Taslima Nasreen on Salman Rushdie Attack: Critics of Islam Will Be Killed Until The Religion Is Reformed
New
Age Islam News Bureau
13
August 2022
•
Sara Ali Khan, Coming From An Inter-Faith Family, Trolled Over Religion
•
Stamp Exhibition Honours Distinguished Women In Tunisia
•
Afghan Girls Face Uncertain Future After 1 Year Of No School
•
Taliban Violently Disperse Rare Women’s Protest In Kabul
•
Inside Afghanistan’s Secret Schools, Where Girls Defy The Taliban
•
Nigeria: 'Hijab Not an Obstacle to Female Muslims'
•
No End To Pakistani Hindu Girls' Ordeal, Another Teen Tells Court She Was
Married After Forcible Conversion
•
Lebanese Female MP Exposes Harassment Culture Inside Parliament, Says Erotic
Magazines Were Left In Her Office
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/taslima-nasreen-salman-rushdie-religion/d/127707
--------
Taslima
Nasreen on Salman Rushdie Attack: Critics of Islam Will Be Killed Until The
Religion Is Reformed
Taslima Nasreen on Salman Rushdie Attack: Critics of
Islam Will Be Killed Until...
----
Aug
13, 2022
Exiled
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday said she is worried after knowing
how Salman Rushdie was stabbed at an event in New York and said if this can
happen to Salman Rushdie in the West, then anyone who is critical of Islam can
be attacked. "He had been living in the West and he has been protected
since 1989," the author who fled Bangladesh in 1994 tweeted.
Commenting
on the attack on Salman Rushdie, the staunch critic of Islam, Taslima, said
"true Muslims" follow their holy script religiously. "And they
attack the critics of Islam. Fake Muslims believe in humanity and they are
against violence. We want fake Muslims to grow," Taslima tweeted.
The
attacker of Salman Rushdie has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar who
hails from New Jersey. Though his motive is not yet known, he is believed to
have sympathies towards the Iranian government that had called for Rushdie's
death. The attacker apparently made social media posts supporting Iran's
Revolutionary Guard.
Salman
Rushdie has faced death threats for decades since the publication of his fourth
novel The Satanic Verses in 1988. Iran declared a fatwa against Rushdie and
called upon Muslims to kill him. The India-born novelist became a US citizen in
2016 and has been living in New York City.
Taslima
Nasreen too faces threats from radical Muslim groups for her novel Lajja. After
fleeing Bangladesh, Taslima Nasreen adopted Swedish citizenship and currently
lives in New Delhi since 2011.
Source:
Hindustan Times
--------
Sara
Ali Khan, Coming From An Inter-Faith Family, Trolled Over Religion
Photo: © Instagram/Sara Ali Khan (Main Image)
-----
12th
August 2022
Bushra
Khan
Mumbai:
With a massive following of 40.9 million, Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan is an
avid social media user and often takes to her Instagram to share glimpses of
her life. She is quite famous for using rhyming captions in a majority of her
posts.
Coming
from an inter-faith family, it is obvious that Sara believes in all religions
and she often shares her love for religion on Instagram. Be it Eid, Holi, or
Rakshabandhan, she celebrates it all. She often visits religious places to seek
blessings and peace. However, often times this does not sit well with her
followers who brutally troll her for her religious choices.
In
this write-up, we have compiled 5 times when netizens crossed the line and
trolled Sara beyond the limit.
Scroll
ahead to have a look.
1.
Sara Ali Khan’s celebration of Mahashivratri
In
March 2022, Sara Ali Khan had extended Mahashivratri wishes to her fans and
followers on Instagram by posting a picture from her visit to the Omkareshwar
Temple Jyotirlinga in Madhya Pradesh. However, a section of social media users
bashed her for celebrating the Hindu festival despite being a Muslim
2.
For celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi
In
September 2019, she had extended wishes on Ganesh Chaturthi and was attacked on
religious ground. In fact, some even went to the extent of asking for the
invocation of a fatwa against her.
3.
Sara Ali Khan’s visit to Kedarnath Temple
In
November 2021, Sara had visited Kedarnath with her BFF Janhvi Kapoor and while
many praised their trip, some slammed her for visiting the holy shrine despite
being a Muslim.
4.
