Choir's Founder, Kurshida Mizra: Muslim, Jewish And Christian Women Bond In Singing Together In A Choir
New
Age Islam News Bureau
17
March 2024
• Choir's Founder, Kurshida Mizra: Muslim, Jewish And
Christian Women Bond In Singing Together In A Choir
• Hamida Samar, A Worker For The Afghan Defence
Ministry, Escaped From The Taliban For Life In Australia
• 40 Nations Endorse Afghan
Women Support Statement In Geneva
• Driving With Mr. Gil: A Retiree Teaches Afghan Women
the Rules of the Road
• ‘Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao’ Campaign: Schoolgirls
Write Heartfelt Letters To Chhattisgarh Education Minister
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kurshida-mizra-muslim-jewish-christian-choir/d/131940
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Choir's Founder, Kurshida Mizra:
Muslim, Jewish And Christian Women Bond In Singing Together In A Choir
Kurshida
Mirza started the choir to raise the profile of women of faith
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Louise Parry
Women from different
religions have said that singing together in a choir has helped them gain new
perspectives and “create bonds”.
The choir's founder,
Kurshida Mizra, said the group had also helped members to work through “the
terrible, emotional" period surrounding the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Ms Mirza, who also set up
the interfaith café Truby's Garden Tearoom in Milton Keynes, said she was
inspired by early memories of attending Islamic Mawlid gatherings.
“But when you get under the
surface, there is so much more that connects people of faith than difference.
It's uplifting to meet another person who worships the same God I do, but in a
different way,” she added.
“I often feel the spirit
very strongly when I sing – sometimes I'm half way through a song and I feel
like crying. A lot of songs are like poems and prayers really,” she said.
“I grew up singing Burda and
in women’s groups. I was a professional Quran reciter. It was a form of
spiritual connectivity – with family, faith and women.”
So the women’s choir was
“ideal”, and with her degree in linguistics, she has been able to translate and
teach members how to sing in other languages.
Ms Gilbert, who is a member
of the Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue, said it was “really
important for Jewish women to stand alongside Christian and Muslim women and
sing together for peace”.
“If we can come together and
sing together, then it’s possible in the Middle East too. We can keep hold of
that dream and it keeps us from feeling despair.”
Source: Bbc
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cll53z9yl14o
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Hamida Samar, A Worker For
The Afghan Defence Ministry, Escaped From The Taliban For Life In Australia
Hazara
women Hamida Samar has a made a new life in Mansfield, Victoria.(ABC
Shepparton: Charmaine Manuel)
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By Charmaine Manuel
17-03-2024
Hamida Samar was working at
her office in Afghanistan's Ministry of National Defence when the Taliban
approached the gates of Kabul in April 2021.
The 26-year-old Hazara woman
spent a year in hiding, often changing her location to avoid being caught,
before escaping via Pakistan through Australian sponsors.
"I told myself 'Look,
yesterday, you were [a] supervisor at [the] Ministry of National Defence, you
were in a high position, but now you're just [a] waitress'," she said.
Her sponsor Marie Sellstrom,
a former RAR national president, said the organisation's members felt "a
moral responsibility" to help Afghan people because of Australia's long
involvement in the war there.
"I was devastated and I
was shocked that Australia, after 20 years, had just walked out and left them
to it — and I thought the method of their leaving was appalling," Ms
Sellstrom said.
"Women who had started
to become educated, feel free, started to realise their potential at that
stage, believed that the doors were being closed to them and, of course, they
were."
Ms Sellstrom said regional
towns "absolutely" benefited from refugees who settled there, as they
brought new perspectives to "monocultural" communities and provided
valuable labour.
Source: Abc.net.au
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40 Nations Endorse Afghan
Women Support Statement In Geneva
By Fidel Rahmati
March 16, 2024
The statement emphasizes the
necessity of “full accountability” from the Taliban regarding the situation of
women in Afghanistan.
Representatives from Western
countries, including France, Germany, Australia, Belgium, and several others,
are signatories to this letter.
Among Afghanistan’s
neighboring countries, only Tajikistan has signed this letter. Additionally,
Yemen and Guatemala are also listed as signatories.
The statement asserts that
women and girls must be able to fully, equally, and meaningfully participate in
all aspects of public life.
According to the statement,
Afghan women and girls continue to demonstrate their unparalleled courage
against the Taliban’s harshest adversities, but “their dire situation requires
a coordinated response from the global community.”
A section of the letter
quotes the UN Special Rapporteur, who has described the situation of women in
Afghanistan as a manifestation of gender apartheid.
The letter also quotes the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
stating that the Taliban’s behaviour towards women, due to its widespread and
systematic nature, can amount to gender-based violence.
Signatories of the letter
have called on Rome Statute members to collaborate with the International
Criminal Court to investigate the situation in Afghanistan.
