Pakistani man throws acid on Christian woman who refused to convert to Islam, marry him
New
Age Islam News Bureau
08
February 2023
•
India’s new Hajj policy promotes women’s pilgrimage, abolishes VIP quota
•
‘Iranian Women Far More Politically Aware, Enlightened than Those in Other
Muslim Societies’
•
Indian woman lawyer sworn-in as judge amid protests
•
Calcutta woman ‘trafficked’ to Oman rescued
•
Qatar participates in 42nd session of Arab Women's Committee
•
Saudi Arabia reveals face of 2,000-year-old woman from AlUla
•
Kuwait women’s handball team loses to India
•
Pakistani films show women as vulnerable and in need of saving: Mehwish Hayat
•
Pregnant woman rescued 40 hours after quakes hit southern Türkiye
•
Female blogger teaches Saudi women everything about cars
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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Pakistani
man throws acid on Christian woman who refused to convert to Islam, marry him
February
07, 2023
Pakistani
Christians in prayer in Karachi on November 15, 2015. | ASIF HASSAN/AFP via
Getty Images
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LAHORE,
Pakistan — A Muslim in Karachi, Pakistan, last Wednesday threw acid on a
19-year-old Christian woman for refusing his pressure to enter into
relationship and convert to Islam, sources said.
Sunita
Masih, who lives with her sister after the death of her parents, left the house
in Masoom Shah Colony, in Karachi’s Kala Pull area, to go to work that morning.
After getting off a bus at Cantt station, her Muslim neighbor, Kamran Allah
Bux, threw acid on her and fled, said her uncle, John Masih.
“Sunita
is just 19, but now her whole life has been physically and mentally scarred by
Kamran,” her uncle said. “Even if he is convicted for his crime, will Sunita be
able to live a normal life again? We all know how our society treats acid
attack survivors, even though they are the victims of this heinous crime.”
Sunita
Masih suffered 20% burns in the attack.
“My
eyes, face, arms and legs started burning as soon as Kamran threw the acid on
me,” she told police from her hospital bed. “The pain was so excruciating that
I collapsed on the road.”
Bux
had been pressuring her to enter into a relationship with him, John Masih said.
“He
would try to force her to renounce her Christian faith, assuring her that he
would marry her once she became a Muslim, but she refused to surrender to his
illegitimate demands,” Masih said. “Sunita had informed her siblings about
Kamran’s harassment, and they had repeatedly complained to his parents, urging
them to stop him, but that did not work.”
The
family had registered a complaint with police to stop the harassment, but they
did not act on it, he said. When all efforts failed, Sunita’s brother-in-law
beat Bux, which also did not deter him, John Masih said.
The
family, members of a Salvation Army church, was seeking justice for Sunita
Masih, whose face and other parts of her body were disfigured in the attack.
Assistant
Sub-Inspector Sagheer Ahmed of the Frere Police Station said officers had
registered a case against Bux for causing hurt by corrosive substance (Section
336-B of the Pakistan Penal Code) and had taken him into custody.
“We
obtained his two-day physical remand from a court during which he confessed to
the heinous crime,” Ahmed told Morning Star News. “In his statement, Kamran
claimed that he had fallen in love with Sunita and had attacked her with acid
in retaliation after she rejected his marriage proposal.”
‘Doubly
disadvantaged’
Pakistan
has a history of violence and discrimination against women, including those
belonging to vulnerable minority communities.
Acid
attacks are a form of gender-based violence in which a corrosive substance is
thrown on the victim with the intention of disfiguring or killing. These
attacks are often carried out as a form of retaliation and are often aimed at
women who reject marriage proposals or other advances from men.
Karachi,
in particular, has witnessed a surge in acid attacks in recent months, with at
least a dozen being reported since October.
Women
belonging to religious minorities, such as Christians and Hindus, are doubly
disadvantaged as they are often seen as easy targets not protected by the same
social norms compared with those belonging to the majority Muslim community.
Mary
James Gill, former lawmaker and executive director of the Lahore-based Center
for Law and Justice, said the Federal Ministry for Religious Affairs and
Interfaith Harmony insists that forced conversion was not an issue in Pakistan
but refuses to acknowledge the daily dangers to Christian and Hindu females.
“Minority
girls face harassment and intimidation from Muslim men every day, but their
pleas for help go unheeded,” Gill said. “Who is responsible for ensuring the
protection of lives and faith of these minority girls in this Islamic
republic?”
