruption, human rights violation, war and conflicts in Afghanistan putting her life at risk.

Anisa used to work for Tolo News, one of the largest TV channels in Afghanistan with the most number local and international audience.

Journalism and Freedom of Press in Afghanistan had its brightest times in the last 20 years of democracy era, literally it was way better than the majority of other countries situated in South and Central Asia.

Dozens of media outlets have been closed since the fall of Afghanistan’s republic administration. Limitations on freedom of expression and economic crisis in the country have contributed to the closure of the media companies in Afghanistan.

There are still a number of media outlets struggling to survive in Afghanistan despite economic challenges.

Maryam Rayed, democracy activist and women’s empowerment expert in Washington DC tells Khaama Press that while women journalists still shine brightly outside Afghanistan, they face systematic discrimination inside the country and are resisting a regime that does everything to erase them from the media landscape anytime soon.

Journalists are writing the first rough draft of history – and I believe women’s elimination from the media is an attempt to erase their narratives and presence from history, she said.

It is absolutely essential that the international community at large and journalist protection agencies act immediately to advocate for women’s meaningful presence in Afghanistan media and push for agendas that empower and support women’s journalism in the country, said Maryam.

Source: Khaama Press

https://www.khaama.com/female-afghan-journalist-wins-icfj-tribute-to-journalists-award-89796/

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Iran-Born Female Wrestling Champion Melika Balali, Based In Scotland, Threatened By Regime In Tehran

November 11, 2022

LONDON: An Iranian-born wrestler based in Scotland says she has received threats from the regime in Tehran for protesting wearing the hijab.

Melika Balali, 22, left her home country in November 2021 and won a gold medal at the British Wrestling Championships in Manchester in June representing Scotland, where she held up a sign that read “stop forcing hijab, I have the right to be a wrestler” on the winners’ podium.

She said she had since lost contact with her family, and the regime had used social media to attack her, forcing her to require police protection.

“They’ve tried to find where I’m living and who I’m practising with,” she told the BBC. “But thanks to police in Scotland ... I live safely, I train in a safe area — I have all kinds of security.

“The first time I wore a singlet in Manchester, my family stopped talking to me. They think they are ashamed of me.

“But I’m happy because I decided to be this kind of person. These threats make me stronger. When I receive threats from the government of Iran I just think my way is right — if I were wrong, why would they threaten me?”

Mandatory wearing of the hijab for women in Iran has become an explosive issue after protests erupted nationwide in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police after she was arrested and beaten for wearing one incorrectly.

Balali said she had been made to wear the hijab by her parents from a young age, and was not allowed to pursue wrestling as a career despite it being a tradition among the men in her family.

In 2018, the Iranian Wrestling Federation created a women’s team but required contestants to wear body suits covering their hair, torso and thighs.

“It’s not just the dress code,” Balali said of her decision to leave Iran to pursue her career. “You see the dress covering the face, the head scarf, but it’s not just the clothes. You mentally cover your mind.

“But when I’m here and wearing a singlet I feel free. Not because I’m free to do wrestling, because I’m not wearing three layers of clothes — but because I’m free to think, free to build something that is for me.”

Balali, now living in Edinburgh, said being threatened was “terrifying” but it had not stopped her continuing to protest in solidarity with women in Iran.

As well as the sign in Manchester, she recently shaved her head at a protest in Glasgow — a reference to the protests many Iranian women are engaging in back home.

“Their strength increases my energy, my potential to go for my next gold medal,” she said. “It’s not only about the gold, it’s about what I’m talking about. I’m using that platform to talk — if that platform is big my voice will be louder. The strength comes from my homeland.

“I lived in Iran for 18 years, but I didn’t have any life. I didn’t feel anything. When I abandoned Iran I came to Scotland and started thinking here — with this thinking I’m alive.”

Police Scotland told the BBC that it was aware of online threats made in July. “Enquiries were carried out and a safety plan is in place,” it said.

Source: Arab News

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2197831/middle-east

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Latifa bint Mohammed attends graduation ceremony of HCT female students in Dubai

November 11, 2022

Dubai: Two hundred and fourty five female students of Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai (HCT) graduated in a ceremony attended by Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and member of the Dubai Council.

The ceremony was also attended by Hala Badri, Director General of Dubai Culture, members of HCT’s Board of Trustees, various dignitaries and senior officials, the institution’s teaching and administrative staff, and parents of the graduates.

Sheikha Latifa congratulated the graduates on their academic success in various disciplines and highlighted the importance of employing their knowledge and skills to support the nation’s development.

She expressed her appreciation to the UAE’s leaders for their unwavering commitment to empowering Emirati women and providing them opportunities to excel in all fields.

“Women in the UAE continue to prove their merit in all spheres of life. Right from its foundation, our nation’s leaders placed the highest emphasis on celebrating the accomplishments of Emirati women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their chosen fields. Each student graduating from the UAE’s educational institutions is a partner in the country’s development journey and a contributor to the nation’s decision-making process. The talent, competencies and determination of the UAE’s youth are vital to the country’s ability to realise its aspirations,” Sheikha Latifa added.

She thanked the HCT and its staff for their efforts to prepare highly-qualified graduates who are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to succeed in the future.

Hala Badri said that guided by the vision and directives of the leadership, the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai has developed a strong reputation for excellence and quality in applied education. She congratulated the graduates and wished them success in their careers.

The graduating class of 2022 consisted of 3,344 students of which 245 were part of the ceremony. The graduates expressed their appreciation to the UAE leadership for their constant support and encouragement. They also thanked the HCT’s administrative and faculty members and pledged to serve their country and contribute to its progress.

Sheikha Latifa accompanied by Hala Badri and Dr Kazim Ayoub, HCT-Dubai Executive Director presented the graduates with their certificates.

Source: Gulf News

https://gulfnews.com/uae/latifa-bint-mohammed-attends-graduation-ceremony-of-hct-female-students-in-dubai-1.91929495

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Turkish-origin female police officer files lawsuit over sexual harassment at workplace in Germany

Mesut Zeyrek 

11.11.2022

FRANKFURT, Germany

A German police woman of Turkish descent has filed a case in court over alleged sexual harassment and mobbing in the workplace.

S.B., 32, who did not want to reveal her full name, told Anadolu Agency that the harassment started in March 2021 when she started working as a police officer in the city of Bad Homburg.

"I wanted to become a policewoman because I thought I could serve the community in this way," she said, adding that she was the only woman of foreign descent in the local police department.

With the passage of time, I also experienced mobbing or group bullying which took its toll on my health, she added.

Her colleagues "openly expressed antisemitic or Islamophobic views,” she said.

“Even though I tried to hide my feelings in the initial months, I couldn’t take it anymore,” she said.

She eventually filed a case in the Frankfurt Labor Court with the "primary intention" of drawing attention to institutional racism.

Source: Anadolu Agency

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkish-origin-female-police-officer-files-lawsuit-over-sexual-harassment-at-workplace-in-germany/2735787

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URL:   https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kerala-story-islamic-state/d/128388

 

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