The Taliban Shut Down Afghanistan's Only Women-Run Radio Station For Playing Music During The Holy Month Of Ramadan
02
April 2023
•
Yoghurt Attack On Unveiled Women in Iran Goes Viral
•
The Taliban Shut Down Afghanistan's Only Women-Run Radio StationFor Playing
Music During The Holy Month Of Ramadan
•
Iran-Style Justice: Women Arrested After Being Attacked In Store
•
Raqqa Women: Janders Massacre Is A Continuation Of Turkish Occupation
Atrocities
•
‘Muslim Girls Will Be Adversely Affected By Scrapping Of Reservation Under OBC
Category’ in Karnataka
•
Only 16pc Women In Quetta Are Employed, Survey Finds
•
Remembering Sheikh Abdullah’s Legacy On Muslim Girls’ Education, How He Saw It
Differently Than Sir Syed
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/taliban-shut-down-afghanistan-women-ramadan/d/129470
-----
Yoghurt
Attack On Unveiled Women in Iran Goes Viral
02-047-2023
Women’s
Uprising In Iran - A Struggle in Exile
---------
Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that the hijab was the law in Iran
after a viral video showed a man throwing yoghurt at two unveiled women in a
shop in a town near the northeastern city of Mashhad.
In
live remarks on state television, Raisi said: "If some people say they
don't believe (in the hijab)... it's good to use persuasion ... But the
important point is that there is a legal requirement ... and the hijab is today
a legal matter."
Video
footage widely shared on social media in Iran appeared to show the two female customers,
who were not wearing the mandatory hijab or headscarf, in a shop being
assaulted by a man after a verbal altercation.
The
footage shows the man pouring a bucket of what appears to be yogurt on the two
women's heads before he is confronted by the shopkeeper.
Judicial
authorities issued arrest warrants for the man seen pouring yoghurt over the
heads of the two women, a mother and her daughter. They were also the subject
of arrest warrants for flouting Iran's strict female dress rules, state media
reported.
Authorities
said the owner of the dairy shop, who confronted the attacker, had been warned.
Reports on social media showed his shop had been shut, although he was quoted
by a local news agency as saying he had been allowed to reopen and was due to "give
explanations" to a court.
The
incident comes after the death in custody of Iranian Kurd MahsaAmini in
September sparked months of nationwide protests. The 22-year-old had been
arrested for violating Islamic dress codes. More than 500 demonstrators were
killed during the protests that followed.
Meanwhile,
Iran's Chief Justice has threatened that individuals who do not follow strict
rules about modest dress in the public will be punished.
Gholam-Hossein
Mohseni-Ejei compared women removing or refusing to wear the hijab in public to
showing contempt for the Islamic Republic of Iran's system and its values.
Ejei
added that removing the hijab violates public modesty, Islamic sharia rulings
and Iranian law. He said that Iran's enemies abroad are encouraging the
violations.
Under
Iran's Islamic sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged
to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their
figures. Violators have faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Following
the wave of protests last autumn that plunged Iran into its most serious crisis
in decades, many women are refusing to cover their heads, especially in bigger
cities. At the same time, violations of the headscarf requirement are tracked
by video surveillance.
The
government has often turned a blind eye to the violation of hijab rule, but
this has caused anger among pro-government clerics and politicians.
Source:
Www.Dw.Com
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-yoghurt-attack-on-unveiled-women-goes-viral-raises-tensions/a-65205395
-----
The
Taliban Shut Down Afghanistan's Only Women-Run Radio Station For Playing Music
During The Holy Month Of Ramadan
April
1, 2023
By
The Associated Press
Najia
Sorosh, head of Sadai Banowan a women-run radio station, left, speaks into a
microphone in the studio in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 4. A
women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been shut down for
playing music during Ramadan, a Taliban official said.
Sadai
Banowan via AP
-------------
JALALABAD,
Afghanistan — A women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been
shut down for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, a Taliban
official said Saturday.
SadaiBanowan,
which means women's voice in Dari, is Afghanistan's only women-run station and
started 10 years ago. It has eight staff, six of them female.
Moezuddin
Ahmadi, the director for Information and Culture in Badakhshan province, said
the station violated the "laws and regulations of the Islamic
Emirate" several times by broadcasting songs and music during Ramadan and
was shuttered because of the breach.