Despite
the efforts of various organizations and activists, the number of acid attacks
in Pakistan has continued to rise, with nearly 1,500 cases reported between
2007 and 2022. The impact of these attacks on the lives of women is
devastating, with many struggling to make ends meet and facing ongoing
discrimination and marginalization.
Church
leaders and activists say it is crucial that the government take steps to
ensure the safety and protection of all women in Pakistan, regardless of their
religion. This includes enforcing existing laws and regulations, as well as
implementing new measures to prevent and punish those responsible for these
horrific crimes.
Pakistan
ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult
places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.
Source:
Christian Post
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India’s
new Hajj policy promotes women’s pilgrimage, abolishes VIP quota
February
07, 2023
Muslim
Indian pilgrims wait at Jeddah airport prior to the start of the annual Hajj
pilgrimage in Makkah. (File/AFP)
-----------
NEW
DELHI: Indian authorities have abolished the VIP quota for pilgrims and allowed
single women to apply as well, in a step they said on Tuesday was aimed at
making the country’s pilgrimage policy more inclusive.
With
more than 200 million Indians professing Islam, the Hindu-majority South Asian
nation has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population. Every year, more
than 150,000 Indian Muslims embark on Hajj, a spiritual journey and one of the
five pillars of Islam.
While
some of them need to wait years for their turn, there were 500 reserve spots
set aside annually for top government officials — a practice that was stopped
on Monday under the new Hajj policy released by the Ministry of Minority
Affairs.
The
new policy also increased the number of pilgrimage embarkation points from 10
to 25, and waived application fees.
A.P.
Abdullakutty, chairman of the Haj Committee of India, a statutory body of the
Indian government that organizes Islamic pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, said: “In
front of Allah everyone is the same therefore there is no need to have special
quotas.”
The
policy also allows women to apply individually.
“So
far the policy was that women above 45 can travel in groups of four without a
male companion, but this time a single woman can also apply,” Abdullakutty
added.
A
total of 175,000 pilgrims from India will embark on Hajj this year, with the
journey of 80 percent of them being handled by the committee, and the remaining
20 percent by private operators.
S.
Muawari Begum, vice chairperson of the Hajj committee, told Arab News the new
policy was “people friendly and more inclusive toward women.”
India’s
civil society saw the move also as a step for India in becoming more accepting
of women’s independence.
“To
be independent is a different thing and the society accepting the independence
of a woman is a different thing,” Jamila Nishat, a women’s rights activist
based in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, said.
“This
is a good step. This is a step to accept the independence of women.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2246476/world
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‘Iranian
Women Far More Politically Aware, Enlightened than Those in Other Muslim
Societies’
February
07, 2023
They
all appeared like working women coming back from their respective workplaces,
not exhausted but fresh and happy. This is not the image Western media will
show of Iran.
Contrary
to reality, the women of Iran are shown as controlled and oppressed. Did the
Islamic Revolution really push them back or lift them up to dignified positions
and honor? Are they living in a repressive society or one that liberates and
empowers them, especially women, in a progressive way?
Historical
evidence shows that women in Iran had no adequate political and social rights
before the Islamic Revolution. Both politically and socially, they were in a
closed and passive space. The school system of the Pahlavi era, Westernized as
it was, stopped many females from pursuing education.
Young
girls were discouraged from continuing their education, the reason being the
Westernized environment in universities and the opposition to Hijab. However,
the scenario changed after the Islamic Revolution as the percentage of females
in universities rose considerably.
Today,
universities in Iran are flooded with women – confident, happy and
self-assured. The Muslim-majority country’s literacy rate for women is among
the best in the world.
Various
studies have credited it to the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah
Khomeini, who called for the active participation of women, not only in
politics but also in higher education and the public sector.
After
the Islamic Revolution in 1979, women were given equal rights to shape their
futures. The revolution provided them a chance to build their distinct
political identity and they have been tremendously successful in doing that.
Iranian
women are today far more politically aware and enlightened than their
counterparts in other Muslim societies.
According
to data, in 1977 only 17 percent of the female population in rural areas were
literate. The figure grew to 73 percent in 2017, showing a substantial change
brought about by the revolution.
