Every Indian Has the Right to Oppose Anyone Who Tells Them to Get Out Of the Country: Mehnaz, Daughter of Jailed Journalist Siddique Kappan
New
Age Islam News Bureau
16
August 2022
• Gujarat Government Frees All the 11 Convicts in the
Bilkis Bano Gang Rape and Massacre Case
• 'Talaq-e-Hasan Not Similar To Triple Talaq': SC Says
Women Have Option of 'Khula'
• British Somali Boxer Ramla Ali Set to Make Women’s
Boxing History In Jeddah
• Saudi Arabia: Women's Rights Defender, Salma
Al-Shehab, Given 34 Years In Prison Over Tweets
• Tunisian Feminist NGO Denounces Saied's Wife's
'Twisted' Women's Day Speech
• Hollywood Star Angelina Jolie Speaks Up For Women in
Afghanistan
• Ozlem Yilmaz Becomes Turkey’s First-Ever Female
General
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/mehnaz-journalist-siddique-kappan/d/127724
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Every Indian Has the Right to Oppose Anyone Who Tells
Them to Get Out Of the Country: Mehnaz, Daughter of Jailed Journalist Siddique
Kappan
Mehnaz Kappan, the
nine-year-old daughter of jailed Muslim journalist, Siddique Kappan/ Screengrab
of the viral video
----
K.M. Rakesh
| Bangalore
16.08.22
The nine-year-old daughter of jailed journalist
Siddique Kappan on Monday delivered a ringing call for unity in an Independence
Day speech at her school in Kerala, reminding everyone of the importance of
citizens’ rights and the assaults on them “in the name of religion, colour and
politics”.
“I am Mehnaz Kappan, daughter of Siddique Kappan, a
journalist who has been put behind bars and denied all rights allowed to a
citizen,” the Class IV student, the youngest of Kappan’s three children, said
at the GLP School in Vengara, Malappuram district.
Kappan was arrested with three co-travellers, members
of the Popular Front of India, on October 5, 2020, while on his way to cover
the aftermath of the rape and murder of a Dalit teen in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.
He has been in jail since then, accused of trying to incite social unrest and
charged under the anti-terror law UAPA.
“On this day when the great Indian nation has entered
the 76th year of Independence, let me say as a proud Indian, ‘Bharat Mata ki
jai’,” Mehnaz said.
She underlined that the freedoms Indians enjoy are the
result of sacrifices by many.
“The freedom we enjoy today is the result of the
sacrifices of Gandhiji, Nehru, Bhagat Singh and innumerable other noble souls
and revolutionaries. Today, everyone can choose what to speak, what to eat,
what religion to follow. There is freedom of expression,” she said.
“Every Indian has the right to oppose anyone who tells
them to get out of the country,” she added in an allusion to the standard
diktat that members of the Right-wing ecosystem issue to those who disagree
with their ideology.
“The dignity of the great Indian nation must not be
surrendered before anyone. But even today, smokes of unrest can be seen, the
consequence of which is the attacks in the name of religion, colour and
politics. These should be uprooted by remaining united.
“We should wipe out even the reflection of any unrest.
We should live together and take India to greater heights, and dream of a
better tomorrow minus all conflicts.”
Mehnaz ended her speech with “Jai Hind, Jai Bharat”.
She later told The Telegraph that her favourite
subject was mathematics and that she never lost an opportunity to deliver a
public speech or participate in a speaking competition.
She has a reason: “I want to be a lawyer when I grow
up.”
Her mother Raihanath Kappan, who has been fighting against
heavy odds to get her husband released on bail, said Mehnaz always spoke her
mind.
“When this opportunity came to address the
Independence Day gathering at her school, Mehnaz grabbed it because she loves
public speaking,” Raihanath said.
The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court recently
rejected Kappan’s bail plea, saying the journalist had “no work at Hathras” and
that his trip with “co-accused persons who don’t belong to media fraternity is
a crucial circumstance going against him”.