"If
this radio station accepts the policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and
gives a guarantee that it will not repeat such a thing again, we will allow it
to operate again," said Ahmadi.
Station
head NajiaSorosh denied there was any violation, saying there was no need for
the closure and called it a conspiracy. The Taliban "told us that you have
broadcast music. We have not broadcast any kind of music," she said.
Sorosh
said at 11:40 a.m. on Thursday representatives from the Ministry of Information
and Culture and the Vice and Virtue Directorate arrived at the station and shut
it down. She said station staff have contacted Vice and Virtue but officials
there said they do not have any additional information about the closing.
Many
journalists lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Media
outlets closed over lack of funds or because staff left the country, according
to the Afghan Independent Journalists Association.
The
Taliban have barred women from most forms of employment and education beyond
the sixth grade, including university. There is no official ban on music.
During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban barred most
television, radio and newspapers in the country.
Source:
Npr.Org
-----
Iran-Style
Justice: Women Arrested After Being Attacked In Store
April
2, 2023
Two
women have been arrested in Iran after they were attacked with a tub of yogurt
while waiting in line in a store.
Viral
footage shows a man approaching the women in the queue and talking to them.
He
then grabs a container of yoghurt and dumps it onto the women’s heads,
seemingly for not covering their hair in public.
The
BBC reports that Iran’s judiciary said the two women were later detained for
showing their hair, which is illegal in Iran.
The
man was also arrested for disturbing the public order while the shopkeeper was
issued with “necessary notices” to ensure compliance with the law.
Women
in Iran have been increasingly defying the compulsory dress code in protest
since the death of MahsaAmini, 22, while in the custody of the morality police
last September.
Gholamhossein
Mohseni Ejei’s warning comes on the heels of an Interior Ministry statement on
Thursday that reinforced the government’s mandatory hijab law.
Those
“who commit such anomalous acts will be punished” and will be “prosecuted
without mercy”, he said, without saying what the punishment entails.
Ejei,
Iran’s chief justice, said law enforcement officers were “obliged to refer
obvious crimes and any kind of abnormality that is against the religious law
and occurs in public to judicial authorities”.
Under
Iran’s Islamic law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to
cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their
figures. Violators have faced public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Still,
women are widely seen unveiled in malls, restaurants, shops and streets around
the country — risking arrest for defying the obligatory dress code.
Describing
the veil as “one of the civilisational foundations of the Iranian nation”, the
interior ministry statement on Thursday said there would be no “retreat or
tolerance” on the issue.
It
urged ordinary citizens to confront unveiled women. Such directives have in
past decades emboldened hardliners to attack women without impunity.
The
post Iran-style justice: Women arrested after being attacked in store appeared
first on The New Daily.
Source:
Ozarab.Media
https://ozarab.media/iran-style-justice-women-arrested-after-being-attacked-in-store/
-----
Raqqa
women: Janders massacre is a continuation of Turkish occupation atrocities
2
Apr 2023
AL-RAQQA
The
Janders massacre committed by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state
against 4 Kurdish citizens on March 20, on the eve of the Newroz holiday in
occupied Janders; Under the pretext of igniting the flame of Newroz, the people
of North and East Syria resented them, and in their turn demanded that the
perpetrators of the massacre be held accountable and that the Turkish
occupation of Syrian lands be ended.
The
spokeswoman for the Zenobia Women's Gathering office, Khoud al-Issa, condemned
"this massacre" and extended condolences to the families of the
martyrs of the massacre and the victims of the devastating earthquake.
She
added that the Janders massacre, which was committed by the mercenaries of the
Turkish occupation, contradicts the meaning of Newroz, which is the feast of
peace, love and brotherhood.
Khoud
stated that the massacre was committed in conjunction with the catastrophe of
the earthquake that struck Bakur Kurdistan (north) and Turkey, and affected
areas in Syria on February 6, and asked, "Why do these crimes occur
against our people, especially the Kurdish component? We have seen how our
Kurdish people were dealt with after the earthquake."
Khoud
saw that discrimination and segregation is carried out by the Turkish
occupation and its mercenaries, "who serve the Turkish agendas, with the
aim of emptying the region of its people and eliminating the Kurds in it."
At
the end of her speech, Khoud Al-Issa called on human rights and human rights
organizations to condemn this massacre and hold its perpetrators accountable,
and to "get the punishment they committed."