As
per the 2020 statistics, the overall literacy rate of women in the country was
85.5 percent, more than that of men at 80.8 percent. Surprisingly this female
literacy rate happens to be higher than the global average.
As
a strong social value for Iranian women, education is seen as real freedom.
Almost 60 percent of all university students are females today. The percentage
of women in higher education has increased nearly 21 times since the Islamic
Revolution.
Presently,
the number of female graduates in medical sciences, basic sciences and
humanities exceeds the number of male graduates.
A
comparative study was conducted between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey
to study female attendance in the universities of the two Muslim-majority
countries. The result revealed that 60 percent of females enroll in
universities in Iran while only 19 percent enroll in Turkey.
This
remarkable improvement in the education sector has had a considerable impact on
Iran’s job market as well, with women taking more jobs in both the public and
private sectors.
For
the first time in the country’s history, the labor force today consists mostly
of women specialists. This strong presence of women from all walks of life is
playing a significant role in shaping Iran’s future which appears to be bright.
As
numbers speak for themselves, let’s take a look at statistics comparing women’s
condition in the Islamic Republic before and after the Islamic Revolution.
According
to a World Bank report, the number of female board members in various
organizations has seen a three-fold increase, growing from 11 percent in 1970
to 30 percent in 2016.
The
number of female faculty members in universities has grown more than 17 times
in the last 44 years. Women made up only 1.4 percent of teaching staff before
the revolution and now the number stands at above 24 percent in higher
education.
There
was a ten-fold increase in the number of women physicians between 1979 and
2012. Almost 40 percent of all specialized doctors in the country today are
women, which is even more than in the United States where the number stands at
34 percent.
In
the entertainment industry, there are more than 900 female filmmakers and 20
percent of women serve as managing directors of various media outlets.
Contrary
to Western propaganda, the Islamic Revolution has played a significant role in
prioritizing the freedom of women.
The
Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the importance of strong women and strong
mothers. The Leader of the Islamic
Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has been quoted as saying that if
someone tries to deprive women of scientific work and stops them in their
economic, political and social endeavors based on supposedly Islamic views,
they act against the divine decree.
This
has encouraged women to grow and develop in both individual and social
capacities. The progress made by women in the scientific and academic fields
has led to the betterment of social and scientific sectors in post-revolution
Iran.
In
the West, it is wrongly perceived that the backwardness of Iranian women in
social and legal matters is due to the Islamic government. The minimal
involvement of women in the public sector of Iran before the Islamic Revolution
of 1979 was probably due to the imposed Western standards oblivious to the
social, cultural and economic realities of Iranian society.
According
to the data just quoted, the scenario changed after the Islamic Revolution in
1979. This change has to be credited to the Islamic Revolution that has been
breaking down barriers responsible for withholding the opportunities for women
to participate in various sectors.
In
the present day, Iranian women are seen everywhere, baking bread at bakeries,
catering to guests at restaurants, selling pottery and carpets at craft
centers, attending to customers at different business establishments, etc.
Women
in this country can be seen driving trucks and also flying airplanes. Is this
not a significant change that has taken place in Iran and wondrously despite
the crippling sanctions that Western hegemonic powers have imposed on the
people of this country?
Also,
did Iranians not survive the devastating war imposed by the West-backed Saddam
regime, making headway on the road to progress despite hardships and
difficulties?
The
people of the world who are sensible and reasonable appreciate Iran’s Islamic
system and see it as a model for people who are being knocked by the
neo-imperialist hegemony.
Source:
IQNA
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Indian
woman lawyer sworn-in as judge amid protests
February
07, 2023
A
female senior advocate, accused of hate speech against Christians and Muslims,
has been appointed an additional judge of a top court in an Indian province
despite opposition from a section of lawyers.
Lekshmana
Chandra Victoria Gowri was sworn in as additional judge of the Madras High
Court in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Feb. 7 even as the top
court in the country was hearing a petition challenging the appointment.
The
Supreme Court later dismissed the petition which challenged Gowri’s appointment
on grounds that she was once an office-bearer of the women’s wing of the
pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, and on multiple occasions, had made
statements against Christians and Muslims in the country.
“I
would like to say Christian groups are more dangerous than Islamic groups. Both
are equally dangerous in the context of conversion, especially Love Jihad [a
term used for Muslim men marrying girls from other religions to promote
Islam]," she said in an interview.
