Priyanka Gandhi Sports ’Bangladesh’ Bag with The Message ‘Stand with Minorities of Bangladesh’
New Age Islam News Bureau
17 December 2024
· Priyanka Gandhi Sports ’Bangladesh’ Bag with The Message ‘Stand with Minorities of Bangladesh’
· Former Afghan Mayor, ZarifaGhafari, Advocates for Girls and Women
· Deprived of Education, Afghan Girls Face Forced Marriages and Abuse
· Cultural Events On International Muslim Women's Day InHajjah
· Two Killed by Female Student in Shooting at US Christian School
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/priyanka-gandhi-bangladesh-minorities/d/134051
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Priyanka Gandhi Sports ’Bangladesh’ Bag with The Message ‘Stand with Minorities of Bangladesh’
17 Dec 2024
New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra carries a handbag with the word ’Palestine’ written on it during ongoing Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI)
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Amid the ongoing controversy over Priyanka Gandhi carrying pro-Palestine bags to Parliament, the Congress MP, along with other party leaders, carried another tote bag on Tuesday with ‘Bangladesh’ messages on it.
The opposition leaders protested outside Parliament on Tuesday with jute bags printed with the message ‘Stand with Minorities of Bangladesh’. In the video, shared by news agency, Asian News International, Congress leaders can be seen carrying placards and tote bags displaying messages against atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh.
The Opposition leaders can be heard shouting slogans like “We want Justice in Bangladesh”, “Pradhanmantrijawab do”, etc.
A day ago, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi stirred controversy after she carried a bag to show support for the people of Palestine. The bag had “Palestine” emblazoned on it. She also raised her voice against Israel's action in Gaza.
While sharing the video of party leaders protesting outside Parliament, Congress lashed out at the Centre and stated that “Modi” government is silent on incidents of “atrocities against minorities, Hindus and Christians” which are continuously coming to light in Bangladesh.
“Today, Congress MPs protested in the Parliament premises, demanding protection of Hindus, Christians and minorities in Bangladesh,” Congress wrote in its post.
Raise voice against atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh, says Gandhi
On Monday, Priyanka Gandhi urged the Centre to raise voice against ‘atrocities’ committed against minorities in Bangladesh. The Congress leader advocated that the Indian government should hold talks with Bangladesh and “raise its voice against the atrocities committed against the Hindu and Christian minorities”.
"The government should raise the issue of atrocities against minorities, both Hindus and Christians, in Bangladesh. Should discuss this with the Bangladesh government and support those who are in pain," she said at the Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour.
Source:livemint.com
https://www.livemint.com/politics/news/pakistan-politician-priyanka-gandhi-carrying-palestine-bag-to-parliament-stood-tall-israel-gaza-war-11734412820537.html
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Former Afghan Mayor, ZarifaGhafari, Advocates for Girls and Women
December 16, 2024
Jason Koski/Cornell University
Zarifa Ghafari, now a master's student in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, became a target of the Taliban when she served as one of Afghanistan's first female mayors.
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Even before she took office in 2019, ZarifaGhafari – the youngest and one of the only female mayors to serve in Afghanistan – became a target of the Taliban. She survived multiple assassination attempts, and in 2020, her father was fatally shot outside his home.
She fled the country with her family in August 2021, when the Taliban took control, and was heartbroken a month later, when she watched from Germany as the new regime banned secondary education for girls. She’s since dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of girls and women living under Taliban rule.
“The future of countless young girls was dismantled so abruptly, and years of hard-won progress appeared to vanish overnight,” said Ghafari, now a master’s student in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. “My immediate reaction was a torrent of anger, deep sadness, a sense of profound injustice.”
Before becoming mayor of Maidan Shahr, the capital city in conservative Wardak Province, Ghafari established Assistance and Promotion for Afghan Women, an organization dedicated to uplifting Afghan women, and ran Peghla FM Radio, which broadcast information across Wardak Province about women’s rights, politics, economics and social development. Since leaving Afghanistan, she’s become a vocal human rights activist and advocate, working to raise awareness of the current plight of Afghan girls and women.
In 2019, she was included on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s list of 100 Inspiring and Influential Women and was honored in 2020 by the U.S. secretary of state as an International Woman of Courage. In 2022, she also published a memoir, “Zarifa: A Woman’s Battle in a Man’s World,” and was the focus of a 2022 Netflix documentary, “In Her Hands.”
“Zarifa’s story is one of commitment and determination in the face of great personal risk – and her advocacy on behalf of Afghan girls and women is the epitome of doing ‘the greatest good,’” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff. “We’re honored to have her as part of the Cornell community.”
While the situation in Afghanistan has changed, Ghafari’s conviction about the importance of education for Afghan girls and women has not – and she plans to use her time in Ithaca and her Cornell degree to continue the fight.
“I’m here to learn more about policy-making and implementation,” she said. “Cornell also has a great network, and I want to raise awareness and get broader support for women in Afghanistan.”
With the Organization for Afghan Students, Ghafari participated in a rally on Dec. 9 and hopes to establish opportunities for Afghan girls and women at Cornell.