Countries are urged to
stress Afghanistan’s pledges to uphold human rights and women’s involvement in
future talks when engaging with the Taliban, who have imposed severe
restrictions on women for the past two and a half years. The Taliban dismiss
criticisms as interference and insist on adhering to their own laws.
The human rights situation
in Afghanistan has reached a critical juncture, with a severe humanitarian
crisis gripping the nation.
The current regime’s
suppressive policies, mainly targeting women’s rights, have plunged the country
into deeper turmoil. Women are facing significant barriers to education and employment,
severely limiting their opportunities and exacerbating gender inequality.
Source: khaama
Please click the following
URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/40-nations-endorse-afghan-women-support-statement-in-geneva/
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Driving With Mr. Gil: A
Retiree Teaches Afghan Women the Rules of the Road
By Miriam Jordan
March 16, 2024
Bibifatima Akhundzada wove a
white Chevy Spark through downtown Modesto, Calif., on a recent morning,
practicing turns, braking and navigating intersections.
Her teacher was Gil Howard,
an 82-year-old retired professor who happened upon a second career as a driving
instructor. And no ordinary instructor. In Modesto, Calif., he is the go-to
teacher for women from Afghanistan, where driving is off limits for virtually
all of them.
In recent years, Mr. Howard
has taught some 400 women in the 5,000-strong Afghan community in this part of
California’s Central Valley. According to local lore, thanks to “Mr. Gil,” as
he is known in Modesto, more Afghan women likely drive in and around the city
of about 220,000 than in all Afghanistan.
For many Americans, learning
to drive is a rite of passage, a skill associated with freedom. For Afghan
immigrants it can be a lifeline, especially in cities where distances are vast
and public transportation limited. So when Mr. Howard realized the difference
driving made to the Afghan women, teaching them became a calling, the
instruction provided free of charge.
He has a wait list 50 deep
and a cellphone inundated with texts from people seeking slots. Through word of
mouth, he recently got an inquiry from Missouri.
After the Taliban returned
to power in Afghanistan in 2021 and instituted a strict Islamic rule, they
banned girls and women from schools and universities and barred them from
driving.
But even before the fall of
Kabul, most Afghan women rarely got behind the wheel. In Afghanistan’s
conservative society, women are often kept at home unless accompanied by male
family members.
In the United States, Afghan
newcomers tend to preserve religious and cultural customs: Most women wear head
scarves, or hijabs. Many who are learning English prefer single-sex classes.
Married women who were interviewed for this article agreed to be photographed
only if their husband consented, and many let men speak on their behalf.
Humanitarian Parole: A
federal judge allowed the Biden administration to continue a program that it
has used to give temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of citizens of
Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Seeking a Tricky Balance: In
his State of the Union address to Congress, President Biden tried to
demonstrate that he could be tough on the border without demonizing immigrants.
Texas: The U.S. Supreme
Court signaled that it would weigh in on a fight between Texas and the Biden
administration over a new state law that would give local law enforcement
officers the right to arrest and remove migrants.
Arizona: Gov. Katie Hobbs of
Arizona, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have authorized the state police
to arrest undocumented immigrants. The Republican-backed measure echoed the new
Texas law.
Yet when it comes to
driving, many Afghan women are keen to assimilate — though you will not hear
them invoke gender equality or empowerment. Their principal motivation? Getting
from point A to point B.
In Kabul, Ms. Rahmatzada,
the mother of three young boys, had been mainly confined to the extended
family’s compound. Shopping was a man’s job. On rare outings, she was escorted
by her husband or a male relative.
Nearly 7,500 miles away in
Modesto, she had no trouble convincing her husband, Hassibullah, to give her
the greenlight to drive. “I supported her right away. It was so stressful for
me doing everything,” he said, and so he contacted Mr. Howard.
Source: Nytimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/16/us/california-afghanistan-women-driving.html
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‘Beti Bachao- BetiPadhao’
Campaign: Schoolgirls Write ToHeartfelt Letters Chhattisgarh Education Minister
Mar 17, 2024
Raipur: Chhattisgarh
Education Minister Brijmohan Agrawal on Saturday morning received heartfelt
letters from primary school girls across the state under the ‘Beti Bachao-
BetiPadhao’ campaign which was filled with innocence and hope for a better
future.
Each letter depicted soulful
illustrations, one depicted a foetus being killed, and One drawing depicted a
seed with an embryo inside, symbolizing the potential of life lost.
Minister Agarwal expressed
deep gratitude to the schoolchildren for their touching messages and praised
their ability to convey complex emotions despite their limited vocabulary.
Highlighting the importance
of education for girls, he emphasized that education empowers girls to become
self-reliant contributors to society.
He said that government,
under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, is committed to
women's empowerment, through initiatives like the women's reservation bill and
MahtariVandan Yojana, aimed at ensuring women's welfare and respect. tnn
Source: Times Of India
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kurshida-mizra-muslim-jewish-christian-choir/d/131940