Acting
Chief Justice of Madras High Court T Raja administered the oath of office and
secrecy to Gowri and four others as a section of lawyers protested on the
premises.
The
Supreme Court collegium comprising five judges with the Chief Justice of India
as its head on Jan. 17 recommended Gauri’s name.
Lawyers
from Tamil Nadu on Feb. 1 wrote letters to President DroupadiMurmu and the
Supreme Court collegium against her appointment.
“Now
that she has taken oath as a judge we expect she will work for upholding the
constitution and its principles of secularism,” said a Catholic lawyer, who did
not want to be named.
He
told UCA News on Feb. 7 that people make certain remarks in a particular
situation but that does not mean they will not do justice while in a
constitutional office like a judge.
“We
believe that people change after taking the oath,” the lawyer said.
"During
her swearing-in, Victoria Gowri pledged to work toward the liberation of
marginalized communities and to promote unity in India," reported The
Times of India.
In
India, the Supreme Court collegium recommends the names of advocates to be
appointed as judges in higher courts.
The
federal government, however, sometimes returns certain names for
reconsideration if it has reservations. Once they are reaffirmed by the
collegium, the government is duty-bound to appoint them as judges.
The
federal government, however, is known to
delay the appointments in some such cases.
However,
when it came to Justice Gowri, there was no delay from the federal government,
which is headed by the BJP, lawyers familiar with the inside developments said.
Source:UCANews
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-woman-lawyer-sworn-in-as-judge-amid-protests/100303
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Calcutta
woman ‘trafficked’ to Oman rescued
Snehamoy
Chakraborty
08.02.23
A
42-year-old woman from Calcutta, allegedly trafficked to Oman last month, was
rescued and sent back home on Monday night with the intervention of the office
of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
Sources
said that the woman from Calcutta was one among 200-odd women from the country,
including 30 from Bengal, trafficked to Oman.
“I
am home in Calcutta after a nightmarish 20 days. It was a trap and I was to be
sold for a bad purpose by the racket in Oman.... I am grateful that the state
government arranged even my return airfare,” said the college dropout who lives
in Calcutta with her elderly and ailing father.
A
source said after the state government contacted the embassy in Oman with help
of the external affairs department, the embassy official with help of local
police rescued five women, including the one from Calcutta.
This
Calcutta resident was accompanied by four women, including two from Punjab. One
of the women from Punjab corroborated trafficking while speaking to The
Telegraph on Tuesday. “I went there six months ago with an agent’s help. The
racket has agents in all states of India, which is how women have been
trapped,” said this woman from Punjab.
“They
seized our passports and there was no escape...,” added the Calcutta woman.
According
to her, she came in contact with an “agent” from Joynagar in South 24-Parganas
who offered her the job of a beauty professional with an excellent salary
(around Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh a month) in Oman and took Rs 13 lakh as a fee to
complete the formalities.
The
agent sent her to Assam’s Guwahati from where she, along with another woman,
flew to Oman on January 15.
“From
Muscat airport, I was taken to a place where I saw at least 200 Indian women. I
came to know about the racket from them. I tried to get in touch with the
Indian embassy but the head of the racket, Faiz, came to know of it. My phone
was taken away and a group of men tortured me,” she said.
Using
another woman’s phone, she managed to contact someone she knew who helped her
get in touch with social worker Samirul Islam, secretary of Bangla Sanskriti
Mancha.
“I
collected her details and emailed the offices of the chief minister and chief
secretary. I got an immediate response from the state government,” said Islam.
He added the Centre should have a database of every migrant worker going
abroad, with the embassy keeping tabs.
Bengal
police were searching for the Joynagar agent, sources said.
Source:TelegraphIndia
https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/calcutta-woman-trafficked-to-oman-rescued/cid/1915014
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Qatar
participates in 42nd session of Arab Women's Committee
FEBRUARY
08, 2023
The
General Secretariat of the Arab League held a two-day meeting for the 42nd
session of the Arab Women's Committee at the ministerial level, with the participation
of Qatar. Qatar's delegation to the meeting was headed by Director of Family
Affairs Department at the Ministry of Social Development and the Family Najat
Daham al-Abdullah.
The
Arab League said in a statement Tuesday that the meeting addressed several
issues on the empowerment of women and the advancement of their status at the
Arab level, the most important of which is the preparation for the 67th session
of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), and the launch of the
results of the first regional review of the agenda for women's development in
the Arab region.