Kappan has denied the police allegation that he is a
member of the Popular Front of India, which is anyway not a banned
organisation.
Kappan was a Delhi-based retainer with the Malayalam
news portal azhimukham.com and was secretary of the Delhi unit of the Kerala
Union of Working Journalists when he was arrested.
Source: Telegraph India
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/a-proud-indian-asserts-rights-calls-for-unity/cid/1880370
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Gujarat
Government Frees All the 11 Convicts in the Bilkis Bano Gang Rape and Massacre
Case
Bilkis
Bano. File picture
----
16.08.22
All
the 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gang rape and
massacre that occurred during the 2002 riots walked out of Godhra sub-jail on
Monday after the Gujarat government freed them under its remission policy, an
official said.
A
special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 to life
imprisonment over the gang rape of Bilkis and the murder of seven members of
her family. Bombay High Court later upheld the conviction.
One
of the convicts, who have all spent more than 15 years in jail, had approached
the Supreme Court with a plea for release.
The
apex court directed the Gujarat government to look into possible remission of
his sentence. Following this, the state government formed a committee, said
Panchmahals collector Sujal Mayatra, who headed the panel.
“A
committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favour of
remission of (the sentences of) all the 11 convicts. The recommendation was
sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their
release,” Mayatra said.
A
mob had attacked Bilkis Bano’s family at Randhikpur village in Dahod district
on March 3, 2002.
Bilkis,
who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped. While seven members
of her family were killed, six others managed to run away, the court was told.
The accused were arrested in 2004.
The
trial began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed fears that witnesses
could be harmed and the evidence collected by the CBI tampered with, the
Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.
The
2008 convictions of 11 accused were upheld in 2018 by Bombay High Court, which
set aside the acquittal of seven others in the case.
One
of the 11 lifers, Radheshyam Shah, later approached Gujarat High Court seeking
remission of the sentence. The high court dismissed his plea while observing
that the “appropriate government” to decide his remission was Maharashtra and
not Gujarat.
Shah
then filed a plea in the Supreme Court pleading he had been in jail for 15
years and 4 months without remission as of April 1, 2022.
In
its order of May 13, the top court stated that since the crime was committed in
Gujarat, that state’s government was the appropriate government to examine
Shah’s application.
Apart
from Radheshyam, the convicts granted premature release are Jaswantbhai Nai,
Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep
Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.
Source: Telegraph India
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/gujarat-government-frees-bilkis-bano-convicts/cid/1880373
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'Talaq-e-Hasan
not similar to triple talaq': SC says women have option of 'khula'
August
16, 2022
Triple
Talaq news: A bench of Supreme Court Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh on
Tuesday said that the practice of Talaq-e-Hasan is not akin to that of Triple
Talaq. The women have an option of 'khula', they said. Both are practices of
divorce in Islam. In Islam, a man can take "talaq", while a woman can
part ways with her husband through "khula".
A
bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh said if husband and wife cannot
live together, it can also grant a divorce on the ground of irretrievable
breakdown under Article 142 of the Constitution. The top court was hearing a
plea seeking to declare 'Talaq-e-Hasan' and all other forms of "unilateral
extra-judicial talaq as void and unconstitutional", claiming they were
"arbitrary, irrational, and violated fundamental rights".
“This
is not triple talaq in that sense. Marriage being contractual in nature, you
also have an option of khula. If two people cannot live together, we are also
granting divorce on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. Are you open
to divorce by mutual consent if 'mehar' (gift given in cash or kind by groom to
bride) is taken care of? Prima facie, I don't agree with petitioners. I don't
want this to become an agenda for any other reason,” the bench observed.
The
petition, filed by Ghaziabad resident Heena, who claimed to be a victim of
Talaq-E-Hasan, also sought a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for
neutral and uniform grounds of divorce and procedure for all citizens.