For
her part, a member of the office of the Zenobia Women's Gathering, Nisreen
al-Hassan, condemned "this crime against our Kurdish people, who are
subjected to the most extreme forms of violence" by the mercenaries of the
Turkish occupation.
She
pointed out that the Janders massacre; It is a continuation of the demographic
change processes that the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries are
following in the areas it occupies.
Source:
Hawar News
-----
‘Muslim
Girls Will Be Adversely Affected By Scrapping Of Reservation Under OBC
Category’ in Karnataka
April
01, 2023
Muslim
girls will especially be adversely affected by the Karnataka government’s
decision to scrap the reservation for Muslims under the category of OBCs and
distribute the quota among two dominant communities — Vokkaligas and Lingayats,
said K. Sharifa, a progressive thinker and writer.
At
a press conference organised by the All-India Students Association (AISA), she
said, “Muslim girl children are fighting against all odds to get a good
education and are studying well to become IAS/KAS officers and etching out
professional careers for themselves. Now, with the scrapping of the reservation
and bringing them under EWS quota is educational death for these Muslim girls.”
Source:
The Hindu
-----
Only
16pc women in Quetta are employed, survey finds
Amin
Ahmed
April
2, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
Results from Quetta urban household survey carried out by the World Bank
reveals that only 16 percent of working-age women in the area participate in
the labour market, compared to 72pc men.
The
‘Women in the Workforce in Quetta’ survey shows that along with experiencing
low levels of labour market participation, women employed in urban Quetta
mostly work in low-value-added activities, with a high prevalence of
own-account, informal, and home-based work.
Working
women are mainly employed in the manufacturing industry as garment and
handicraft workers. Only a minority (the highly educated) perform more skilled
jobs such as teachers or health professionals. Representation in other
nontraditional sectors is very low.
The
survey pointed out that social norms seem to be the most powerful factor in
determining women’s interactions with the public sphere and workforce.
Household attitudes and behaviour and social norms play an important role in
determining whether, when, and how women can work for pay.
In
this context, steady long-term policy efforts are needed to influence social
norms to encourage women’s empowerment. Research indicates that possible
interventions to influence norms include strategic use of positive messaging
about strong female role models.
As
demonstrated by a large body of evidence and the Peshawar and Quetta household
surveys, women are more likely to be involved in the labour force if they are
more educated. Addressing both demand and supply constraints that limit girls’
education remains a key priority. Similarly, a lack of marketable skills can
discourage women from seeking jobs.
In
a recent systematic review of skills-based interventions in South Asia,
researchers concluded that interventions sensitised to the prevailing social
and logistical barriers for women —household work, family obligations,
childcare, and gendered norms against travel — had larger impacts.
Most
employed women (78.6pc) in urban Quetta are home-based workers (HBWs) who are
largely employed in informal jobs of low upward mobility. For women, working
from home is an alternative used to work around existing social norms.
Effective implementation of recent legislation to recognize the status of HBWs
can improve women’s economic participation in the province.
In
April last year, the Balochistan Assembly passed the Home-Based Workers Bill,
aimed at protecting the rights of women and other workers involved in
home-based work in the province.
Information
and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to provide women with
increased access to better markets while allowing them to circumvent obstacles
related to mobility and social norms. The Quetta survey shows that 55pc of
working-age women in urban Quetta do not have internet access and 13pc do not
know about the internet (versus 32pc and 2pc, respectively, among men).
These
shares are much higher among women with low education. Emerging ICT jobs could
provide new opportunities for women, especially women living in urban areas.
Pakistan’s
female labour force participation, particularly in urban areas, remains one of
the lowest in the world, not just in South Asia. According to the ILO database,
only nine countries in 2019 had lower female labour force participation (FLFP)
rates than Pakistan, where the rate was 22.6pc. Official figures from the
labour force survey indicate that FLFP fell about 2 percentage points between
2014 and 2018.
The
World Bank’s Women in the Workforce study in Pakistan started in 2019 is a
multi-method study to investigate urban FLFP and gain a nuanced understanding
of the patterns of and constraints on women’s work.
The
qualitative component of the study analysed the labour market experiences of
women in Quetta, Peshawar, Lahore, and Karachi.
