Steady Uptick In Muslim Girls Going To Schools, Colleges In Karnataka
13
February 2022
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Steady Uptick In Muslim Girls Going To Schools, Colleges In Karnataka
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Tamana Zaryabi Paryani , Afghan Woman Activist Released After Arrest In January
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Alicia Keys, Princess Reema Push Message Of Hope In Alula
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Taliban Have Detained 29 Women And Their Families In Kabul, Says US Envoy
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Afghanistan: US Envoy Claims 29 Women & Their Families Are Detained By
Taliban In Kabul
•
Fatima Sana Khan: The Powerpuff Girl
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/muslim-girls-karnataka-zaryabi-paryani/d/126360
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Steady Uptick In Muslim Girls Going To Schools, Colleges In Karnataka
But one trend is unquestioned: as with girls of
other faiths, there has been a steady increase in the number of Muslim girls
going to schools and colleges in Karnataka — and, indeed, across the country.
(File)
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by
Sourav Roy Barman
February
13, 2022
IS
HIJAB an essential practice in Islam? Does the student’s right to wear one
over-ride the school uniform code? These questions are now being contested in
the High Court, with the Supreme Court watching.
But
one trend is unquestioned: as with girls of other faiths, there has been a
steady increase in the number of Muslim girls going to schools and colleges in
Karnataka — and, indeed, across the country.
Their
numbers, as a share of their population, are still lower than that of
non-Muslims but the uptick is significant and steady, show several government
surveys.
Between
2007-08 and 2017-18, the Gross Attendance Ratio (GAR) of Muslim women in higher
education in India increased from 6.7 per cent to 13.5 per cent, according to a
unit-level data analysis of the 64th and 75th rounds of the National Sample
Survey (NSS) by Khalid Khan of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies.
In
Karnataka, where a ban has been imposed on hijab — and upheld by the court in
an interim order — in government educational institutions, GAR of Muslim women
in higher education rose from a low of 1.1 per cent in 2007-08 to as high as
15.8 per cent in 2017-18, data shows.
According
to Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data on elementary
and secondary education, nationally, the share of Muslim enrolment to total
enrolment of girls in upper primary (Class 5 to 8) has risen from 13.30 per
cent in 2015-16 to 14.54. In Karnataka, it rose from 15.16 per cent to 15.81
per cent.
“This
rise in enrolment of girls and women cuts across religious and social groups.
We are seeing this across states,” said a top expert with an education
non-profit that works primarily in the area of school education. “Hindu or
Muslim, Sikh or Christian, girls and young women are beating odds at many
levels including in their families across the country. Many issues crop up,
like the current one over what to wear, but I am quite certain and hopeful that
the surge will sustain because women are not going to look back.”
For
Afeeda KT, who teaches sociology at Mount Carmel College in Bengaluru, more
Muslim girls in schools and colleges are “hard-earned gains that need to be
sustained.”
“The
hijab row clearly extends the political targeting of the Muslim community by
Hindutva forces,” said Afeeda. “If we look at its impact on Muslim women’s
higher education, it’s early to predict. But it will influence life choices,
especially for women who also have to tackle the embedded patriarchal system in
this country.”
More
so, for Muslim girls and women. Khan, who has studied the GAR data, said that
restricting young women from attending colleges based on their attire will push
them back to the “same patriarchal trap which the Karnataka government thinks
to remove”.
“One
may think that wearing a scarf is a patriarchal imposition of the dress over
the body of a girl. In such circumstances also, the entry of Muslim women with
scarf is the only way to address this problem. If they are wearing a scarf
under the pressure from their family and the society, they will remove it once
they find themselves economically independent after getting higher education,”
said Khan.
Former
Planning Commission Secretary N C Saxena said he is concerned over the hard
lines in the current debate. “Equal bias does unequal harm. Muslim women have a
moral and legal right to wear hijab but it’s a bad strategy because it will
lead to further polarisation and bias outside the community which will affect
them in many ways. It will further widen the gap,” Saxena said.