“We are very proud to have a global human rights leader like Zarifa as part of our Brooks School community,” said Thomas O’Toole, executive director of public affairs programming for the Brooks School. “We hope she will acquire tools that will support her advocacy and political work, and that she will become connected to a network of Cornellians who can fight by her side.”
Taking the risk
When Ghafari was 7 or 8, she noticed that she was being treated differently than her brothers – and she didn’t like it.
“There were restrictions around my life more and more, and I looked at myself and my brothers, and I didn’t understand. I was a human being with full humanity and so were they,” Ghafari said. “I thought, what’s the possible way to get out of this? And the answer was: I needed to be well-educated. That was the starting point.”
She attended primary and secondary school in Afghanistan, and then earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in India. In 2018, back in Afghanistan, her fiancé (now husband) suggested she put her name in the running for mayor of Maidan Shahr – a city where women and girls are scarcely seen in the streets, never mind in public office.
“It wasn’t a clear decision for me when I started,” Ghafari said. “But as soon as my name was announced on the longlist, I felt there was a movement against me, and I felt that there was something I am able to do that no one else can do.”
Nine months of protests and threats followed Ghafari’s appointment and prevented her from even entering her office. Once installed, she endured constant threats, survived numerous assassination attempts and feared for her life, but she turned down offers from the central Afghan government for a safer position.
“I felt I needed to take the risk, to continue in the path of other women and break down barriers,” she said.
In November 2020, her father, an Afghan Army colonel, was assassinated by Taliban militants on the street outside the family home in Kabul. Ghafari grieved and questioned, but, with her mother’s encouragement, decided to stay on in her position.
“Even though my dad had trouble pushing back on the social norms around him, he was not a dark-minded person. He wanted me to grow, to shine,” Ghafari said. “And my mother told me to keep up my struggle.”
Even after the Taliban took control in 2021, Ghafari did not want to leave Afghanistan, but she did so for her family, especially her mother and four sisters. Now, Ghafari said she mourns, continuously, the Taliban’s swift reversal of the progress made by her and others. The most recent setback was in early December, when the Taliban banned medical training for women.
“This was the last hope for every girl,” Ghafari said. “I know women who were doctors, engineers, with big educational backgrounds who were enrolled in these institutions ... now they have nothing. It’s heartbreaking.”
Ghafari is part of a group of international leaders raising their voices and lobbying on behalf of Afghan girls and women while also collecting evidence of the gender apartheid emerging under the Taliban’s rule. Their advocacy has gotten the attention of the International Criminal Court, which may issue arrest warrants for Taliban leaders for their policies impacting women and girls.
At Cornell, Ghafari is using her coursework to create a firmer foundation for her activism, studying the impact of women’s education on global development and how policies in Afghanistan have impacted its trajectory.
“Coming from Afghanistan, with the situation there now, to studying here in this class – no one appreciates the privilege more, the contribution the class and the subjects could make to my work, to my country,” Ghafari said.
Source:cornell.edu
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/12/former-afghan-mayor-now-student-advocates-girls-and-women
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Deprived of education, Afghan girls face forced marriages and abuse
By Sharif Amiry
Dec 17, 2024
Ziba, (pseudonym),former university student and victim of forced marriage.
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KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban’s ban on education for girls above sixth grade and women in universities has forced many young women into marriages they neither wanted nor consented to, as families struggle with the restrictive environment.
Ziba, a 21-year-old former university student, is one such victim. Forced into marriage after the Taliban shut down universities, she endured a year of physical and emotional abuse from her husband and his family. She now lives in hiding, separated from her husband, with little hope of justice.
“I was a student who worked hard to get into university,” Ziba said, speaking under a pseudonym. “But when the universities closed, my family arranged my marriage to the son of a tribal elder in our province of Badghis. For over 11 months, I faced beatings and violence because my dreams and way of thinking didn’t align with my husband’s.”
Her dowry was set at 500,000 Afghanis (around $5,800), a sum paid to her family by her husband’s. Despite her efforts to seek legal recourse, Ziba found herself trapped in a system that heavily favors men.
“When I went to court to seek a separation, they sided with him because of his connections,” she said. “The judge said a Muslim woman must have a male guardian, and since I didn’t, they forced me to return to my husband’s house.”
Ziba eventually fled to another province, where she now lives in precarious conditions with acquaintances. “If there were a place where women’s rights were respected, my situation—and that of many others—would be different,” she said.
Two years since university closures
This Thursday marks the second anniversary of the Taliban’s closure of universities for women, a move that further deepened the marginalization of Afghan women and girls. Nearly three years have passed since the Taliban prohibited girls from secondary education, leaving millions in limbo.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that at least 1.4 million girls have been denied access to secondary education since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. This number has risen by 300,000 since April 2023, as more girls reach the age of 12, the cutoff for attending school under Taliban rules.
“Allow girls to study. Let girls pursue education,” one female university student said, calling on the Taliban to reverse their ban. “Girls, like men, have the right to education, the right to work, and the right to dream.”
An uncertain future for Afghanistan’s women
For many Afghan women, the Taliban’s education ban has become a source of profound mental and emotional distress. Several former university students described feeling hopeless, as their ambitions and futures have been taken away.