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1745437/only-16pc-women-in-quetta-are-employed-survey-finds
-----
Remembering
Sheikh Abdullah’s Legacy On Muslim Girls’ Education, How He Saw It Differently
Than Sir Syed
Faizaan
Bhat
02
APR 2023
Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan was a multi-faceted personality. He was a modernist thinker, a
daring theologian, an educationist, a journalist, and a prolific writer. In
addition, he also earned fame for establishing the Mohammadian Anglo Oriental
College that later became Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
There
has been debate whether Sir Syed established the university for elite Ashraf
Muslims. Whether it was established for elite Ashraf Muslims or not, it was and
still remains the home of education and space for poor Muslims — and Muslim
students in general. AMU has shaped the intellectual outlook of generations of
progressive educated Muslims. It also shaped pre- and post-Independence Muslim
politics in India. Before establishing the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College,
Sir Syed had founded a school in Ghazipur and then in Moradabad.
Though
born in Delhi in an aristocratic Muslim family during the Mughal period, Sir
Syed left behind a legacy characterised by Islamic modernism and social reform.
However, contrastingly, he was against Muslim women’s education and had a
conservative view on the subject.
Despite
being ahead of time, social reformer, modernist, and progressive Sir Syed was
against Muslim women’s education and had a conservative view on it. Fazlur
Rahman in his book Islam and Modernity writes: “Sir Syed didn’t seem to have
supported women’s education”. Similarly, Nasreen Ahmad in her book Muslim
Leadership and Women’s Education, 1886-1947, writes: “He (Sir Syed) believed
that women’s education would lead them to immorality”.
In
a statement before the Indian education commission, Sir Syed said that
“priority should be given to men’s education before women. No satisfactory
education can be given to women before men. To have women more educated would
damage their mental well-being”. Once
when a women’s delegation visited Syed Ahmad in 1885 for their education, he
replied that “new system of education would be harmful to you”. He had a
conservative stand and was for the traditional education of women.
However,
there is another aspect of Sir Syed's character: the influence of his mother.
In his book Seerat E Fardiya, Sir Syed lauds his mother,Aziz un Nisa Begum for
her education and proficiency in Persian literature as well as Islamic
scriptures. He credits her with playing a crucial role in his intellectual
development. Sir Syed only argued for home tutor-based education for women.
Prof.
Shamas Ur Rehman in his Hayat E Abdullah writes: “When there was a plague
outbreak in the 1850s in Kanpur and people were put in quarantine by the
government, people protested against quarantine on the reason women can’t be
secluded from homes even if it is plague. Sir Syed supported protesters on
women's issues.”
Gail
Minault in her book Secluded Scholars- Women’s education and social reform in
Colonial India, writes that when in 1890s Sayyid Mumtaz Ali visited Aligarh, he
showed him a manuscript of his treatise, Haquq I Niswan (Women’s Rights). Syed
after reading a few parts tore it and threw it in the dustbin. This incident
has been repeated by David Lellywood, author of the famous book Aligarh’s First
Generation.
Sheikh
Abdullah, who was a pioneer of women's education in Aligarh, writes in his
autobiography Mushahidath and Taasuraat that “when Khwaja Ghulam Us Saqlain
talked about women education in Mohammadian Educational Conference, Sir Syed
made fun of him”.
Shafey
Kidwai in his apologetic biography, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion and
Nation, dismisses these events but not with convincing arguments. He argues
that Sir Syed’s idea of women's education was the result of his cultural
formation prevailing in his family and society, that women were the core of
family life at that time and women themselves were ignorant of the basic tenets
of their faith and were tied to customs and rituals that had nothing to do with
the scriptures, and that they were isolated from social and cultural change.
Ironically,
the early activists, scholars, thinkers, and writers who worked for Muslim
women's reforms were those who were directly or indirectly influenced by Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan.
Among
the earliest writings, we have novels of Nazir Ahmad Dehalvi (Mir AtUl Anas,
The Bride’s Mirror) and Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali (Majlis I Nisa,
Conversations Among Women). Dehalvi’s novel made rounds, 2,000 copies were sold
in less than a year and the government recommended it for vernacular textbooks.
These two novels stood for women’s education for becoming good husbands, wives,
housemakers, and moral guides to children. After which Mohammadi Begum —second
wife of Sayyid Mumtaz Ali— wrote the novel Shareef Beti (The Noble Daughter)
that championed women's education.