Going
to schools or colleges is what will empower the girls, said Poonam Batra, a
professor of Education at Delhi University. “It’s education which can enable
young women to understand how a hijab or a ghunghat are symbols of patriarchy.
So what is regressive here, is to deny them an education in the name of
adhering to rules of school uniform. The agenda is to invisibilise Muslims
further,” Batra said.
Source:
Indian Express
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Tamana
Zaryabi Paryani , Afghan Woman Activist Released After Arrest In January
Tamana Zaryabi Paryani posted a video of herself
pleading for help before she was arrested
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13-02-2022
A
female activist who was arrested by armed men in Afghanistan in January has
been released, two sources have confirmed to the BBC.
On
19 January Tamana Zaryabi Paryani was arrested in her apartment in Kabul's
Parwan 2 neighbourhood after taking part in a women's rights protest.
But
a few days later she posted a video on social media pleading for help after armed
men had arrived at her house and arrested her.
After
her disappearance, neighbours told BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville that
Ms Paryani had been taken away along with two of her sisters, and no-one had
been to the apartment since. They said only that an "armed group" had
taken them.
In
an interview with the BBC the day after the arrests on 20 January, Suhai
Shaheen, who hopes to become the Taliban's ambassador to the UN, said: "If
[the Taliban] had detained them, they would say they have detained them, and if
that is the allegation they will go to court and they will defend themselves...
This is something legal, but if they are not detained, and they are making such
fake scenes and shooting films in order to seek asylum abroad."
But
under their rule, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world which
publicly limits education on the basis of gender.
The
regular protests by women highlighting the issue are a source of embarrassment
to the group.
Source:
WWW.bbc
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60362532
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Alicia
Keys, Princess Reema push message of hope in AlUla
JASMINE
BAGER
February
12, 2022
ALULA:
Fresh off her sold-out concert on Friday at The Maraya Concert Hall in AlUla,
singer-songwriter Alicia Keys joined Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud, the
first female Saudi ambassador to the US, and a group of other creative Saudi
women in an intimate conversation under the theme “Women to Women.”
The
off-the-record dialogue, hosted by Good Intentions, a newly launched
Saudi-based creative consultancy, was held in a town hall style, where audience
members asked questions, made comments and interacted with the panel. It felt
like an extension of Friday’s super-hit show.
Acknowledging
the forum’s location at Madrasat Addeera, AlUla’s first art and design center,
Keys told the attendees how excited she was to learn from the Saudi women at
the table — and those beyond in the audience.
“I’m
here to learn and I would love for you to teach me and continue to be allies
together. We are all very special and very important in this room and nobody is
more important than anybody else. We are all at the same level,” Keys told the
audience.
Princess
Reema said: “Many of the women that you see, whether they are on the stage or
perhaps seated to your right or left, are women of a generation that were born
of women of a generation that were told ‘no.’
“Those
of us that insisted on a ‘no’ being a ‘yes’ filled in cracks, filled in
corners, filled in holes and we stuffed ourselves anywhere that we couldn’t
find somebody else to stuff themselves into. So we look like we have crazy CVs.
We look like we’ve had erratic career paths — but it’s not erratic. The
singular unifier of all of us is the fact that we needed another woman to
support us and fill the space — but we couldn’t find her.”
“If
you were not inspired, be the one that inspires. If you did not have a mentor,
be the mentor. If you didn’t have the resources but have access to them, give
them. Because your generosity and your kindness of spirit is what is going to
make the community we all deserve. And that is how women to women transfer of
power happens and that is how men recognize that when they create a space for
us, magic happens,” Princess Reema said.
Keys’
husband, Grammy award-winning producer Kasseem Daoud Dean, known professionally
as Swizz Beatz, said: “We feel confident that Saudi Arabia is exactly the right
place for the headquarters of our new creative consultancy. We’re ready to go
full force with Good Intentions and collaborate with the powerful creative
talent in the region,” he told Arab News exclusively.