“The ban on education has destroyed our dreams,” one student said. “We’re left with no path forward.”
The ban has also increased the risk of forced and early marriages, as families grapple with societal pressure and limited opportunities for their daughters. Young women like Ziba are often treated as economic or social liabilities, especially when they can no longer pursue an education or career.
Ziba’s story is emblematic of a broader crisis. Without legal protections or access to education, Afghan women are increasingly vulnerable to forced marriages, domestic abuse, and systemic oppression.
“Girls in Afghanistan deserve better,” Ziba said. “They deserve the chance to dream, to study, and to live lives free from violence and despair.”
Source:amu.tv
https://amu.tv/144483/
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Cultural Events On International Muslim Women's Day In Hajjah
16 Dec 2024
Hajjah (Saba): The Women's Cultural Authority in Hajjah Governorate organized various cultural events on the International Muslim Women's Day (the birth of Al-Zahra, peace be upon her).
The speeches emphasized the importance of joy, happiness and celebration of the birth of the Lady of the Women of the Worlds.
Source:saba.ye
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3410237.htm
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Two Killed By Female Student In Shooting At US Christian School
Dec.17, 2024
A student opened fire at a private Christian school in the US state of Wisconsin, injuring six people and killing a teacher and teenaged student.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes identified the attacker on Monday night as a 15-year-old female student at the school.
Authorities say the attacker was in attendance at Abundant Life Christian School before opening fire and was found dead at the scene. Six students were injured, including two who suffered life-threatening injuries.
A second grade student was the first to call in the active shooter report, according to Chief Barnes.
"Today is a sad day not only for Madison, for our entire country," Chief Barnes said. "We have to do a better job in our community."
He added the police had not identified a motive in the shooting, and the suspect's family was co-operating with the investigation.
He said it is not yet clear how the attacker got hold of a firearm.
He named the alleged attacker as Natalie Rupnow, who also went by the name Samantha. She is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The official cause of death will be released by the Dane County Medical Examiner pending autopsy results.
Chief Barnes said that, to his current knowledge, police had not had any prior interactions with the alleged shooter.
Officers responded to a 911 call of a shooter at the Christian school around 11:00 local time (17:00GMT) on Monday. The attacker attended school before the shooting, Chief Barnes said.
The shooting was confined to a study hall with students in mixed grades.
Barbara Wiers, director of relations at the school, said the school had conducted active shooter training earlier this year and the information was "very fresh" for educators to put into practice on Monday.
She said while the school does not have a dedicated police officer, known as a school resource officer, the doors of all classrooms automatically lock and anyone wanting to gain entry to the campus must be buzzed in through the primary entrance.
MsWiers, who said she was teaching at the time of the attack, said students handled themselves "brilliantly".
"They were clearly scared," she said. "When they heard 'lockdown, lockdown' and nothing else, they knew it was real."
Police say they found the shooter dead when they arrived at the school, along with a handgun. No officers fired weapons.
Police have not named any of the victims.
Chief Barnes said two students were in critical but stable condition in the hospital facing life-threatening injuries. Four others were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, two of whom have since been released.
Authorities have appealed for witnesses who saw or heard the attack to come speak to police, and that they hope these accounts will shed light on the attacker's motive.
"But that's not something we want to rush. We're not gonna interrogate students," Chief Barnes said. "We're gonna give them an opportunity to come in and tell us what they saw when they're ready."
He added that "ever child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever".
The chief said officers responded to the school as they were undergoing training at a training centre for law enforcement located three miles away.
"What began as a training day became an actual day," he said.
The shooting also resulted in a large response from emergency officials. Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said 15 ambulances respond.
Officials from the FBI also responded, as well as other federal and local law enforcement officials.
The Abundant Life Christian School has around 400 students ranging from kindergarten through high school.
"Please pray for our Challenger Family," the school wrote in a post on Facebook. The post quickly received hundreds of comments of support from people across the US.
The school remains closed while police continue their investigation.
"This has been a rough day for our city," said Chief Barnes.
"This is going to be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of all those from Madison."
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said that he was closely monitoring the situation and praying for everyone involved. He also ordered that flags fly at half mast on state buildings.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the shooting was "shocking and unconscionable".
"Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover," said Biden, who also called on Congress to act immediately on legislation that could prevent more gun violence.
Shootings are common in the US, and schools are no exception.
The K-12 Violence Project, a non-profit working on reducing violence through accessible and actionable research, has counted more than 300 shootings in 2024. These include events where a gun is brandished or fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims.
According to the news organizationEducationWeek, 38 school shootings have resulted in deaths or injuries across the US this year. There were a total of 69 victims - including 16 deaths - before today's shooting.
Mass shootings by females are far less common, however. School shootings committed by female attackers are even less common.
In a blog post last year, K-12 School Shooting Database founder David Riedman wrote that the vast majority of school shooters are males in their teens or early 20's. However, at least four planned school shootings were by female attackers dating back to 1979.
Source:bbc.com
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg13lz9zn4o
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/priyanka-gandhi-bangladesh-minorities/d/134051