The
Arab League added that the session also addressed regional and international
co-operation in promoting and empowering women, as well as following up on the
implementation of the joint regional initiative with the UN Women's Commission
on the economic empowerment of women in the green economy, in addition to
women's issues, security, peace, combating terrorism, the Arab Women Mediators
Network for peace, and combating violence against women.
The
Arab League expressed its keenness to hold meetings of the Arab Women's
Committee at the beginning of February of each year, coinciding with Arab
Women's Day, which falls on Feb 1, and based on the Arab League's keenness to
pay attention to issues of women's rights and empowerment.
On
the sidelines of the meeting, the General Secretariat of the Arab League held a
virtual preparatory meeting to discuss the draft Arab statement, which will be
presented at the 67th session of the United Nations CSW under the title
'Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for
achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.'
The
Arab League pointed out that holding this preparatory meeting came in
co-operation with the regional office of the UN Women Regional Office for the
Arab States (ROAS), under the presidency of Iraq (the current chair of the
committee) and with the participation of ministers and heads of national
mechanisms concerned with women's affairs from 18 Arab countries, with the aim
of coming up with an Arab vision for the advancement of Arab women by working
to achieve gender equality and empowering women and girls.
For
her part, Assistant Secretary General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector at
the Arab League Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh expressed appreciation for the
joint Arab effort in enriching the Arab statement issued by the meeting, and
paying attention to the status of women's issues in situations such as being in
asylum, displacement and under occupation in the context of technology, and
women with disabilities, especially visual impairment, as well as adapting to
climate change and environmental disasters in the context of digital age.
Ambassador
Abu Ghazaleh stressed the importance of linking the issue of gender equality
and achieving peace and security in the context of technology, especially in
light of the development of a new programme for peace at the international
level in preparation for the future summit.
Source:GulfTimes
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Saudi
Arabia reveals face of 2,000-year-old woman from AlUla
8
Feb 2023
Saudi
Arabia has revealed the reconstruction of ‘Hinat’, a Nabataean woman, displayed
at the Hegra Welcome Centre at AlUla. Visitors can meet Hinat, starting Monday.
The
reconstruction is modeled on the remains of the woman, who was first discovered
in 2015 in a 2000-year-old tomb in Hegra.
“This
tomb has a very nice inscription carved on its facade, which says it belonged
to a woman called Hinat,” Lebanese-French archeologist Laila Nehme, the
director of the project, told National Geographic.
Hinat
was reconstructed in the United Kingdom in 2019, and was funded by the Royal
Commission of AlUla.
A
team of experts were involved in the reconstruction, which began with the
rebuilding of bone fragments in the tomb. The team then reconstructed an image
of her appearance using archaeological and anthropological data.
A
sculptor the brought Hinat’s face to life using a 3D printer.
The
Nabataeans was an ancient Arab civilization, that inhabited the Levant and
northern Arabia, more that 2,000 years go. Petra was the capital of their
kingdom and was known for its spice, medicine and fabric trade.
“The
Nabataeans are a bit of a mystery: We know a lot, but at the same time we know
very little because they didn’t leave any literary texts or records,” Nehme
said, adding “excavating this tomb was a wonderful opportunity to learn more
about their idea of the afterlife.”
Source:ArabianBusiness
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Kuwait
women’s handball team loses to India
February
07, 2023
KUWAIT
CITY, Feb 7: The Kuwaiti women’s handball team lost to India 41 to 15 in the
match that was held in Al-Hussein Youth City in the Jordanian capital, Amman,
in AFC President’s Cup. Currently four teams are participating in this event
which will end on February 14.
The
head of the women’s committee in the Kuwaiti Handball Federation, Dr. Al-Jazi
Al-Monis, stressed in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the importance
of competitions is to gain experience for the Kuwaiti women’s team and provide
an opportunity to exposure with better teams as most of the players are
juniors.
Al-Moanes
said that the Indian national team is one of the strong teams and has already
qualified for the World Cup.
Source:ArabTimesOnline
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/kuwait-womens-handball-team-looses-to-india/
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Pakistani
films show women as vulnerable and in need of saving: Mehwish Hayat
February
07, 2023
Mehwish
Hayat is one of the most versatile actors in Pakistan. From starring in
high-grossing comedies such as London Nahi Jaunga and Actor in Law to her debut
in Hollywood with the much-acclaimed series Ms. Marvel, Hayat has cultivated
herself as a brilliant talent in the entertainment fraternity.