The
agency aims to amplify the voices of women across the Kingdom, with the AlUla
town hall being just the first step in that direction.
Perhaps
the most simple yet thoughtful solution came from Saudi actress Fatima
Al-Banawi, who said: “Never, never give up. And always support one another with
no hidden agenda.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2023516/saudi-arabia
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Taliban
have detained 29 women and their families in Kabul, says US envoy
Emma
Graham-Harrison
Sat
12 Feb 2022
The
Taliban have detained 29 women and their families in Kabul, a senior US
diplomat said on Saturday, adding to concerns about rising numbers of people
seized and held indefinitely in Afghanistan.
Rina
Amiri, US special envoy for Afghan Women, Girls and Human Rights, said that
women were among 40 people seized on Friday. “These unjust detentions must
stop,” she said in a tweet.
It
has since been deleted, but other sources confirmed that multiple women had
been detained in Kabul. The state department did not respond to requests for
comment on why it was removed.
Earlier
on Friday, the Taliban released a group of journalists including two
foreigners, after news of their detention caused an international outcry. They
also freed an activist who had disappeared after a women’s rights protest, amid
mounting diplomatic pressure including from the UN secretary general.
“I
am increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of missing women activists in
Afghanistan. Several have ‘disappeared’, some not heard from in weeks,” António
Guterres had said on Twitter on Thursday. “I strongly urge the Taliban to
ensure their safety so that they can return home.”
But
other female activists, some of who were abducted from their homes in the
middle of the night, have not been set free. The Taliban police and the
interior ministry denied any role in their arrests.
Rights
groups denounced the disappearances as a campaign of intimidation, after the
Taliban brought in oppressive rules including barring girls from secondary
education, and women from most work outside the health and education sectors.
“Every
disappearance highlights one of the huge gaps in Afghanistan today, the lack of
rule of law,” said Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human
Rights Watch.
“This
is not how you act when you are trying to be a government, and it highlights
the callousness with which they seem to think they can just abduct women and
sloppily deny it.”
There
are also concerns about Alia Azizi, a senior prison official who has been
missing for more than four months after reporting for work. Several women who
worked for the security forces under the previous government have been attacked
and killed since the Taliban came to power.
The
British government has also raised concerns about citizens who have been held
for several months. The family of cameraman-turned-businessman Peter Jouvenal
have gone public with their concerns about his health since he was seized in
December.
He
is married to an Afghan citizen and was in Kabul for work and to settle family
affairs. Friends are concerned about his health and safety; he requires
medication for high blood pressure and Covid is rampant in the Afghan prison
system.
Source:
The Guardian
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Afghanistan:
US Envoy Claims 29 Women & Their Families Are Detained By Taliban In Kabul
By
Rohit Ranjan
13th
February, 2022
In
Kabul, Afghanistan, 29 women and their families have been detained by the
Taliban, a senior US official claimed on Saturday. As per the reports of the
Guardian, these women were among the 40 people apprehended on Friday, as per
Rina Amiri, US special envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights. On
Twitter, the envoy stated that these unfair detentions must end, but the Tweet
was later deleted for unknown reasons.
Last
week, Rina Amiri stated in a Tweet that these arbitrary detentions have to end
and that if the Taliban are to gain legitimacy among Afghans and the rest of
the world, they must respect Afghans' human rights, particularly women's
rights, including freedom of expression. She then urged the Taliban to release
these women, their families, and other activists immediately.
After
an international outrage over their arrest, the Taliban freed a group of
journalists on Friday, which included two foreigners, according to the
Guardian. They also released an activist who had been missing since a women's
rights march. Other female activists, some of whom were kidnapped in the middle
of the night and are still being held captive, have not been released. The
Taliban police and the interior ministry denied having anything to do with
their detention.
