UP: Two Booked In Bareilly After Bajrang Dal Disrupts Birthday Party Over 'Love Jihad' Claims
New Age Islam News Bureau
28 December 2025
• UP: Two booked in Bareilly after Bajrang Dal disrupts birthday party over ‘love jihad’ claims
• Iran jails eight Baha’i women on charges of promoting their beliefs
• BJP corporator’s hubby booked for threatening woman in Satna district
• Iran’s marathon hijab protest
• Woman killed, family members injured as building collapses in powerful storm in Gaza
• Fierce weather in Gaza kills Palestinian woman and injures others amid Israel's aid blockade
• Alleged baby abuse: Police receive three reports, one woman arrested
• Crochet is more than a hobby for Saudi women
• Pakistan's first female central bank head Shamshad Akhtar dies at 71
• Esha Oza says first ODI series 'a huge moment' for UAE women's cricket
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/bareilly-bajrang-dal-love-jihad/d/138208
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UP: Two booked in Bareilly after Bajrang Dal disrupts birthday party over ‘love jihad’ claims
28-12-2025
Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh | Google Maps
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The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Sunday booked two persons a day after members of the Bajrang Dal disrupted a birthday celebration and accused two Muslim boys of “love jihad”.
The celebration was organised by a nursing student for her classmates, which included six girls and four boys, The Times of India reported. Members of the Bajrang Dal reportedly barged in during the gathering, accusing the Muslim guests of “love jihad” and reportedly assaulted one of the male guests and a girl who tried to intervene.
Love jihad is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men trick Hindu women into romantic relationships with the aim of converting them to Islam. The Union home ministry has told Parliament that Indian law has no provision defining such a term.
The police on Sunday filed a case against two named and other unidentified accused persons under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to voluntarily causing hurt, house-trespass after preparation for hurt, intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, criminal intimidation and mischief.
Earlier on Sunday, the police said they found that no objectionable or illegal activity was taking place at the cafe. It added that “preventive action” was taken against the persons involved under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Videos of the incident showed a group of men barging into the cafe and assaulting some of the Muslim while shouting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram”. A video also showed the police restraining a girl as she was objecting to those who barged into the cafe.
The videos had led to several social media users asking why the police took action against the Muslim boys instead of the attackers.
Source: scroll.in
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Iran jails eight Baha’i women on charges of promoting their beliefs
28-12-2025
A file photo of Khavaran Cemetery
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Eight Baha’i women were arrested on Saturday morning after reporting to the Isfahan Office for the Enforcement of Sentences and were transferred to a local prison to begin serving their prison terms, Iran International has learned.
The Baha’i women have been charged with “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” “promoting Baha’i beliefs,” and “cooperating with hostile groups.”
They have been identified as Yeganeh Rouhbakhsh, Arezou Sobhaniyan, Shana Shoqifar, Neda Emadi, Neda Badakhsh, Mojgan Shahrezaei, Parastoo Hakim, and Negin Khademi.
Earlier, the Isfahan Court of Appeals upheld sentences totaling 90 years in prison and fines of 900 million tomans against ten Baha’i women including the eight arrested on Saturday.
Baha'is constitute the largest religious minority in Iran and have faced systematic harassment and persecution since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
In October, a hardline commentator on Iranian state television, Ali Shirazi, alleged that the Baha’i minority holds “an unbreakable bond with Zionism,” claiming that “Baha’i and Israel are one and the same.”
His remarks followed reports by the Baha’i International Community (BIC) that at least 22 members of the faith had their homes and businesses raided in coordinated operations across six provinces.
Iranian authorities have long accused the Baha’i community of links to Israel, partly because the faith’s spiritual center is located in Haifa, where its founder’s shrine stands. Rights groups say such claims have been used to justify arrests, confiscations, and lengthy prison sentences.
Nearly three quarters of documented violations against religious minorities in Iran over the past three years have involved Baha'is, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
Source: www.iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202512279680
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BJP corporator’s hubby booked for threatening woman in Satna district
Dec 28, 2025
Bhopal:The husband of a BJP corporator was booked for threatening a woman after a video went viral on social media in Satna district on Saturday late night.