Ms.
Marvel's third episode, Time and Again, helmed by Pakistan's Oscar-winning
filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was dubbed one of the Best TV episodes of 2022.
And, of course, The Mirza Malik Show hosts Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik did not
shy away from asking Hayat about her entry to the Hollywood world.
Speaking
about her experience working on such a massive project, Hayat said, "Oh,
It was such a wonderful experience! First of all, being a girl from Karachi and
going all the way to Hollywood was unimaginable. I always knew I was capable of
it and when I was offered the role, I was really overwhelmed because for us
Pakistanis, getting such a huge representation on such a massive platform is a
big deal! I think it was a great honour and privilege."
She
then went on to highlight the difference between production ethics in Pakistan
and Hollywood. "The way everyone in Hollywood is so professional from
start to finish, and the scale of production in Ms. Marvel was insane!
Honestly, I wished it never ended and I just wanted to live there on the set.
Everything used to be on time there in comparison to Pakistan, where actors are
punctual but the shoot starts two hours later," detailed the Na MaloomAfraad
star.
Hayat
also expressed her admiration for the superstar Fawad Khan. Upon being asked
about her co-star, she said, "So Fawad and I had never worked together
before Ms.Marvel. Our fans always used to ask, why am I not pairing up with
Fawad and vice versa and it took us a Hollywood project to work with each
other! And the fact that everyone around the world loved our chemistry and
honestly he's so professional and good to work with, it did not take time to
build up a connection onscreen."
Moving
on, Mirza mentioned Punjab Nahi Jaungi was the first Pakistani film she watched
in a cinema. She also pointed out how Hayat's transition from playing the
damsel in distress role in films to Aisha in Ms.Marvel was quite remarkable.
Responding to this, the Load Wedding actor said, "It's quite unfortunate
that Pakistani films show women as vulnerable and in need of saving. They are
only present in the story to add glamour and aesthetic but mostly their
characters won't be substantial or different. I think Aisha's character in Ms.
Marvel as Kamal Khan's great-grandmother had a lot to add to the story."
Hayat
further added, "If a South Korean show can be the most-watched series on
Netflix, I think South Asians can also take the chance too. We have so many
stories to offer the world."
Up
close and personal
During
the interview, Hayat also mentioned how she does not believe in sharing
everything on public profiles. "People extensively post on social media
from where they are travelling to their food and what gym they go to and I have
nothing against this, but I prefer keeping my private life behind the curtain
and continuing to have a proper professional image. However, you can't escape
it so at one point you have to be part of social media too. So, I try to post
about issues I really believe should be voiced out in public," revealed
the star.
She
also emphasised the massive influence of social media following. "I think
celebrities like myself have such a big platform that can have a massive impact
on viewers so I think we all should use it wisely. We have so much respect and
honour in this world which we should take notice of and spread more positivity
through our words and actions," advised Hayat.
Moving
onto a lighter topic, Hayat then revealed how she wasn't always a feminine
icon. "I was definitely a tomboy while growing up. I have two older
brothers and one who's younger, so I have only grown up around men," she
said.
Before
concluding the conversation, Hayat then mentioned how, unlike most stars, she
cannot hold strict diet regimes. "I cannot diet, it's one of the major
things I struggle with as I love food, especially desi cuisine and that's a
huge problem when I have a project signed up," said the Unsuni actor.
Source:Tribune
Pakistan
--------
Pregnant
woman rescued 40 hours after quakes hit southern Türkiye
FEB
08, 2023
Apregnant
woman was rescued on Tuesday, 40 hours after quakes hit southern Türkiye.
NehirIlkova,
who is nine months pregnant, was rescued in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of 7.7
and 7.6 magnitudes earthquakes, by teams sent from Istanbul's Ümraniye
municipality.
The
municipality said its teams are continuing search and rescue efforts.
At
least 5,434 people have been killed and 31,777 injured after the tremors jolted
southern Türkiye on Monday, according to Health Minister FahrettinKoca.
Although
Kahramanmaraş was the epicenter of the earthquakes, it has affected 10
provinces. The tremors were also felt in neighboring Syria, inflicting
widespread damage.