Senior
advocate Pinky Anand, appearing for the petitioner Benazeer Heena, submitted
that though the apex court has declared triple talaq unconstitutional, it left
the issue of Talaq-E-Hasan undecided. The top court asked Anand to seek
instructions whether in view of allegation of the irrevocable breakdown of
marriage, would the petitioner be willing for settlement by process of divorce
on amount being paid over and above 'mehar'.
In
Talaq-e-Hasan, divorce gets formalised after the third utterance in the third
month if cohabitation is not resumed during this period. However, if cohabitation
resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed
to have reconciled and the first or second utterances of talaq are deemed
invalid.
It
also told the petitioner that dissolution of marriage is also possible without
the intervention of this court through 'mubarat' and asked her counsel to seek
instructions. The apex court will now hear the matter on August 29.
Source: India TV News
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British
Somali Boxer Ramla Ali Set To Make Women’s Boxing History In Jeddah
Michelle
Kuehn
August
16, 2022
For
Ramla Ali, history awaits on Saturday night.
When
the British Somali boxer takes on Crystal Garcia Nova on the Oleksandr Usyk
versus Anthony Joshua card at Rage on the Red Sea, she will be part of the
first ever female professional boxing bout in Saudi Arabia.
As
a Muslim and African female pugilist, it is a moment she does not take lightly,
and one that did not come easy either.
Adversity
has been her constant companion throughout her career.
Ali
was born in Somalia in 1989 but fled the war-torn Horn of Africa country with
her family at the age of two to seek asylum in the UK.
In
school, Ali struggled with her weight, so her mother sent her to a local gym in
England where she soon discovered “boxercise” and started taking up the sweet
science at the age of 12 without her family’s knowledge.
She
caught the eye of talent scouts with regional success, representing England
across Europe and eventually winning multiple amateur boxing titles.
But
she claims it was not winning amateur titles and other national level
achievements that made her take the leap into professional boxing.
Rather
it was sparring with formidable US professional world champions and training in
gyms across Europe that gave her the belief she deserved a place in the
professional ranks.
“Every
competition means the world to you at that time. Looking back obviously they
don’t all seem to hold the same value but they’re all important chapters in the
journey of a sporting career,” said Ali. “Now my family are my biggest
supporters which means everything to me as I don’t think I would have wanted to
continue if there was still conflict (with them).
“My
parents of course would rather I didn’t punch people for a living, but they now
understand it’s given me a platform to also do great work outside of the
sport.”
Ali
is a survivor and continues to achieve her goals despite constant challenges.
‘I
haven’t had the privilege of being funded by my country during my international
amateur years,” she said. “Every tournament, every camp, every coach or physio
was paid for by myself and Richard (Moore, husband and manager), and with this
comes the pressure of needing to perform to make sure that it’s all worth it.
“There
is definitely a greater expectation of how I should carry myself in comparison
to other boxers perhaps because of the young women I represent, the charities
and NGOs that I work with or the French fashion brands I’m partnered with,” Ali
added. “But this is a pressure I’m happy to carry because fundamentally I want
my future daughter and that generation to have a role model that they can be
proud of. A career and journey they can aspire to, and not without failure or
faults, because I’ve experienced both sides of the coin, but this is life.”
Ali’s
work outside the ring is as inspiring as it is inside it. She still deems her
law degree as her biggest personal achievement and is keen to highlight the
work she does with UNICEF to raise awareness of important issues in East Africa
and the Middle East.
In
2018, she founded the Sisters Club. It started as a once-a-week self-defense
class in a London gym, and having gained sponsorships from the likes of Nike,
Pantene and other brands, Ali saw it as a way to give back to the community.
The
charity offered a safe space for hijab-wearing women of color and those that
have suffered from domestic violence, giving them a chance to learn about
self-defense through boxing and improve their self-confidence.
Now
operating across four gyms in London, Ali hopes to see the Sisters Club expand
to the US and the Middle East.
Another
high point for Ali was representing Somalia at Tokyo 2020, the first fighter
from the African nation, male or female, to take part in the boxing competition
at the Olympic Games. Her pride at representing her country led her to help set
up the Somali Boxing Federation.