UN
Secretary-General stated that he is concerned for the safety of Afghanistan's
missing female activists. On Thursday, António Guterres claimed on Twitter that
a number of people have disappeared, some of whom have been missing for weeks.
He further stated that he implores the Taliban to ensure their safety so that
they can return home.
I
am increasingly concerned about the well-being of missing women activists in
Afghanistan. Several have ‘disappeared’, some not heard from in weeks.
After
the Taliban imposed laws that barred girls from secondary education and women
from jobs outside the health and education sectors, rights advocates labelled
the disappearances as a campaign of intimidation. Heather Barr, Human Rights
Watch's associate director for women's rights, stated that every disappearance
exposes one of Afghanistan's most serious problems today, which is a lack of
law.
She
further said that this is not how a government acts and that it demonstrates
their callousness in thinking they can just take women and deny them, according
to the Guardian.
Source:
Republic World
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Fatima
Sana Khan: The Powerpuff Girl
Zeeshan
Ahmed
13TH
FEB, 2022
Before
becoming the first female cricketer from Pakistan to receive an International
Cricket Council (ICC) accolade, Fatima Sana Khan used to play in the streets of
Nazimabad Block 1 with her brothers.
She
was breaking many stereotypes by playing a sport, which is usually associated
with boys. She was backed by her brothers, who made her play with them on the
thoroughfares.
The
recipient of ICC’s Woman Emerging Player of the Year award was young, as young
as 10, so she was not given the opportunity to bat as her brothers and their
friends were afraid that she might sustain an injury and everyone would get in
trouble.
“I
used to bowl only because boys didn’t allow me to bat,” she shared while
talking to Bol News. “They had a fear that what if a ball hit me while batting.
So, I got interested in bowling from that point. My deliveries didn’t use to
reach the batter. Therefore, they advised me to run fast and bowl. This was
where I got my bowling action from.”
Seeing
Fatima’s passion for the game and the hunger to learn, her brothers decided to
find out about the different avenues in Karachi for female cricketers from
where she could learn and progress.
One
day, the young Fatima saw two girls carrying kitbags near her house who were
heading for training. The sight intrigued curiosity in the then-budding
cricketer, who asked one of her brothers to find out where they are going.
Soon,
her brother found out that there was a women’s team camp set up at the National
Stadium Karachi where numerous youngsters, including Karachi-based national
stars, were honing their skills and fitness under the supervision of the then
head coach Tahir Mahmood.
“I
saw two females near my house with kitbags and I still don’t know who they
were,” she shared. “However, I got to know about the women’s team camp at the
National Stadium where names like Javeria Khan and Syeda Nain Abidi were
training.”
When
Fatima met Mahmood, he suggested her to join either Custom or Zaka Academy. She
wasted little time and enrolled in Custom Academy.
The
selection in the U-17 squad gave Fatima the confidence and a boost that if she
can make it this far, there is no reason why she cannot make it into the
national squad. She started targeting the national cricket team’s members in
the nets and tried to dismiss them during the training sessions.
Her
strategy came in handy and she was named in Pakistan’s U-19 squad and was also
called to take part in Pakistan Cricket Board’s triangular competition. She was
impressive in the campaign and emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the last
two editions.
At
a tender age of merely 20, Fatima has already claimed one of the most
prestigious awards in women’s cricket, ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the
Year, which has surely put her under the spotlight.
“I
never thought of achieving this but my aim now is to make Pakistan proud,” said
the determined pacer. “I now look to enjoy my cricket and take responsibility
as the world recognises me now. The award will motivate me to do well in the
future.”
Fatima
accredits her family for whatever she has achieved so far in her brief career.
The father and daughter bond is always special, to say the least. In Fatima’s
case, her father was at the forefront in providing her everything she needed in
her journey and was one of her biggest supporters.
“My
father used to take me to different places that were far from home [to play
games],” she shared. “If there was a match from the morning till evening, he
would stay at the ground just for me. My goal was to be a player on whom my
father is proud of because of the time he has invested in me.”
