Anti-LGBTQ Debate: Muslim Women Of Ghana To Withdraw Wards From Boarding Houses
New
Age Islam News Bureau
31
October 2021
• Anti-LGBTQ Debate: Muslim Women Of Ghana To Withdraw Wards From Boarding Houses
•
Rokeya Sultana, Bangladesh Artist Show; Indian Government Postpones Exhibition
•
Technology And Women’s Football Central To Saudi Arabia Visit: FIFA Secretary
General Fatma Samoura
•
Afghanistan Crisis: Afghan Refugees Women's Association Holds Protest In Delhi To
Support Afghan Females
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/lgbtq-muslim-women-ghana/d/125683
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Anti-LGBTQ
Debate: Muslim Women Of Ghana To Withdraw Wards From Boarding Houses
30
October 2021
Members
of FOMWAG would be withdrawing their wards from boarding houses
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Members
of the Federation of Muslim Women Association, Ghana (FOMWAG) have given
indications that they would be withdrawing their wards from boarding houses.
Speaking
to Israel Laryea on JoyNews Desk, the Executive Member of (FOMWAG), Aisha Ali
said the reason for their action is because they believe that LGBTQ+ will
introduce them to unacceptable acts as Muslims.
They
believe that getting their children out of the boarding house will enable them
have much more control over their movement and limit their exposure to these
immoral practices.
“It
boils down to the fact that for us Muslim and as women, the concept of the
LGBTQ+ is more of an abomination because right from the context of the Quran,
there is nowhere that makes room to accept these acts. So it’s just unthinkable
for the Muslim Ummah who are women to be thrown into such situation”.
Meanwhile,
Speaker Alban Bagbin on Monday made the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill Parliament’s top
priority when the House resumed from recess.
In
his opening remarks, the former Nadowli-Kaleo MP said he will ensure that the
public knows where every MP stands on the bill.
The
Speaker also announced that parliament will conduct an open ballot to determine
the decision of each of the 275 members of the House on the bill on the
“Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill,
2021”.
Mrs
Ali encouraged the passing of the Anti-LGBTQ Bill, saying it conforms with the
moral standards of Ghanaians.
“The
bill should be passed. It is what is socially and culturally acceptable to the
normal Ghanaian because they fear for the future of their kids,” she said.
Source:
Maame Asabea Mamphey
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Rokeya
Sultana, Bangladesh Artist Show; Indian Government Postpones Exhibition
Pia
Krishnankutty
31
October 2021
File
photo of Rokeya Sultana | Twitter | @SultanaRokeya
-----
New
Delhi: Last week, 63-year-old international award-winning Bangladeshi artist
Rokeya Sultana was gearing up for a solo art exhibition in India from 23
October to 11 December. The exhibition, planned as a joint collaboration
between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Dhaka-based non-profit
Bengal Foundation, was meant to display 120 to 130 pieces of the artist’s work.
In
light of the Durga Puja communal violence in Bangladesh against the country’s
Hindu minority, however, the Indian government decided to postpone her
exhibition indefinitely, reported ThePrint earlier this week.
Though
Sultana has exhibited in India before, the now-cancelled event was meant to
show the full breadth of her work over forty-odd years. The cancellation of the
exhibition has come as a shock to her peers in Dhaka University as well as
other prominent figures in the country’s art community.
Speaking
to ThePrint, Bangladeshi photographer Abir Abdullah, whose work has been
published in publications like The New York Times, Der Spiegel and The
Guardian, reacted by saying: “This is definitely shocking to hear. No artists
from any country should be restricted in showing their works or practicing
freedom of expression. Why should they be blamed for others’ misdeeds?”
Meanwhile,
Shishir Bhattacharjee, Professor of Fine Art at Dhaka University, had a more
pragmatic view. “Rokeya, nicknamed ‘Lovely’ by some of us at the university, is
a talented artist. But sometimes, the consequences of political turmoil and foreign
relations are outside an artist’s control,” he told ThePrint.
He
explained that Bangladeshi artists have long faced restrictions within their
own country. “I used to draw political cartoons for newspapers but I stopped
after 2017, when broad media laws were introduced in Bangladesh. Artists have
been under suppression due to laws like Section 57 of the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) Act.”