In her statement given to the police on Saturday late night, she said that the corporator's husband threatened and misbehaved with her.
"In her statement, she said that he used to come to her shop and abuse and pressurise her into vacating the shop. He made objectionable demands if she didn't vacate the shop. Based on her complaint, the accused has been booked under relevant sections, and also been rounded up," Rampur Baghelan police station incharge, Sandeep Chaturvedi, told TOI.
A video went viral on social media purportedly showing a man, alleged to be the local BJP corporator's husband, threatening a woman. The woman claims that the accused, Ashok Singh, assaulted her.On Saturday, she arrived at the station, where her statements were recorded by female police officials late into the night.
Source: Times of india.com
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Iran’s marathon hijab protest
27 December 2025
Kate Adie presents stories from Iran, Norway, France, Ireland and Switzerland.
A recent marathon race in Iran caused controversy after many of the 2000 women runners ignored the country's mandatory hijab law, and ran without a head covering. Years after deadly protests rocked the country, Faranak Amidi charts how women in Iran today are continuing to defy the religious authorities on a daily basis.
Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean is home to an array of wildlife, including Polar Bears. With their survival under threat, Beth Timmins considers their future - and past - while sailing off the bay of Skansbukta.
The French have a penchant for chestnuts, and demand in the country often vastly outstrips supply. And in the chestnut groves of the Cévennes, intensifying droughts are pushing the crop to the brink. Julius Purcell met chestnut farmers keeping a centuries-old culture alive, in the face of a warming planet.
Irish pubs may be one of the Emerald Isle’s most ubiquitous exports, but Irish whiskey has dipped in popularity over the last century in part due to politics - but also increased competition. Jordan Dunbar has been following the fate of his homeland’s much-loved liquor, ever since a surprise encounter in Japan.
And finally, Switzerland is famously neutral - but what that neutrality means is a subject that preoccupies the Swiss. Everyone knows that the Swiss banked Germany's money during the second world war, but a new exhibition shows how cooperative Switzerland also was to the allies. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
Source: www.bbc.com
https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0mqyjlq
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Woman killed, family members injured as building collapses in powerful storm in Gaza
Ramzi Mahmud
28.12.2025
A Palestinian woman was killed, and several of her family members were injured after a building collapsed due to storms in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to medics.
Medical sources told Anadolu that the wall of a home that was damaged in past Israeli attacks fell upon the tent of a 30-year-old woman in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
Heavy rainfall and strong winds that have been pounding the enclave since last night flooded and uprooted thousands of displacement tents across Gaza, according to an Anadolu correspondent and witnesses.
Hundreds of tents for displaced people set up on the beach of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, were also flooded by rising sea waves caused by the low-pressure weather system.
Weather conditions pose great danger to displaced Palestinians who are living in worn-out tents or severely damaged high-risk buildings, which have been under repeated Israeli strikes since October 2023.
The Israeli army has killed more than 71,200 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,200 others since October 2023 in Gaza in a brutal assault that also left the enclave in ruins.
Source: www.aa.com.tr
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Fierce weather in Gaza kills Palestinian woman and injures others amid Israel's aid blockade
28-12-2025
A Palestinian woman was killed, and several of her family members were injured after a building collapsed due to storms in Gaza on Sunday, according to medics.
Medical sources told Anadolu that the wall of a home that was damaged in past Israeli attacks fell upon the tent of a 30-year-old woman in the Al Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Heavy rainfall and strong winds that have been pounding the enclave since last night flooded and uprooted thousands of displacement tents across Gaza, according to an Anadolu correspondent and witnesses.
Hundreds of tents for displaced people set up on the beach of Khan Younis, south of Gaza, were also flooded by rising sea waves caused by the low-pressure weather system.
Weather conditions pose great danger to displaced Palestinians who are living in worn-out tents or severely damaged high-risk buildings, which have been under repeated Israeli strikes since October 2023.
Israel has been accused by international organisations of blocking aid and basic necessities for Palestinians since it began its genocidal war in Gaza.
The Israeli army has killed more than 71,200 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,200 others since October 2023 in Gaza in a brutal assault that also left the enclave in ruins.