In
1901, Abdul Halim Shahrar wrote the novel called Badrunnisa Ki Museebat
(Badrunissa’s Misfortune), advocating social reform and anti-purdah. Around the
same time, periodicals, newspapers, and magazines related to women were brought
out. The first periodical Akhbar Un Nisa (Women’s News) was formed in 1887 by
Sayyid Ahmad Dehalvi. It was published twice a month and was closed down soon
after it faced opposition followed by Mu’allim-I-Niswan (The Women’s Teacher).
It was edited by Maulana Muhibbi Hassan. After this, Deoband-educated Bashir Ud
Din Ahmad, son of Nazir Ahmad Dehalvi, started and edited a paper called
Tehzeeb Un Nissa (The Women’s Reformer). It stood for the rights of women and
the equality of men and women and arguments were peddled like men are superior
because of social customs not because of religion. In 1898, Mumtaz Ali started
Tehzeeb Un Niswaan.
Sheikh
Abdullah with his wife WaheedJehan started Khatun. Rashid Ul Khairi started
Ismat. After this, Al Hijab was started and edited by Maulana Qaisar Bhopali
and Zul Us Sultan by Mohammad Amin Zubeiri.
After
this era, Muslim women themselves owned and edited periodicals like Purdah
Nashin by MrsKhamosh and another one by Fatima Begum. These periodicals,
novels, papers, and magazines gave content and ideology to reformers,
especially for starting women’s schools.
In
1896, Sayyid Karamat Hussain, the champion of women’s education, was
instrumental in establishing the women’s section at Mohammadian Educational
Conference in an era when women studying and going out was considered a
violation of Islamic law. He was a member of Anjuman-I-Islam, London, and also
taught law in Aligarh. He established a women’s college in Lucknow. This era
also saw different Islamic organisations and individuals establishing schools
for women.
In
1903, Sultan Jehan Begum of Bhopal started a school for girls and worked
immensely for the emancipation of women. In 1903, Hali opened a school for
girls in Panipat. Abdul Haq Abbas was the student of prominent Ahl-e-Hadeeth
scholar Sanaullah Amritsari who was known for debates with Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,
founder of the Ahmadi religion. Under his influence, he wrote polemics against
Christians which led to his expulsion from school. He founded Anjuman-I-Ishaiti
Islam (Association for the Propagation of Islam) and a monthly journal, Payam I
Islam (Message of Islam).
In
1908, he formed a Muslim boys school known as Islamia High School and then a
college in Jalandhar. He also founded a girls school where his wife and two
daughters taught. Two ladies, Zeenat and Humaira, founded an association called
Anjuman I MadrasatUl Banat and established a school for poor girls. Rukeya
Shekhawat Hussain started a girls’ school in 1909 in Bhagalpur which was
short-lived and in 1911 started a school in Calcutta known as Shekhawat
Memorial School with eight students. She also actively organised Anjuman I
Khawateen I Islam in 1916 in Calcutta. KhijistaAkhatarSuharwardy, mother of
famous politician Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, started two primary girls schools.
In 1912, Raja of Mahmudabad also started school in Lucknow.
Despite
all these efforts, a very small number of girls attended schools because of the
patriarchal social norms prevalent in Muslim society. According to Seema Kazi’s
MRG report, only 0.86 per cent of girls attended recognised schools in the
period.
One
of the most prominent persons to work for Muslim women’s education was Sheikh
Abdullah. He is also known as Papa Miyan for being a fatherly figure for girls
who studied in Aligarh during his era.
Born
as Thakur Das in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir, to Gur Mukh Mast, his grandfather
was Mehta Mast Ram who had helped Maharaja Gulab Singh —founder of the Dogra
dynasty in J&K— with money and reinforcements in a battle between with
SamasUd Din Maldal, for which Gulab Singh gifted him four villages. Thakur Das
first studied Persian under Quttubuddin Kashmiri and later in a maktab of
Maulvi Yaseen Shah. He completed his primary school education in Poonch. During
this time, Hakim Noor ud Din, a royal physician, visited Poonch. He also
visited his school where he answered all questions Hakim had posed to students
at the school.
Hakim
requested his family that he would like him to take to Jammu and train him in
Unani medicine. Hakim Noor Ud Din was one of the first disciples of Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad. It was under his influence he became Qadyani and was named Sheikh
Abdullah.