Many
journalists, artists and activists have faced the brunt of the ICT Act,
including renowned photographer Shahidul Alam, whose arrest in 2019 for
comments on student protests, sparked global outrage.
Sultana
is best known for playing with themes of womanhood, sensuality and feminism.
Her figural series ‘Madonna’ and ‘Relations’ are the most popular, as well as
print series ‘Fata Morgana’.
In
the ‘Madonna’ series, named after the American pop legend, Sultana depicts the
everyday woman navigating the world. She had once explained, in an interview to
Daily Star, that the woman in her work is always in a magenta sari to show
she’s traditional but rebellious underneath.
“The
colour, magenta, is a symbol of transforming negativity through the feminine
psyche. Magenta is on the verge of being an aggressive form of red, but it is
softer, more playful and more positive,” explained Sultana. “Madonna’ is every
girl and every woman”.
The
‘Fata Morgana’ series — which comes from the word denoting a type of ocean
mirage — featured 40 abstract and semi-abstract artworks. Unlike the ‘Madonna’
series, which had a clear cut story, this one played with the idea of
distortions. It involved several colourful multi-layer prints achieved through
a tedious woodcut and pressure-point technique of printmaking.
She
has exhibited her works across countries such as Denmark, Egypt, Turkey,
Taiwan, Nepal, Korea, France, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan at centres like
Australia’s Blacktown Arts Centre and Bangladesh’s Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts.
Sultana
has won several awards and scholarships, including a 2012 prestigious
Fullbright grant for a 9-month artist’s residency at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. It was there that she learnt the pressure print technique
used in the ‘Fata Morgana’ series.
In
the past, Sultana’s works have sold at auctions with prices ranging from
approximately Rs 9,000 to Rs 80,000 ($122 – $1,162). She continues to be an
influential figure in Bangladesh’s art community. “I never missed her
exhibitions. They were so different and unique,” Abdullah told ThePrint.
Sultana
was born in Chittagong in 1958 at a time when the country was still considered
East Pakistan. It would only gain independence thirteen years later in 1971.
She was “influenced by the tumultuous 1971 revolution that created Bangladesh,”
according to the Bengal Foundation.
Sultana
graduated from the Bangladesh College of Arts and Crafts in Dhaka in 1980 and
received a master’s degree in printmaking from Visva Bharati, Santiniketan in
India three years later. Legendary artists Safiuddin Ahmed and Mohammad Kibria
were among her mentors.
She
is married to former Bangladeshi cricketer Omar Khaled Rumi, and flits between
her studios in Sydney and Dhaka. Rumi, apart from being one of Bangladesh’s top
order batsmen, was also a musician at one point in his career.
Together,
the couple have a daughter named Fariba, who is also a musician. In a 2007
interview to Daily Star, Fariba recalled composing a song that her mother had
written in memory of her late mother. “My grandmother died last year [2006] and
I know how painful it was for my mother to write this song. When she asked me
to compose it, I was very nervous and spent a long time working on this
particular number,” said Fariba.
On
7 October this year, Sultana’s works were launched at an exhibition at the
Indian Cultural Centre, Gulshan in Dhaka. The event was meant to be a curtain
raiser for her first standalone show in India, which now stands cancelled.
Source:
The Print
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Technology
And Women’s Football Central To Saudi Arabia Visit: FIFA Secretary General
Fatma Samoura
30
Oct 2021
FIFA’s
secretary general Fatma Samoura (AFP)
-----
A
FIFA delegation, led by Secretary General Fatma Samoura, met with football
stakeholders and influential figures in Saudi Arabian society in Riyadh earlier
this week.
The
FIFA Secretary-General took part in a panel discussion on the future of
football and how the sport drives social impact as part of the first day of the
three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum themed ‘Investing in
Humanity’. Moderated by Richard Attias, Chief Executive Officer of FII, the
FIFA Secretary General spoke alongside Saudi Arabian Vice Minister of Sport
Bader Alkadi on the role of football in advancing society, and the role of
technology in the modern game.