Source: www.trtworld.com
https://www.trtworld.com/article/4ffad38787af
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Alleged baby abuse: Police receive three reports, one woman arrested
28 Dec 2025
A CAREGIVER was arrested to assist in the investigation into a case of alleged infant abuse at a nursery in Taman Desa Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
Cheras District Police Chief, Assistant Commissioner Aidil Bolhassan said three reports were received involving victims aged six and nine months.
"The suspect, a 26-year-old woman, was arrested on December 16 for investigation by the Sexual Crimes, Women and Children (D11) Division, Criminal Investigation Department (JSJ) Kuala Lumpur.
"The case is classified under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children Act 2001 and investigations are still ongoing," he said in a statement on Sunday.
Previously, a video recording went viral on the Threads account showing two women believed to be committing acts of violence such as slapping and throwing a baby at the daycare center involved.
According to a user sharing the account @liyanazulkifli, the footage shows his child along with several other babies being physically abused by the nursery caregiver.
"I waited four years, I carried him for nine months. It breaks my heart to see my child suffer like that," she said in a post on Threads.
Source: www.thevibes.com
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Crochet is more than a hobby for Saudi women
28 Dec 2025
RIYADH: Across Saudi Arabia, a revival is unfolding as young people rediscover crafts traditionally associated with older generations and give them new life.
Among these crafts, crochet has emerged as a symbol of creativity and continuity. For many artisans, each stitch carries memory, identity, and emotional connection.
For Harayer Al-Shammari, founder of Orchid Crochet (@Orchid_657 on Snapchat), crochet is a family legacy. Her first memories of the craft are of her late mother weaving intricate designs. “I was only 11, quietly watching her work,” she told Arab News. “One day she asked, ‘Do you want me to teach you?’ Of course, I said yes.”
What began as imitation became inheritance. “I love it and I am passionate about everything within the realm of crochet,” she said.
Al-Shammari noted that the craft seems to be growing in popularity again. “There is more interest now, especially among young girls,” she said.
In our fast-paced, digitally-connected world, crochet has also become a form of mindfulness. Each piece requires patience, from two hours for smaller pieces to as long as four days for handmade dolls. For many creators, crochet offers a counterbalance to constant online engagement.
“It gives me peace and enjoyment,” said Ghadi, the artist behind Ghadi Crochet (@Ghadicro1 on Snapchat). “It helps me make good use of my time instead of wasting it.”
But the online world also benefits today’s makers. “I started selling my work because I wanted people to see the art I create,” Al-Shammari said. Social media enabled her to attract attention to her work.
Today, crochet’s most active spaces are often digital. Al-Shammari shares her creations online, drawing inspiration from YouTube tutorials and connecting with followers across multiple platforms.
Ghadi also credits digital platforms for her growth. “People’s comments and positive feedback on Instagram and TikTok make me want to improve.”
As the handmade market expands, others are following similar paths. For makers like Ghadi, encouragement from family turned passion into a small business, demonstrating how heritage and entrepreneurship can coexist. What was once a solitary activity is now a shared language.
Al-Shammari’s designs, ranging from table covers and dolls to teapot cozies and floral pieces, often reflect patterns inspired by Saudi homes and traditions. Younger makers like Ghadi tend toward minimalist styles but share the same emphasis on individuality.
Their work attracts customers who value handmade detail and customization, turning simple threads into personal expressions. Crochet is not purely decorative; it is expressive.
Running a small creative business comes with challenges. “Delivery is the hardest part,” Ghadi said. “It’s limited to my city or nearby areas.”
“I taught a two-week crochet course at an orphanage,” she said. “A few days later, the director told me some girls wanted to continue learning, so I taught them online.”
Each creation, whether stitched in a family home or streamed on social media, tells a shared story; one of women weaving their past into their future, loop by loop.
Source: www.arabnews.jp
https://www.arabnews.jp/en/features/article_161446/
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Pakistan's first female central bank head Shamshad Akhtar dies at 71
By Ariba Shahid
December 27, 2025
KARACHI, Dec 27 - Shamshad Akhtar, the first and only woman to lead Pakistan's central bank and a two-time caretaker finance minister, died at 71, the finance ministry said on Saturday.