Unfortunately,
Ali’s hopes that establishing the federation would give others a fighting
chance to represent their country were countered with the disappointment of
discovering Somali sports is rife with corruption.
Funding
provided by the International Olympic Committee for training purposes was
allegedly misappropriated by officials instead of being invested in fighters.
Looking
back, Ali questions whether she should have gone down that path but remains
grateful she represented her country at the Olympics before discovering any
wrongdoings, saying: “To some degree, mine and my husband’s naivety and
optimism were a blessing.”
Luck,
and help, haven’t always been on Ali’s side and she believes far more can be
done to help female fighters make the grade.
“I
would like to see more of an effort from the other promotional outfits across
the UK and US to push female boxing, not just through token signings but a real
shift in the landscape,” she said.
Although
more females are being contracted — she highlights that the “Boxxer Series” via
Sky Sports recently signed two British fighters — their pay remains a fraction
of their male counterparts.
“If
you look at the sport of tennis, it wasn’t when the women insisted on fairer
pay that they received it,” said Ali. “Rather it was when the male players like
Andy Murray refused to enter tournaments because of the lack of equality, or
when the pressure of journalists and media became too much, that organizations
finally started making a difference in their approach.”
It
is no surprise that Ali will be one of the two women who make history in Jeddah
on Saturday.
Her
opponent Nova is a tall, tough super bantamweight from the Dominican Republic
with a knockout ratio of over 80 percent.
It
will be Ali’s hardest fight yet, but she’s come to Saudi Arabia to win. Since
January, she has been training in Los Angeles with coach and former
professional boxer Manny Robles.
“California
has without a doubt the most female world champions and the highest level of
competition and so as my career progresses there is a greater need to up my training
regime,” she said. “I am working with Argentinian strength and conditioning
coach Mattias Erbin as well, who has been responsible for several world
champions over the last 10 years.”
All
the hard work, Ali hopes, will come to fruition at Rage on the Red Sea.
“I
hope when people look back at me, they see a person who had everything against
them in life, but through perseverance and a refusal to quit still managed to
have nearly all the same opportunities in life, and achieved at the highest
level,” Ali said.
“This
fight will be without a doubt one of the high points in my boxing career. To
have been part of helping shape the culture towards creating greater equality
in the region is more important than my own personal successes or feelings.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2143761/sport
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Saudi
Arabia: Women's Rights Defender, Salma Al-Shehab, Given 34 Years In Prison Over
Tweets
By
Dania Akkad
15
August 2022
A
Leeds University PhD candidate focused on healthcare and mother of two has been
sentenced to 34 years in Saudi Arabian prison, the longest sentence ever given
to a women's rights defender in the kingdom, researchers and activists say.
Salma
al-Shehab was on holiday in Saudi Arabia in January 2021 and had planned to
return to the United Kingdom when she was detained, according to the Freedom
Initiative, a Washington-based human rights organisation.
Al-Shehab
was originally sentenced to six years in prison over tweets she posted calling
for rights in the kingdom. But on an appeal last week, Saudi Arabia's
Specialised Criminal Court increased the sentence to 34 years, along with a
34-year travel ban.
She
may not be alone: since going public about Al-Shehab's sentencing on Friday,
The Freedom Initiative's Saudi case manager Bethany Alhaidari said she's heard
credible reports of several others whose sentences were also increased
dramatically during recent appeals in Saudi Arabian courts.
Additionally,
at the time of Al-Shehab's arrest in the kingdom's Eastern Province, Alhaidari
said, there were reports of hundreds of young women who were also detained. It
is unclear if they were charged or what those charges were, but there are
indications that many were detained over their use of social media, including
retweets or using hashtags, she said.
Observers
say the ruling in Al-Shehab's case is a marked escalation in Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown on dissent and reflects a worsening situation
for women's rights despite headline-grabbing reforms in recent years.