In
1888, 15-year-old Sheikh visited Lahore during the Christmas holidays to attend
the MEC convention with Hakim Noor Ud Din which highly influenced and impressed
him. It was with his support and recommendation to Sir Syed that Sheikh
travelled to Aligarh in 1891 to study law where he became Sunni Muslim.
In
1896, Sheikh won a Cambridge speaking prize in the debate on the topic of
“Muslims of Hindustan are more progressive than Muslims of other countries”. In
Aligarh, he was an active member of a club founded by Maulana Shibli Noumani
and Sir Thomas Arnold, called Akhwan Us Safa, to teach and write ancient
history and literature. He also became an active member of the Old Aligarh Boys
Association with Aftab Ahmad to raise funds for poor students.
After
education, Sheikh worked as a librarian and secretary to Mr T Beck, the
principal of the college. When Sir Syed Ahmad Khan died in 1898, Nawab Mohsin
Ul Mulk was elected to take his place. He made the Sir Syed Memorial Fund to
build a university for which Sheikh was made his chief assistant. In 1902, he
was appointed Secretary of the All India Mohammadian Educational Conference, a
position previously held by Mumtaz Ali.
In
1902, Sheikh married WaheedJehan, daughter of Mirza Ibrahim Beg, who belonged
to the cultural elites of Delhi. Sheikh with his wife started school in 1904
for daughters, friends, and neighbours. In 1906, he started Aligarh Zanana
Madrassa (Aligarh Girls School) with seventeen students. In 1925, it was
converted into an intermediate college and in 1937 degree college with 250
students. Khatun Jehan who had a masters from London was made principal and
after her, Mumtaz Jehan, who had a masters from Lukhnow, was made the
principal.
Atiya
Fyzee, Zohra Fyzee, and the Tyabjees helped immensely in raising funds. It must
be reminded that Badruddin Tyabjee, one of the first Muslim Congressmen —whom
Sir Syed opposed on calling Muslims to join Congress— supported Muslim women’s
education in Hunter Commission. He was ahead of Sir Syed on the issue of
women’s education among Muslims.
In
1906, Sheikh led a delegation to meet Sir James La Touche, Lt. Governor of the
United Provinces. With him were Raja Naushad Ali Khan, taluqdar of Awadh,
lawyer Mohammad Nasim, and Ghulam Us Saqlain, for allocation of grants. No
grants were given. The LG, however, promised to give grants if the inspector of
schools would give a good report and, after the report, LG gave an annual grant
of Rs 17,000 and monthly Rs 250. The Begum of Bhopal also gave grants. In 1911,
Lady Porter, wife of acting LG, inaugurated the school. The Begum of Bhopal
inaugurated a new building and Zohra and Atiya Fyzee inaugurated hostel
buildings.
Sheikh
during his life faced a lot of hurdles to the extent that he got public
threats. Sheikh’s daughter and famous film actress Begum Khurshid Mirza in her
memoir A woman of substance, the memoirs of Begum Khurshid Mirza (1918-1989)
writes that the family faced threats on change of religion, and, then, on
women’s education, Sheikh’s mentor Sir Syed got alienated. Then he was abused
and cursed on starting girls hostel. Some people wrote against him under a
pseudonym to the extent that he filed a defamation case against one person and
won it too. In all this, Sheikh got full support for women’s education from his
family.
Abdullah
Hall in Aligarh Muslim University is named after him. It consists of nine
girls’ hostels, two canteens, a gymnasium, a basketball court, a computer, and
a reading hall. It is named after him for his struggle. In 1949, the
then-Education Minister of India Maulana Azad visited Aligarh for an annual
convention. Impressed by women’s education, he announced an annual grant of Rs
900,000.
Abdullah
Hall gives annual awards in his name for excellence in academics. India’s first
Muslim foreign secretary and Sheikh’s grandson Salman Haider beautifully writes
about his memories of Abdullah Hall in one of his writings. He is remembered,
buried in the place he contributed, and loved in Aligarh, but forgotten,
unknown in his native Kashmir where he needs to be remembered for his
contribution towards humanity.
There
is a huge number of AMU alumni in Kashmir. They spend lakhs of rupees on the
annual Kashmiri Aligarh alumni meet. With this money, they can dole out
scholarships for poor students or establish libraries for them in Sheikh
Abdullah’s name.
Source:
Outlook India
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/taliban-shut-down-afghanistan-women-ramadan/d/129470