”We
live in an evolving and ever-changing world and football, like many other
industries has embraced the outstanding opportunities offered by technology to
make the game better for players and fans" said Samoura. "On the
pitch, data-driven supportive tools are now used to assist the decision making
process of referees, coaches, match analysts and medical staff. Additionally,
VAR technology has revolutionized football as it allows referees to make an
informed decision regarding an incident during a match and provides match
officials a second chance to look at a passage of play before deciding on the
appropriate course of action.”
During
talks at the Saudi Arabian Football (SAFF) Federation HQ with SAFF Vice
President Khalid Althebity and the Head of Women’s Football Ms. Lamia Bahaian,
the FIFA Secretary General complimented the SAFF leadership and the Saudi
authorities for the special attention and outstanding financial support given
to girls and women’s football.
The
FIFA delegation then visited Princess Nourah University, the largest university
in the world for women, which allowed the opportunity to meet with the Saudi
Arabian women’s national team and Coach, Monika Staab, to hear her thoughts on
Saudi women’s football’s impressive progression in recent months.
A
tour of the facilities allowed the delegation to meet with some of the
university’s students and learn more about academic life on the campus. The
delegation then met with the University’s Rector H.E Dr Einas Aleisa where
discussions focused on female education and the positive effects educating
young girls can have on greater society.
An
official meeting with Saudi Arabian Vice Minister of Sport Bader Alkadi then
took place at Mahd Sport Academy. Talks covered an overview of Saudi Arabia’s
sports strategy which focuses on four pillars: mass participation, identifying
talents, elite performance enhancement and diversity and inclusion.
The
delegation then toured the Mahd Sports Academy to learn more about its goal of
creating a golden generation of Saudi Arabian champions on a continental and
international level, in a variety of sports including football. Before leaving
the Mahd Sports Academy, the FIFA Secretary General met with young female
footballers on the pitch and heard what the game means to them.
Meetings
in Saudi Arabia concluded with some of Saudi Arabia’s leading female voices in
sport including Deputy Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Minister of Civil
Service Hind Al-Zahid, Director of the General Administration of Sports Clubs
Affairs at the Ministry of Sports Ibtihal Alsayir, SAFF’s Head of Women’s
Football Lamia Bahaian, Managing Director of the Saudi Sports for All
Federation Shaima Saleh Alhusseini, Board Member of the Saudi Arabian Motor
Federation and Member of the FIA Aseel Al-Hamad and the Representative of H.R.H
Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud-Elise Labott.
Speaking
at the conclusion of the visit the FIFA Secretary General said: “Saudi Arabia
has made outstanding progress in not only supporting its women in sports, but
in pushing them to excel in football. I am impressed and delighted by the
excellent work of the SAFF, and I commend Lamia Bahaian, the SAFF’s Head of
Women’s Football, and her team for their passion and commitment to elevate the
female game here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Source:
Fifa
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Afghanistan
crisis: Afghan Refugees Women's Association holds protest in Delhi to support
Afghan females
31-10-2021
Afghan
Refugees Women's Association on Saturday held a protest in Delhi to showcase
their support to women in Afghanistan amid the Taliban's hostile takeover of
the country.
The
protesters carried placards that read "Stop defaming Islam in the name of
atrocity on women". Females from different age groups including children
and old aged women also participated in the protest. "We don't accept the
Taliban government in Afghanistan," another placard said. Meanwhile,
children who participated in the protest also called for equal rights for women
and held placards saying "education is our fundamental right".
"We
are here to speak on behalf of women living in Afghanistan," a women
protestor said adding that the females in Afghanistan cannot speak to media now
[after the Taliban takeover].
"We
want to help these women, Taliban has snatched education right, freedom of
women, women are feared of them [Taliban], Taliban just want us to produce
babies," the protestor said while lambasting the Taliban takeover.
"We want the world not to recognise Taliban and 'blacklist' the Taliban
leaders," she said.
According
to the international security director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation:
"Women's lives [from 1996 to 2001] were very bleak and severely repressed
by the Taliban. You're looking at an era where every aspect of a woman's life
was controlled, contained, and confined." reported Four Nine.
Source:
Free Press Journal
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/lgbtq-muslim-women-ghana/d/125683