"This
is irrational, heartbreaking, and disastrous for the hundreds of women detained
or to be detained in similar charges of supporting rights or freedom,"
tweeted Hala Dosari, a Saudi Arabian activist and scholar. "This is also
reflective of an increased regime insecurity, both domestically and
abroad."
Shehab,
who has two sons aged four and six, said during a 2014 interview she gave at
the Riyadh International Book Fair that young people should consider how they
could best serve their country with their studies.
"Don't
just think how you can serve yourself. Think how you can serve society based on
what society needs," said Shehab, who was studying for a masters in
dentistry at the time.
More
recently, she was supportive on social media of women's rights activist Loujain
al-Hathloul, who was released from prison in February 2021, shortly after
Shehab was detained.
Biden
trip empowered crown prince
Hathloul,
who remains under a travel ban, was arrested in May 2018 along with 12 others
just weeks before the kingdom's driving ban on women, which they had long
protested against, was lifted, a move researchers have previously told MEE was
meant to thwart them from taking any credit for or publicly celebrating the reform.
"It
is ironic," said The Freedom Initiative's Alhaidari, "that while
Loujain's release was celebrated, Salma remained behind bars on the ground that
she called for that very release. It's a pattern for Saudi authorities to
ensure that women activists can't celebrate or take credit for any of their
hard-won victories."
Lina
Hathloul, head of monitoring and communications at the UK-based rights group
ALQST, said the sentence was "a mockery of the Saudi authorities' claims
of reform for women and of the legal system, and shows they remain hell bent on
harshly punishing anyone who expresses their opinions freely."
"Saudi
activists warned Western leaders that giving legitimacy to the crown prince
would pave the way for more abuses, which is unfortunately what we are
witnessing now," she said.
The
ruling comes a month after US President Joe Biden, who had previously vowed to
make the kingdom a pariah state after the October 2018 killing of Saudi Arabian
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, visited Jeddah and fist-bumped the crown prince.
"The
international community's embrace must feel like a green light," Alhaidari
said.
There
are worries among Al-Shehab's supporters, she added, that her sons will be
grown men by the time she is let out of prison.
"The
Saudi authorities must release Salma and ensure that her young boys do not grow
up without a mother simply because she called for freedom for human rights
activists," she said.
MEE
has asked the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comment, but has not had a
response.
Source:
Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-women-rights-defender-prison-tweets
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Tunisian
feminist NGO denounces Saied's wife's 'twisted' women's day speech
16
August, 2022
The
speech of Tunisia's first lady on the country's women's day continues to
trigger controversy amid fears of Saied's family increasing interference in the
political scene.
"The
appearance of Kais Saied's wife is a direct interference in the country's
politics," Tunisia's Democratic Women's Association (ATFD), one of the
largest feminist NGOs in Tunisia, said on Monday.
Over
the weekend, Ishraf Chebil, the wife of Kais Saied and a former jurist,
delivered a speech advocating her husband's controversial constitution. She
claimed that Tunisia's new constitution preserves women's rights and protects
their gains.
On
July 25. Tunisia's electoral commission announced the acceptance of Saied's
draft after a poorly attended referendum due to a widespread boycott.
Tunisia's
Democratic Women's Association described Chebil's speech as "twisted"
on a constitution that denied Tunisian women equality.
"The
July 25 constitution did not achieve any gain for women, but rather threatens
and undermines their gains, especially by eliminating the principle of parity,"
Naila El-Zoghlami, head of ATFD, told the private radio station Shams FM
Monday.
Tunisia's
new constitution says the state will preserve parity between the genders
"with justice" - a religious term that enforces the unequal system of
inheritance in Tunisia, explained ATFD in its report on the constitution.
In
2020, Kais Saied voiced clear opposition to equality between genders in
inheritance.
Moreover,
under the heading of achieving the purposes of Islam, including
self-preservation, the new constitution states that Tunisian women may lose
their right to abortion in safe conditions currently stipulated by law.
