Protest In Munich Demands Iran To Annul Death Sentences Against Three Women Activists, Warisha Muradi, Pakhshan Azizi, And Sharifa Mohammadi
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 April 2025
• Protest In Munich Demands Iran To Annul Death Sentences Against Three Women Activists, Warisha Muradi, Pakhshan Azizi, And Sharifa Mohammadi
• Living In Odisha For Three Decades, Pakistan-Born Woman, SharadaKukreja, Gets Exit Notice: ‘Have No One There’
• Pakistani And Indian Women Married To Indians And Pakistanis Stranded At Attari-Wagah Border Amid Visa Row
• Delhi HC Refuses To Entertain Pakistani Woman's Plea Over Visa
• Solving Crime: How A WhatsApp Call Helped Police Nab Pakistani Woman Residing Illegally With Her Husband In Bengaluru
• Afghanistan’s University Entrance Exams To Start Without Women For Fourth Year
• The Manipulation Of Arab And Muslim Women’s Representation By Western Media
• Caleb University Dismisses Alleged Restriction, Discrimination Against Female Muslim Candidate As Fake
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/protest-munich-sentences-against-women/d/135330
-----
Protest In Munich Demands Iran To Annul Death Sentences Against Three Women Activists, Warisha Muradi, Pakhshan Azizi, And Sharifa Mohammadi
27 April 2025
The Iranian state’s wave of arrests and detentions targeting Kurdish citizens and activists continues unabated. Amid increasing repression, a demonstration was organized by the Kurdish Community Assembly in Munich.
During the protest, a call was made for the annulment of the death sentences issued against imprisoned women activists Warisha Muradi, Pakhshan Azizi, and Sharifa Mohammadi.
The action was organized in support of the "No to Executions on Tuesdays" campaign carried out by political prisoners in 38 prisons across Eastern Kurdistan and Iran.
At the event, statements were read and distributed in German. The declarations emphasized that the Iranian regime is intensifying its arrests and detentions against Kurds and activists, and accelerating the issuance of death sentences. Participants called for the immediate revocation of the death penalties against Warisha Muradi, Pakhshan Azizi, and Sharifa Mohammadi.
The organizers of the protest also called on the international community to raise its voice against executions and human rights violations in Iran.
Source: Anfenglish.Com
-----
Living In Odisha For Three Decades, Pakistan-Born Woman, SharadaKukreja, Gets Exit Notice: ‘Have No One There’
Apr 26, 2025
SharadaKukreja, a 53-year-old woman originally from Pakistan who has been residing in Odisha’s Bolangir district for the past 35 years after marrying an Indian citizen, made an emotional appeal on Saturday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan CharanMajhi, requesting not to be separated from her family after receiving a police notice to leave the country.
Sharada, originally from Sukkur city in Pakistan’s Sindh province, fled to India to escape forced conversion and marriage to a Muslim youth. She has been living in Bolangir district of Odisha for the past 35 years after marrying Mahesh Kumar Kukreja. Sharada is a mother of two — a son and a daughter — both of whom are now married.
When contacted, Bolangir Superintendent of Police Abilash G informed PTI that a notice has been issued to Sharada, asking her to leave the country "at the earliest." He clarified that the notice was served only to Sharada, not to her husband or children. Responding to SharadaKukreja's claim of possessing an Aadhaar card and having participated in elections, the SP stated, "The notice was issued based on existing records. We will need to verify the claims she is now presenting."
Sharada shared that she, along with her four sisters and five brothers, fled Pakistan fearing forced conversion and settled in Bolangir 35 years ago. All her siblings are now married and living in various parts of India. "We first arrived in Odisha’s Koraput district and later moved to Bolangir after my marriage. I have been living here for 35 years. I was just 18 when I got married in 1990," she said, adding that her family migrated to India on a 60-day visa in 1987. While all her family members have become Indian citizens, Sharada still holds a Pakistani passport, making her technically a citizen of Pakistan.
Sharada claimed that although she possesses an Aadhaar card and has voted in multiple elections, she is still not officially recognized as an Indian citizen. She expressed hope that she would be granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act but said it continues to remain out of reach. Fearing the possibility of being forced to leave the country and separated from her family at this stage of life, Sharada made an emotional appeal to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister to allow her to stay with her husband and children.
"If at all, the Indian government sends me back to Pakistan, where should I go, whom should I meet there? I have no one in that country. I have never visited Pakistan after 1987. Even I have not called anyone over the phone in Pakistan. Whom should I call? I have no connection with that country which failed to give me and my family protection," she said.