Source:DailySabah
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Female
blogger teaches Saudi women everything about cars
February
07, 2023
Nada
Hambazaza, the first female Auto Consultant and Car Reviewer based in Saudi
Arabia, uses Likee, one of the region’s most popular short video platforms, to
educate women about cars.
Hambazaza
uses short videos to educate women about how to improve their driving. Her
videos provide practical advice and tips on how to drive safely, maintain
vehicles, and handle common problems that women face on the road. Her videos
have been widely shared across social media platforms and have helped to empower
and educate Arab women not only in the GCC but across the globe.
Hambazaza
has had a lifelong fascination for cars, driving and auto mechanics. She used
to observe her uncle as she was growing up and learn about vehicle mechanics
from him, and she later began to educate herself about everything related to
cars. Hambazaza, who spent her teenage summers in Lebanon, took up the
opportunity to obtain her driver's licence at the age of 17 and was able to
convert it to Saudi Arabia after the government formally permitted women to
drive.
Male
domination
Hambazaza
observed that male presenters and influencers predominated in automotive
reviews in Saudi Arabia, as they did largely across the region. She seized the
opportunity to closely observe her friend as he began curating car reviews and
concluded that she should attempt to conduct car reviews in her own unique and
distinctive manner.
This
gave her the chance to put her love of cars and all the knowledge she had
acquired over the years to good use. And so, Hambazaza started making a video
and worked with her husband on editing. Nada then created her first social
media account on a platform for short videos and published the video, which
received over 1 million views in just 30 minutes. Seeing the response from people,
Hambazaza was thrilled about her new adventure on social media.
Beginning
out, she did her research to find women with similar content within the Arab
region but was unable to find anyone. Nada only encountered
"Supercarblondie," a well-known female automotive content maker,
outside of the region, and this inspired her even more to improve the
representation of women in the automotive industry.
Volkswagen
Owners Club
Hambazaza
coordinated the first gathering of female Volkswagen owners throughout the GCC
in Abu Dhabi in 2018 as the Vice President of the Volkswagen Owners Club in
KSA. She introduced the club's mission during the occasion in her capacity as
its official spokeswoman before starting to talk about her experiences and
accomplishments as a woman in Saudi Arabia.
She
was given the title of "Auto Consultant" by the Volkswagen Chief
after the event, which received extensive media coverage in the area. Nada
claims that it was thanks to this experience that she was able to establish
herself as the first Saudi woman to publish auto reviews on her own social
media channel and get widespread recognition online.
Soon
after beginning to publish car reviews on social media, Hambazaza noticed that
women drove a little differently than others and discovered that this was
because women were mostly taught the basics of how to drive a car rather than
the practical manner of driving on the streets. Her friends, who weren't as
well-versed in cars, began approaching Hambazaza for help on common car
problems, as well as, strange noises and lights that would occasionally emerge
on their dashboards while they were driving.
Training
women
The
lack of knowledge of her friends made Hambazaza aware of the significance of
training women on the fundamentals of driving and car maintenance. This gave
rise to the idea of developing material for a platform to provide information
about the standards of driving, security and safety advice, and solutions to
resolve minor car issues.
She
received overwhelmingly enthusiastic feedback from all of her viewers, the
local media, and even the KSA General Directorate of Traffic after publishing
this series of informative content under the title of ‘To Drive Safely.’
Through
the use of short-form videos, Hambazaza has been able to break through
boundaries and bring about significant change in her community while offering a
new viewpoint and voice in a field that has traditionally male-dominated.
Recognition
Hambazaza
has gained recognition from fans across the Arab world by sharing educational
automotive content on platforms like Likee, where thousands of viewers have
interacted with her videos. She has gotten a lot of nice feedback from her fans
throughout time, which has motivated and inspired her to keep sharing content.
Speaking
from her own experience, Hambazaza also said that she thinks that platforms
such as Likee help educate women about car maintenance and repairs, which she
feels is required within the region.
For
people who would like to express their ideas and opinions about things they
believe would benefit society, short form videos have been able to become an
ideal space where they can share their thoughts freely and connect with
like-minded people. By expressing her passion and realising the importance of
educating women about cars, Hambazaza has been able to amass a significant
following across her social media. As social media continues to play an
important role in the lives of people in the Middle East, short form video
tools will likely continue to be a powerful tool for driving positive change in
the region.
Source:TradeArabia
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/MTR_406134.html
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