El-Zoghlami
has also said that Saied's wife has no significant activities supporting
women's rights in the country to claim to be a women's rights defender on
Tunisian national day for women.
After
winning the 2019 elections, Kais Saied said that his wife would not bear the
title of "the first lady" because "all Tunisian women are
first."
However,
Chebil's increasing public and official appearances hint that Saied is
backtracking, once again, on another promise.
Some
Tunisian analysts claim that Saied's wife has appointed her friend Leila Jefal
as Tunisia's minister of the judiciary in blatant interference in the country's
politics.
Also,
Saied's brother Naoufal Saied has dedicated his Facebook page to cheering and
advocating his brother's controversial decisions.
The
growing public presence of Saied's family conjures a deja-vu of the rule of
Zain Al Abidin Ben Ali, Tunisia's former dictator.
During
Ben Ali's 24-year-long rule, the families of Ben Ali and his wife Leila
Trabelsi controlled between 30% and 40% of the Tunisian economy.
During
the Arab spring, the general public in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria revolted
against their presidential rulers which were akin to monarchy-like dynastic
systems and prominent positions are passed among relatives.
A
decade later, Arab people continue to fight against political nepotism.
Source:
The New Arab
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/tunisias-feminists-slam-saieds-wife-speech-womens-day
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Hollywood
star Angelina Jolie speaks up for women in Afghanistan
August
16, 2022
DUBAI:
Hollywood star and humanitarian Angelina Jolie this week honored women in
Afghanistan, “one year after the fall of the government.”
The
47-year-old actress shared on Instagram an op-ed she wrote for TIME and said:
“It cannot end here.”
In
the article, the Oscar winner said: “The daughters of Afghanistan are
extraordinary for their strength, resilience, and resourcefulness.”
The
actress said that one year ago, Afghan women worked in all fields — being
doctors, teachers, police officers and politicians.
“To
my Afghan friends, I have faith in you and your resilience and your strength,”
wrote Jolie. “I dream of visiting with my daughters, making friends, traveling
around your beautiful country, and seeing you free to determine your own future
… I know it’s possible. This does not end here.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2143766/lifestyle
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Ozlem
Yilmaz becomes Turkey’s first-ever female general
Sakina
Fatima
15th
August 2022
Ankara:
For the first time in the history of the Turkish armed forces, Ozlem Yilmaz has
announced as female general on August 13, Anadolu Agency reported.
Ozlem
Yılmaz was appointed by the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozlem
was promoted from the rank of colonel to brigadier general. She will occupy the
position of Vice President of the gendarmerie and coast guard academy in the
general command of the Turkish gendarmerie forces.
Prior
to that, major general Ozlem Yilmaz was the head of the directorate for
combating domestic violence and the children’s division of the gendarmerie
general command.
Ozlem
obtained the rank of first major general after she moved between a number of
rural areas with teams to combat domestic violence and support children, where
she made great efforts to prevent violence against women.
As
per media reports, Ozlem provided training to support women and explain the
rights they enjoy, after conducting studies to provide brochures and media
texts that are suitable for women and benefit men as well.
Ozlem
in a interview with the Turkish daiy Hurriyet in 2018 said, when she was the
commander of the general command of the gendarmerie forces, combating domestic
violence and the children’s branch, “Violence against women is a bleeding wound
in society. We must not be satisfied with dressing the wound, but it must also
be healed.”
She
pointed out that there are many women who remain silent about violence because
of family pressure, fear of the husband, and social pressure.
At
that time, Ozlem appealed to all women not to remain silent about violence and
to demand their rights, stressing the need to contact the gendarmerie in case
they encounter any form of violence.
It
is noteworthy that Ozlem was born in 1976 in Istanbul, and graduated from the
military academy in 1997 with the rank of lieutenant.
Source:
Siasat Daily
https://www.siasat.com/ozlem-yilmaz-becomes-turkeys-first-ever-female-general-2390763/
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