Rimisha, a Muslim Girl Worshipped as Goddess Durga on Eid As Part Of Kumari Puja in Kolkata
New Age
Islam News Bureau
30 June 2023
• Rimisha, a Muslim Girl Worshipped as
Goddess Durga on Eid As Part Of Kumari Puja in Kolkata
• Fatima Yasmin Becomes Asian
Development Bank’s First Bangladeshi Vice-President
• State Rep. Maryam Khan Assaulted
Outside Of Muslim Gathering of Eid Prayer; Attacker Charged
• President Trump’s Muslim Ban Cost
Golshifteh Farahani Her Role in ‘After Yang’
• France: Court Maintains Discriminatory
Rule Excluding Muslim Women Footballers Who Wear Headscarves From Competitions
• Afghan Women Urges Taliban To Remove
Ban On Working In NGO
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/rimisha-eid-kolkata-goddess-puja/d/130108
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Rimisha, a Muslim Girl Worshipped as Goddess Durga on Eid As Part Of Kumari Puja in Kolkata
Image used
for representational purposes.
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Jun 30, 2023
By India Today News Desk: Sporting a
traditional Banarasi saree, a tiara of flowers, jewellery, and her hands and
palms painted with 'alta' (red dye), Rimisha, a Muslim girl, was the centre of
all attention. The reason? She was being worshipped as Goddess Durga, and that
too on Eid.
Rimisha was worshipped as part of Kumari
Puja. It was organised by a Durga puja committee of Kolkata as part of Khuti
Puja -- which was held on Thursday to coincide with Eid-al Adha.
Rimisha took part in the rituals as her
mother, Sanjida, was seen sitting next to her in a burqa.
Khuti Puja marks the beginning of Durga
Puja celebrations and is done before the construction work of a Pandal starts.
The Bengali word 'khuti' literally translates to pole in English.
Normally, the Khuti Puja is held either
on the day of the Rath Yatra or Ulta Rath Yatra (the return Rath Yatra
festival) because those are considered auspicious days. But Khuti Puja on Eid
is unprecedented.
The organisers said they wanted to
convey a message of communal harmony through their initiative.
Kumari Puja honours small girls who
represent Goddess Durga's avatars. It is believed that the goddess took the
divine form of a girl as she was unaffected by the negative influences of the
world at that tender age.
Captivating sounds of 'dhak'
(traditional drum) and the 'shaakh' (conch) reverberated in the pandal as
Rimisha took part in the puja.
The Khuti Puja was held at Kaashishwar
Shiv Temple near Sinthi Circus Maidan and organised by Baranagar Friends
Association, which has been associated with Durga Puja, which is in its 75th
year.
"We were upset over the violence
during the Ram Navami and Hanuman Janmotsav celebrations in West Bengal. We have
been reading since childhood that Hindus and Muslims have always lived
together. There are attempts to create rifts along religious lines. So, we
decided to organise the puja on Eid," Ajoy Ghosh, president of the
Baranagar Friends Association, said.
Ghosh suggested all other puja clubs to
hold such programmes that unite religious communities.
Source: indiatoday.in
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/muslim-girl-worshipped-durga-kumari-puja-khuti-puja-kolkata-eid-day-2400046-2023-06-30
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Fatima Yasmin Becomes ADB’s First Bangladeshi
Vice-President
Fatima
Yasmin. Photo: ADB website
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June 30, 2023
DHAKA – Fatima Yasmin has been appointed
as the first Bangladeshi vice-president of The Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The current senior secretary at the
Finance Division of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Finance is scheduled to leave her
position here to join ADB in August, according to sources. This is the first
instance of a Bangladeshi finance secretary joining a high-ranked position in
the ADB.
The ADB has appointed Fatima Yasmin as
the vice-president for Sectors and Themes for a period of three years,
according to a press release issued in this regard. She will be one of the five
VPs of the regional development bank headquartered in Manila.
She will be responsible for management
of the newly created Sectors Group and the Climate Change and Sustainable
Development Department under ADB’s new operating model, reads the release
issued today.
She has more than 32 years of broad
development experience, including in macroeconomic management, public sector
and fiscal policy reform, and trade and poverty reduction in government and
international organisations.
Fatima holds a master’s in development
economics from Australian National University and a master’s of business
administration from the Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University.
She also received a Fellowship in Public
Policy and Human Rights under the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program at Rutgers
University in New Jersey, United States.
ADB is committed to achieving a
prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while
sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is
owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
Source: asianews.network
https://asianews.network/fatima-yasmin-becomes-adbs-first-bangladeshi-vice-president/#:~:text=DHAKA%20%E2%80%93%20Fatima%20Yasmin%20has%20been,in%20August%2C%20according%20to%20sources.