“My
mother also helped me a lot. I was given everything I needed from her side to
reach the very top,” she said. “We are five siblings and being the youngest one
in the family, they backed me fully to go forward and achieve things in life.”
“They
especially worked on me. They made me feel that I can work on my batting and
serve the team as an all-rounder,” she maintained.
While
growing up as a fast bowler, Fatima idolised England’s fast bowling legend
James Anderson. His control over the ball and fitness are some of the things that
the young pacer loves about him.
“I
loved watching James Anderson. I made him my idol and follow him. His wrist
position of inswing and outswing attracted me. He has been playing for so
long.” she shared.
However,
apart from her childhood hero, she is also in awe of her Pakistani male
counterpart and a fellow ICC’s award recipient, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
“Besides
him [Anderson], Shaheen Shah is also my favourite,” she mentioned. “I watch
them and try to learn what different things they do that we don’t do in women’s
cricket.”
The
talented young cricketer, who has taken 21 wickets in 15 games and scored 28
runs in 14 innings, will represent Pakistan for the first time in a World Cup,
starting from March 4 in New Zealand.
Moreover,
she will take part in the mother of all contests, the game against the
arch-rivals India on March 6 to kick off the team’s campaign.
However,
the 20-year-old is not overwhelmed by the situation. Instead, she is looking at
this challenge as an opportunity to shine at the biggest stage and carve her
name in the history books.
“The
match is viewed by millions and everyone loves watching Pakistan-India games,”
she said. “One awaits to play in this kind of match and I will look to give my
best.”
The
right-arm pacer wants to replicate the recent performance of her local hero,
Shaheen Afridi, against India, where he single-handedly pulled the game in
Pakistan’s favour with a deadly spell of bowling.
“Babar
Azam’s side had a stellar year and our aim is also to take women’s cricket
forward just like men’s cricket. Against India, they gave it all and we look to
do the same,” she said. “World cup is a tournament where everyone sets eyes on
you. I want to make an impact in this competition. We will have seven matches
and will look to play with the same intensity in all of them.”
“If
we play to our true potential, Allah will also help us in achieving our goals,”
she maintained. “What happened in the past is not our focus. This is a big
tournament and our goal will be to make Pakistan win.”
In
a virtual press conference before leaving for the mega-event on Tuesday, Bismah
Maroof said that they will look to start their campaign on a positive note by
standing victorious in their opening match against India.
Pakistan
will take on the top teams of the world during the competition, including
Australia and England. The eighth-ranked ODI team do not have a decent record
against the leading sides; however, the skipper is hopeful to have better
results this time around.
“We’ve
studied the teams well and analysed their strengths and weaknesses,” she said.
“Each match will have its own pressure since it’s the World Cup.”
Maroof,
who is returning to the team after a maternity leave of about two years, has
set her eyes to reach the knockout stage of the global competition.
“We
have worked hard in the training camp and the aim is to reach the semi-final of
the event,” she stated. “The best training opportunities were available at the
camp under the supervision of Head Coach David Hamp.”
The
30-year-old claimed that the fitness of the players have improved and they have
specifically worked hard on the fielding and bowling departments.
She
added that the authorities have tried to pick the best combination of players,
having a good amalgamation of young and senior cricketers.
The
playing conditions in New Zealand are expected to be fast-bowling friendly,
therefore, Pakistan’s pacers will have an integral role to play. She is hopeful
that Fatima will continue her top-notch show with the ball in hand.
“New
Zealand conditions are favourable for fast bowlers. Pakistan’s fast bowling
attack consists of Ayman Anwar, Diana Baig and Sana Fatima,” she said. “Fatima
has been consistently giving good performances. I hope it will continue in the
World Cup.”
Source:
Bol News
https://www.bolnews.com/sports/2022/02/fatima-sana-khan-the-powerpuff-girl/
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/muslim-girls-karnataka-zaryabi-paryani/d/126360