With a choked voice, Sharada said she cannot imagine living even a moment without her family. Her son, daughter, and grandchildren are equally distressed and are firmly against her being separated from them.
India announced on Thursday that all visas granted to Pakistani nationals would be cancelled effective April 27, and directed them to leave the country, amid rising tensions following the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed the lives of 26 people, most of them tourists.
Source: economictimes.com
-----
Pakistani And Indian Women Married To Indians And Pakistan is Stranded At Attari-Wagah Border Amid Visa Row
Harpreet Bajwa
27 Apr 2025
Dr Vikram Udasi waiting for his wife Priya (L); Rishi Kumar waiting for his wife Savita(Photo | Special Arrangement)
----------
CHANDIGARH: Indian women married to Pakistani nationals are facing a heart-wrenching ordeal, stranded at the Attari-Wagah Integrated Check-Post (ICP) after immigration authorities refused to let them leave the country.
This follows the Union Government’s order for all Pakistani nationals to exit India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
On the other side of the border, a similar ordeal is unfolding as many Pakistani women married to Indian nationals, who had gone to visit their families in Pakistan, are now stranded there. Despite holding valid documents, Pakistani authorities are not allowing them to leave the country and return to India to reunite with their spouses and families. Only their children with Indian passports are being permitted to travel back.
Dr Vikram Udasi from Jalgaon, Maharashtra, is waiting at the Attari border to receive his wife, Priya, a Pakistani national who had travelled to meet her family. Their four-year-old child, who holds an Indian passport, has been allowed to return, but Priya remains stranded across the border.
"She has been on a Long Term Visa (LTV) for the past eight years, which is valid until 2026. While announcing the suspension of visa services on April 23, Indian authorities had clarified that NORI (No Objection to Return to India) certificate holders with LTVs could return," Udasi said.
He added, "She went to meet her parents about 20 to 25 days ago. Now, Pakistani authorities are not allowing her to return to India because she holds a Pakistani passport. No one is giving a clear reason. Our four-year-old child, who has an Indian passport, is stuck there with her. I request both governments to talk and resolve this confusion so that we can reunite with our families. They are saying only the child can return to India as he holds an Indian passport."
He further said that they are suffering a lot and are deeply traumatised, as he has been waiting at the Attari border for the past few days to reunite with his wife and child. His wife flew from Karachi to Lahore on April 24, paying Rs 80,000 Pakistani currency for a ticket that normally costs Rs 25,000. She is now forced to spend Rs 4,500 per day on hotel accommodation in Lahore and an additional Rs 4,000 daily on taxi fares to travel to the Wagah border.
Udasi, who is now staying at a hotel in Amritsar, is paying around Rs 2,500 per day for accommodation and another Rs 1,000 daily for taxi fare from Amritsar to Attari, with uncertainty looming over when he will reunite with his family. He had earlier spent Rs 16,000 on a flight to Amritsar.
Another Indian national, Rishi Kumar from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, has also been stranded at the ICP Attari for the past few days. He said he rushed there after hearing about the 48-hour deadline, but Pakistani authorities are not allowing NORI certificate holders with long-term visas to cross into India, permitting only children with Indian passports to return.
Kumar questioned how minor children can travel without their mothers. He said his wife, Savita, hails from a town in Balochistan, about a 12-hour drive from Lahore, and they have been married for 13 years, with 10-year-old twins, Saysha and Revansh. Savita travels to Pakistan every two to three years to visit her parents. This time, she had gone about 12 days ago, and Kumar had accompanied her to Attari to drop her off.
He added that his wife informed him over the phone that around 50 Pakistani women married to Indian nationals were waiting at Wagah to cross into India, but Pakistani authorities were not allowing them despite their valid documents and visas, insisting that only Indian passport holders could cross over.
The NORI certificates are issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for brief visits to Pakistan, and holders are allowed to return to India without any restrictions, claimed both men.
Meanwhile, sources said that on Saturday, 75 Pakistani nationals crossed into Pakistan through the Attari border, while 335 Indian nationals who were in Pakistan on valid visas returned to India.
Source: www.newindianexpress.com
-----
Delhi HC refuses to entertain Pakistani woman's plea over visa
Apr 26, 2025
New Delhi, The Delhi High Court on Saturday refused to entertain a Pakistani woman's plea seeking a direction to the Centre to not suspend her residential permit and further extend the same.
Justice Sachin Datta, in a special hearing held during the day, said the decision of the Centre to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect from April 27 did not warrant any judicial review as it was impelled by serious national security considerations.