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State
Rep. Maryam Khan outside of Muslim gathering
June 29,
2023
Andrey
Desmond, 30, appeared in court after allegedly attacking State Rep. Maryam Khan
outside of a Muslim gathering Wednesday.
“It’s
absolutely horrible what happened to her. Here is someone who is going to an
Eid prayer with her friends and family,” CAIR-Connecticut Chair Farhan Memon
said.
Khan was
attending an Eid al-Adha prayer ceremony at the XL Center in Hartford on
Wednesday. According to court documents, Desmond approached Khan and said, “who
wants to kiss me?”
Khan
told investigators she tried walking away from Desmond, but he followed her
inside the XL Center. Khan said she then exited the facility as an attempt to
keep Desmond away from everyone inside the building.
According
to an incident report, Desmond walked up to Khan and placed his arm around her
neck and tried to kiss her. Khan said to police she tried to create distance.
That is when Desmond slapped her, and she fell to the ground.
“The
most religious, holy of services for this to happen was shocking to me,” Gov.
Ned Lamont said.
Bystanders
who witnessed the assault restrained Desmond until police arrived. According to
court officials, Desmond has a multi-state criminal record dating back 10 years
out of Washington D.C. and New York.
The
defense requested Desmond receive mental health resources, citing a history of
struggling with a condition.
Desmond
was held a $250,000 bond and is due back in court July 17.
Source: nbcconnecticut.com
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/man-charged-in-assault-of-state-rep-maryam-khan-outside-of-muslim-gathering/3058527/
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President
Trump’s Muslim Ban Cost Golshifteh Farahani Her Role in ‘After Yang’
JUNE 29,
2023
If only
“After Yang” were made after Donald Trump’s presidency.
The
Kogonada film, which was critically ranked as one of the best movies of 2022,
debuted at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival before playing in the Spotlight
section at Sundance. The film centers on family’s android Yang (Justin H. Min),
whose malfunctions lead to a philosophical debate as the parents, played by
Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith, reconnect with their own humanity.
Iranian-French
“Extraction” actress Golshifteh Farahani revealed during a TikTok video for
Elle that she was originally cast in the female lead role, but due to President
Trump’s travel ban, Turner-Smith replaced her.
When
asked by Elle if she had ever been “disappointed” to lose a role, Farahani
responded, “Yes, I have lost two roles that both of them, they hurt me really
badly. One of them was ‘Prince of Persia.’ It was when the government of Iran
took my passport and they didn’t let me leave and that led to my exile. It was
the most traumatic time of my life. And then the second one, again, it was
another movie with Colin Farrell that I was supposed to do.”
She
added, “I was so looking forward to working with him and because of President
Trump. I have a French passport but my visa took much longer than it used to
take because I am born in Iran and I also couldn’t make it to that shooting. So
two times for political reasons, I lost two roles. Maybe I’m not attached to
those stories but the fact that I couldn’t go because of politics hurt me very
badly.”
“After
Yang” director Kogonada told IndieWire that the subject of race was key to the
portrayal of AI Yang.
“This
robot was a construct of Asian-ness. I could deeply relate to this idea that he
wasn’t really Asian, but he existed as an Asian and wanted that as well,”
Kogonada said. “And maybe he was too, you know, maybe he was like just getting
to the essence of what that even means. It was such a short, lovely, well-told
story, but I could see the promise of it being the kind of film that I would
want to watch. It had that sort of seed and promise of something that felt like
it could be cinematic. And I also loved a sci-fi world that was domestic. The
stakes weren’t about saving the world, but it was about getting through a day,
and getting through weeks and months.”
Source: indiewire.com
https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/golshifteh-farahani-lost-after-yang-role-trump-travel-ban-1234880001/
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France:
Court maintains discriminatory rule excluding Muslim women footballers who wear
headscarves from competitions
June 29,
2023
Responding
to the decision today from the Conseil d’État, which ruled that the French
Football Federation (FFF) does not need to change its discriminatory policy
that effectively prohibits Muslim women players who wear a headscarf from
participating in competitive football matches, Anna Blus, Amnesty
International’s Researcher – Women’s Rights in Europe, said:
“The
deeply disappointing decision today from the Conseil d’État entrenches both
racism and gender discrimination in French football. The Football Federation’s
ban on religious clothing not only prevents Muslim women footballers who wear
headscarves from playing in competitive matches, it also violates their rights
to freedom of expression, association, and religion.”
“Today’s
decision ignores the Public Rapporteur’s recommendation to end this
discriminatory ban and seriously undermines efforts to make women’s sports more
inclusive. It means that Muslim women football players in France will continue
to experience differential treatment to other players, in clear breach of
several of the country’s international human rights obligations.”