Akhtar was serving as chairperson of the Pakistan Stock Exchange at the time of her death, giving her a rare role spanning Pakistan's monetary policy, fiscal management and capital markets.
She was governor of the State Bank of Pakistan from 2006 to 2009 and later led the finance ministry in caretaker governments ahead of the 2018 and 2024 general elections.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb described Akhtar as a principled and dignified voice in Pakistan's economic history, praising her integrity, professionalism and long public service.
"She served the country with honesty and dedication in some of the most senior economic roles," Aurangzeb said in a statement, offering condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.
Widely regarded as one of Pakistan’s most internationally experienced economic policymakers, Akhtar also held senior positions, including as vice president at the World Bank and executive secretary of the UN ESCAP, and previously worked at the Asian Development Bank.
Born in Hyderabad, she was educated in Karachi and Islamabad and held degrees from the University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam University, the University of Sussex and the UK’s Paisley College of Technology.
Source: www.reuters.com
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Esha Oza says first ODI series 'a huge moment' for UAE women's cricket
by Paul Radley
28-12-2025
Esha Oza, the UAE captain, says her side feel honoured to be the first players to represent the country in women’s one-day international cricket.
The national team have played 99 women’s T20 internationals. They have been rewarded for the vast strides they have made in that format in recent years by having their status elevated by the ICC to play full 50-over internationals.
Oza, who has played in 95 T20Is herself, has twice won the ICC Associate Player of the Year, without yet having played ODI cricket.
She says her side will be proud to play the longer format when they debut against Zimbabwe in four ODIs in Bulawayo, starting on Friday.
“I think just looking at the letters ‘ODI’ next to the UAE women’s fixtures on ESPNcricinfo, that’s something that feels very surreal,” Oza said.
“Just thinking about being in that moment on that day is something that gives me goosebumps. It’s a moment of great honour, being the first ones to represent the country in one-day internationals.
While they are taking their first steps in the format, the UAE are no strangers to their opposition. They have played Zimbabwe six times in T20 internationals, with an even split of three wins and three losses.
“It’s a format we are a bit new to, but the team has prepped well and is showing signs of being naturally adaptive towards it,” Oza said. “It’s going to be an exciting week of cricket for all of us.”
Ahmed Raza, who played 53 ODIs and 55 T20Is for the UAE men’s team, is now coach of the women’s side. He said their improved status is reward for the advances the women’s game has made in the Emirates.
“It is a huge moment for our team, our board and everyone who has been involved behind the scenes,” Raza said of the women’s side’s elevation.
“The pleasing fact about this is, we gained our first ever status on the back of performance over a period of 12 months, not a single tournament where you can have a good or bad tournament and your fate is decided.”
Raza spent much of his own career playing in a side who were pursuing, and then trying to retain, ODI status because of the greater opportunities it affords.
“Not going to lie, I'll be very, very emotional when Oza goes for the first ever toss and when our anthem will be played, and this team is going to be etched in history,” Raza said.
“When as a men’s player, we achieved men’s ODI status in 2014, I don’t think we understood the magnitude of that feat, and I feel our girls are in the same zone.
“Once the money starts flowing more fixtures come across, suddenly you’re playing more cricket than ever and you understand what you have achieved for the country.”
Not going to lie, I'll be very, very emotional when Oza goes for the first ever toss and when our anthem will be played, and this team is going to be etched in history
The side have prepared for the series with 50-over fixtures against boys academy sides like Zenith and Young Talents Cricket Academy, as well as the UAE Under 16s. The ODIs are followed by two T20Is in Bulawayo.
“I’m really excited to see how we perform in this series and hopefully we clinch both ODI and T20I series against Full Member [Test nation], which is also a first of its kind, as our first bilateral against a Full Member,” Raza said.
“The UAE series is very important to us and it fits perfectly in our plans as we prepare for the [Women’s T20 World Cup 2026] Global Qualifier early next year,” Walter Chawaguta, Zimbabwe’s coach, said.
“It gives us the momentum that we need as a team and, at the same time, it also gives us an opportunity to look at some of the players who have been out due to injury and are now making a comeback.”
Source: www.msn.com
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/bareilly-bajrang-dal-love-jihad/d/138208