The Pakistani national, married to an Indian man, moved the court against the revocation of her visa and urged the court to direct the authorities to consider her request for a long-term visa.
"The aforesaid order has resulted in the revocation of the petitioner's visa and also inhibits processing of the petitioner's application seeking Long-Term Visa," the court said in its order.
"The petitioner essentially seeks to circumvent the consequence/s flowing from the aforesaid order dated 25.04.2025. Prima facie, the aforesaid order issued under Section 3 of the Foreigners Act, 1946 does not warrant any judicial review given that the issuance of the same was impelled by serious national security considerations," it observed.
The Centre suspended visa services to Pakistani nationals in the wake of the brazen Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
The petitioner informed the court that she had a residential permit which was valid from March 26 till May 9 and had applied for a Long-Term Visa on April 23 before the Bureau of Immigration.
In the order, the court noted that as per a Supreme Court decision, under the Foreigners Act, the Centre's power to expel foreigners from India was absolute and unfettered discretion.
Source: Www.Hindustantimes.Com
-----
Solving Crime: How a WhatsApp call helped police nab Pakistani woman residing illegally with her husband in Bengaluru
by Kiran Parashar
April 27, 2025
It wasn’t long before what began as a casual online game of Ludo escalated into love, and then cross-border crime involving a forged identity – a filmy story that unfortunately culminated in tears for the couple when intelligence agencies got wind of them.
In January 2023, the Bengaluru City police arrested Mulayam Singh Yadav, 24, and his wife Riya Yadav alias Iqra Jeewani, 19, following a surprise raid at their house near Sarjapur road in Bengaluru. The couple, who had been living there for some time, was very friendly with neighbours. No one was, however, aware that the affable Riya they knew was a Pakistani national.
It all began in 2019, when Iqra, a student from Hyderabad in Pakistan, often played online Ludo to unwind. One random match introduced her to Mulayam, a native of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh who had studied only till Class 12 and worked as a security guard in Bengaluru. From casual chats, their conversations led to a deep emotional connection, and the digital friendship saw love blossom.
Iqra, a student from Hyderabad in Pakistan, often played online Ludo to unwind. Iqra, a student from Hyderabad in Pakistan, often played online Ludo to unwind. (Express Photo)
The couple soon decided to live together and were ready to risk everything to make that happen. In September 2022, Mulayam hatched a plan to bring Iqra to India illegally and give her a new identity so they could live together for the rest of their lives.
Using all his savings and borrowing money from friends, he made Iqra travel from Pakistan to Dubai and then Nepal, where Iqra took on a new identity as Riya Yadav. In the shadow of the Himalayas, they married under Hindu rituals. He brought her across the border by bus and introduced her to his family and neighbours as Riya. She blended in easily, and the Urdu accent in her Hindi somehow went unnoticed.
The family celebrated the wedding in their hometown and Mulayam took her to Bengaluru to avoid any suspicion. In Bengaluru, the couple rented a modest home near the Ayyappa Temple in Junnasandra, Sarjapur Road. Mulayam resumed his job while Iqra managed the household. Neighbours described them as a quiet, loving pair. “They never fought. You wouldn’t suspect anything strange,” a neighbour told The Indian Express earlier. Even the landlord, Gopal Reddy, had no clue — the lease was through an agency.
Mulayam arranged for a fake Aadhaar card. In it, her name read “Riya Yadav” in English. In Kannada, however, a mistranslation led it to say “Rava Yadav”, but that too went unnoticed.
The two were doing well and Riya was happy with Mulayam. A police officer who was part of the investigation said Riya did not call her parents for some time. But as time passed, she felt the need to get in touch with them. Over WhatsApp, she made a call to her family, introducing Mulayam as ‘Sameer’, a Muslim man she had married. Her happiness was, however, short-lived.
That single act caught the eye of Indian intelligence officials and proved to be her undoing. Unfortunately for the couple, security agencies were on high alert at the time since the G20 Summit and Aero India 2023 were approaching, and extra attention was being paid to Bengaluru since it is a metropolitan city which draws global attention, an officer said.
The call came under suspicion, and authorities began to track Riya and Mulayam’s numbers. Riya’s calls led them to discover that she was a Pakistani national living illegally in India under a false identity. Intelligence agencies passed the information to the Bengaluru City police.
In the third week of January, Bellandur police stormed their home. Riya and Mulayam were arrested and her real name came to light. S Girish, then deputy commissioner of police, Whitefield, announced the arrests of Iqra, Mulayam and Gopal, the landlord.