Founé
Diawara, co-President of the Hijabeuses collective, which brought the case
against the FFF before the highest administrative court, said: “Today’s
decision is a missed opportunity to right a long-standing wrong and let us
play, simply. Our fight is not political or religious but centred on our human
right to participate in sports. Many women are excluded from football fields in
France every weekend solely because they wear a veil.”
Background
Article
1 of the French Football Federation’s rules, introduced in 2016, prohibits
players from wearing “symbols or clothing obviously displaying one’s political,
philosophical, religious or trade union views” during competitions. This ban
remains in place even though FIFA overturned its own ban on headwear in
football in 2014.
A group
of Senators have repeatedly tried to expand this policy into a national law
that applies to all sports. Parliamentary debates on these proposals have seen
politicians resort to inflammatory rhetoric and offensive stereotyping that
stigmatizes Muslim women and often conditions their participation in community
sports on unnecessary and disproportionate limitations on their rights to
freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion.
Under
international law, state neutrality and secularism are not legitimate reasons
for imposing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and religion
or belief, including through general bans on religious and cultural symbols.
Any restrictions must be justified by demonstrable facts, not presumptions,
speculation or prejudice.
Muslim
headscarves and face coverings have long been instrumentalized and stereotyped
to demonize Muslim women and homogenize the different significance they may
represent to those who wear them or would wish to wear them but fear to do so
or are legally prevented from doing so in public. The latest decision of
Conseil d’État is yet another example of France enforcing negative
stereotypical assumptions and tropes about Muslim communities and gender roles.
Source: amnesty.org
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2023/06/france-court-maintains-discriminatory-rule-excluding-muslim-women-footballers-who-wear-headscarves-from-competitions/
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Afghan
women urges Taliban to remove ban on working in NGO
29 June,
2023
Kabul
[Afghanistan], June 29 (ANI): Women who became unemployed after the Taliban’s
decree banning women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGO) have
called on the Taliban to remove the restrictions at the earliest,
Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.
These
women stressed that providing work opportunities for women is the
responsibility of the Taliban. Mashhoda, who worked to support her family
financially, said that knowledge and work are the basic right of every person.
Mashhoda
said, “Most of the family’s breadwinners are women in Afghanistan because they
don’t have brothers and fathers. Instead of depriving women of the right to
work, the government should provide them with the opportunity to work,”
according to Tolo News report.
Sema, an
employee of an organization, urged the Taliban to “cancel the ban on work for
girls and women for Eid” and allow the women and girls to participate in the
development of Afghanistan as members of society. Meanwhile, the Taliban has
said that work is being conducted to allow women to return to work if there is
on Sharia problem.
Taliban
spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, “Work is underway in this regard. In the
section that does not have any Sharia problem, God willing, the situation will
be favourable,” according to Tolo News report.
Earlier,
Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan, said that the Taliban
in the past 21 months has issued more than 50 orders against Afghan women and
girls. Bennett made the remarks at the 50th meeting of the Human Rights
Council. More than six months back, Taliban barred women from working in
non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan.
Earlier
this month, UNICEF expressed concerns that if international non-governmental
organisations working in the field of education are no longer allowed to operate
in Afghanistan, it will affect highly affect the education of the children in
the war-torn nation, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.
Reiterating
once again that every child has the right to learn, UNICEF in a statement that
Afghanistan could lose out on quality learning through community-based
education within a month if international non-governmental organizations
working in the field of education are no longer allowed to work.
“As the
lead agency for the education cluster in Afghanistan, UNICEF is deeply
concerned about reports that over 500,000 children, including over 300,000
girls, could lose out on quality learning through Community Based Education
within a month if international non-governmental organizations working in the
field of education are no longer allowed to operate and if handovers to
national NGOs are done without comprehensive assessment and capacity building,”
the UNICEF said.
Fazal
Saberi, the head of an NGO, expressed fear that if these NGOs stopped
operating, Afghan children’s access to education would be permanently gone.”
Suraya Paikan, a women’s rights activist, said, “Such suspension of (NGOs)
operations will damage the education of Afghanistan and the Afghan children
will be vulnerable.”
Afghanistan,
under the Taliban, is facing its worst humanitarian crisis and the women of the
country are denied fundamental rights. According to a World Food Programme
assessment, Afghanistan is one of the nations with extreme food insecurity,
with nine million people affected by severe economic difficulties and hunger.
(ANI)
Source: theprint.in
https://theprint.in/world/afghan-women-urges-taliban-to-remove-ban-on-working-in-ngo/1648274/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/rimisha-eid-kolkata-goddess-puja/d/130108