The city police shared information with the Ministry of External Affairs. A police officer said, “Intelligence officials came down to Bengaluru and even checked her mobile phone and other details to see if she was a spy from Pakistan. After thorough verification, it became clear that it was just a love story.
Mulayam spent a few days in police custody before he was sent to ParappanaAgrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru. After confirming Iqra’s whereabouts in Pakistan, intelligence agencies found out that her family initially filed a missing complaint but withdrew it later.
After holding diplomatic talks, it was decided to drop the case against Iqra which would allow her to be deported from India. Iqra had been spending her days at a government shelter where her only request was to talk to her husband.
In February 2023, Iqra was deported to Pakistan but she was unaware of it till the very last minute. The woman police officer who handed over her custody at the border recalls that the moment Iqra got to know that she was being separated from Yadav, she cried inconsolably, begging them not to send her to Pakistan.
“She did not want to go back. When we started our journey from Bengaluru, we did not inform her about the deportation but said she was being taken for investigation and to get the passport and other documents. It was only after she saw Pakistan officials that she broke down and begged us to allow her talk to Shammu (Mulayam). We were in a huge dilemma. We had to follow the law and hand her over to our counterparts in Pakistan,” the officer recounted.
Before Iqra left, she passed on the contact numbers of her family members and asked them to give it to Mulayam. “She said she would wait for him forever and requested us to inform him to call once he comes out of jail,” a police officer added.
Meanwhile, Mulayam and Gopal were charged in the case. Mulayam was accused of creating false and forged documents. Both have since been released on bail and the case is in the trial stage.
Source: Indianexpress.Com
-----
Afghanistan’s university entrance exams to start without women for fourth year
by Ahmad Azizi
27-04-2025
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban-run National Examination Authority announced Sunday that the country’s 1404 Kankor university entrance exams will begin next month — once again excluding women and girls from participation for a fourth consecutive year.
The authority said the exams will be conducted in five phases from May 25 to July 10. In the first phase, starting May 25, the exams will be held in Maidan Wardak, Parwan, Panjshir, Paktika, Ghor, Daikundi, Logar, Kapisa, Ghazni, Baghlan, and Bamiyan provinces. Taliban officials stated they plan to enroll over 112,000 students in higher and semi-higher education institutions this year.
However, for the fourth consecutive year, the Taliban have excluded women and girls from sitting for the national entrance exams, continuing their broader policy of denying female students access to secondary and higher education. This year’s Kankor, like last year’s, will proceed only with male candidates.
The National Examination Authority made no mention of the future prospects for girls graduating from grade 12, many of whom remain in limbo without the ability to pursue higher education.
Abdul Baqi Haqqani, head of the Taliban-run examination body, said the exams will be offered in Pashto, Dari, Arabic, and English, and that all test materials have been prepared according to the current Taliban-controlled Ministry of Education curriculum.
The Taliban’s decision to bar girls from education has been widely condemned by the United Nations and human rights groups, who warn that Afghanistan is facing a “lost generation” of women. International reports have linked the education bans to rising rates of depression, early marriage, suicide, and economic hardship among Afghan women and girls.
Source: Amu.Tv
-----
The Manipulation Of Arab And Muslim Women’s Representation By Western Media
April 26, 2025
Western mainstream media reveals the use of gendered patterns to portray Muslim and Arab women, aiming to communicate the exoticism, irrationality, despotism, and backwardness of the Islamic religion and Middle Eastern societies. Such portrayals are narrated through a Western-centric perspective; a way to frame other cultures and beliefs that enhances an inherent difference between “us” and “them.” This editorial practice reinforces stereotypes of Islam as the “threatening Other” and depicts Muslim women as “the Other of the Other.”
Orientalism, as explained by Edward Said in his book Orientalism, is the mechanism of fabrication of the Orient, or “a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience.” It is constructed upon the Western cultural representation of the Orient that contains an ethnocentric vision of the world, regarding the East as a fundamentally inferior culture compared to the Western tradition.
The media’s attention to representations of Muslims and Arabs has largely centered on women, particularly highlighting the veil, hijab, and burqa as highly politicized symbols of oppression. The media often features news on issues and happenings in the Middle East with photos of Muslim and Arab women and girls. These women are hardly ever directly connected to the message and content of such news. This implies that these images serve purposes beyond simply illustrating the experiences of Muslim women to a Western audience. Hence, in the West, Arab and Muslim women have not only been categorized by gender, their bodies have also become symbols representing identity and distinction. The typical portrayal of Arab and Muslim women is the stereotypical one: the passive emblem of a collectivist society.
During the War on Terror, gendered orientalist narratives have been used to justify military intervention. The world has been divided between the “civilized” West and the “barbaric” East. Afghan and Iraqi women are presented as helpless victims under oppressive regimes. After U.S. intervention, however, the same women were depicted as liberated—lifting their veils and attending school—symbolizing the success of Western values. The coverage of Muslim women functions as a narrative tool to validate military and political action, framing the West as the rational savior and the East as the site of chaos and dysfunction.
Another representation that differs from the typical one of Arab and Muslim women as passive victims trapped in tragic circumstances is the portrayal of women as active political agents—political agents who are nevertheless misguided by authoritarian regimes and male influences and have therefore aligned themselves on the wrong side of the conflict. “Jihadi Brides” is the term used in many newspaper headlines to describe women who have chosen to marry violent fighters and have become involved in terrorist organizations; women who have been indoctrinated into believing extremist ideologies and led to commit horrific acts of terror in the name of the Islamic religion. Pictures of women holding rifles during protests or preparing for suicide bombings reinforce stereotypes and convey the idea of political abnormality and dysfunction associated with the Middle East and Islam; where women are subjugated by brutal and oppressive men and lack the mental capability required to make the right choice and understand which side of the conflict is the true legitimate one.
In Western media, Arab and Muslim women become reduced to static figures of helplessness or threats, lacking individual agency; victims whose abnormal life in a repressive society is depicted to highlight violence and terror. The veil presents a symbol of a misogynistic society, where women are silent and invisible. These images are not included to inform but to imply judgment serving to project cultural values and political standpoints that align with dominant Western ideologies. Whether depicted as passive victims or radicals, Muslim and Arab women are used to stir public indignation, affirm ideological superiority, and justify Western intervention not to advocate for their rights, but to affirm Western dominance and justify intervention. These depictions must be challenged in order to move towards peace between East and West.
Source: Theowp.Org
https://theowp.org/the-manipulation-of-arab-and-muslim-womens-representation-by-western-media/
-----
Caleb University Dismisses Alleged Restriction, Discrimination Against Female Muslim Candidate As Fake
By ApataOyeniran
Apr 26, 2025
The Authority of Caleb University, Imota Lagos, has dismissed the alleged rumour of discrimination against a female Muslim candidate in the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as fake and unfounded.
OlawaleAdekoya, the Information, Media and Publication Specialist, in a statement titled: “Fake News On Alleged Discrimination Against A Muslim Candidate At The Ongoing JAMB UTME Examination In Caleb University” stated, “Caleb University as an institution or any member of her staff, has absolutely nothing to do with the said incident.”
The statement added, “Caleb University Imota Lagos, Africa’s best private university in research and entrepreneurship development and the first bachelor’s degree awarding private university in Lagos State, wishes emphatically to address a piece of fake news and malicious rumour circulating about alleged discrimination against a Muslim candidate during the ongoing 2025/2026 JAMB Examination, as follows:
” …. We are not JAMB, and the Institution only provided a centre for an examination conducted by JAMB. The examination is not a Caleb University Examination. Hence, we do not have control over the exercise.
“Caleb University is only one of the numerous JAMB Accredited CBT Centres in the country. The UTME is organised, controlled, and managed by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, empowered by the Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
According to the institution, “Our investigation revealed that a female NSCDC Officer assigned by JAMB for a security check wanted to search a female Muslim candidate, who covered her head with a veil (commonly known as Hijab), but she refused bluntly. She was nevertheless allowed to proceed to sit for her examination. The Officer did not ask the candidate to remove her hijab.
“At Caleb University, our admission records in the last 18 admission years show clearly that we admit students solely on merit irrespective of religion or tribe. Consequently, we categorically disassociate ourselves from the fictitious claim and assure the general public that as a responsible corporate entity, we uphold the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Our Core Values, policies and practices are meticulously packaged to ensure equal treatment and respect for all individuals, irrespective of tribe, race, religion or social status.
Caleb University, in the statement, stated that the incident was strictly between a JAMB candidate and an ad-hoc JAMB Official mobilised from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
“For emphasis and clarification, .. ultimately, the Candidate was not made to remove her hijab, and no case was instituted by any candidate before, during, or after the examination yesterday. Today is Day Two of the examination, and the exercise is progressing seamlessly without any rancour.”
The University promises to continue to be proactive in advancing primarily the welfare of her amiable host communities and humanity as a whole.
Source: Independent.Ng
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/protest-munich-sentences-against-women/d/135330