For visiting Kamakhya Temple In Assam
In
July 2021, Sara had visited Assam’s famous Kamakhya Temple. Dressed in a white
Kurti and the traditional Assamese gamosa, Sara looked peaceful and serene.
However, she was brutally trolled by followers.
5.
For celebrating Eid
Sara
Ali Khan has also been trolled for celebrating Eid when she shared an
Eid-ul-Adha greeting in 2022.
Meanwhile,
on the professional front, Sara was last seen in Atrangi Re (2021). Currently,
she has Laxman Utekar’s untitled film and Gaslight in her kitty.
Source:
Siasat Daily
https://www.siasat.com/5-times-when-trolls-attacked-sara-ali-khan-over-religion-2388621/
--------
Stamp
Exhibition Honours Distinguished Women In Tunisia
2022-08-13
TUNIS,
Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A stamp exhibition paying tribute to Tunisian women is
being held in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, to mark the national Women's Day that
falls on Saturday.
The
exhibition, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, honors 22 Tunisian women of
different eras who distinguished themselves in various fields, such as
Al-Kahina, a Berber warrior-queen who led her people against invaders in the
7th century, and Fatma Haddad, the first Tunisian woman to hold a state
doctorate in philosophy, and Azza Hammou, the first Tunisian female doctor in
pediatric radiology.
More
contemporary figures include Ons Jabeur, the first African and also the first
Arab female tennis player since 1968 to reach a Grand Slam singles final. She
was awarded by President Kais Saied on July 14 the country's Great Medal of the
National Order of Merit.
"The
exhibition is an opportunity for me to explore the power of Tunisian women
throughout history," Sana Dkhili, a Tunisian woman in her 30s who came to
visit the exhibition, told Xinhua.
"All
these women are different. They represent me. They are the history, the
strength, and the struggle. They are the ones who made Tunisian women
today," Dkhili said proudly.
Mohamed
Ben Chaabane, a father of four, was also inspired by the exhibition.
"All
the stories inspire me because every woman left an imprint in our history. They
paved the way for the current generation," he told Xinhua.
Tunisia
is frequently cited as being at the forefront of women's rights in the Arab world.
In
addition to International Women's Day, Tunisians also celebrate their own
women's day on Aug. 13, the day in 1956 when Tunisia passed the personal status
code, which abolished polygamy and gave women a relatively equal footing in
society.
Moreover,
women in the North African country play an important role in politics. Najla
Bouden, the incumbent prime minister of Tunisia, is the first woman in the Arab
world to assume such office. Including her, the cabinet of Tunisia now has an
unprecedented 10 women.
Kat
Bent L'amor, a Tunisian singer who visited the exhibition, told Xinhua that
there is always a prejudice or stereotype that religion leads to gender
inequality in the Middle East and North Africa, but "the progress Tunisia
has achieved on this issue proves that religion does not always lead to the
gender gap."
Still,
the status of women in Tunisia is far from perfect. A recent survey carried out
by Arab Barometer found that 61 percent of respondents in Tunisia, highest in
the region, believe that violence against women in the country has increased in
the past year despite the adoption of relevant laws to protect them in 2017. ■
Source:
English News
https://english.news.cn/20220813/1a74010cd7ee44e88d4f532747943cd7/c.html
--------
Afghan
girls face uncertain future after 1 year of no school
Aug
12, 2022
KABUL,
AFGHANISTAN: For most teenage girls in Afghanistan, it’s been a year since they
set foot in a classroom. With no sign the ruling Taliban will allow them back
to school, some are trying to find ways to keep education from stalling for a
generation of young women.
At
a house in Kabul, dozens gathered on a recent day for classes in an informal
school set up by Sodaba Nazhand. She and her sister teach English, science and
math to girls who should be in secondary school.
“When
the Taliban wanted to take away the rights of education and the rights of work
from women, I wanted to stand against their decision by teaching these girls,”
Nazhand told The Associated Press.
Hers
is one of a number of underground schools in operation since the Taliban took
over the country a year ago and banned girls from continuing their education
past the sixth grade. While the Taliban have permitted women to continue
attending universities, this exception will become irrelevant when there are no
more girls graduating from high schools.
“There
is no way to fill this gap, and this situation is very sad and concerning,”
Nazhand said.
The
relief agency Save the Children interviewed nearly 1,700 boys and girls between
the ages of 9 and 17 in seven provinces to assess the impact of the education
restrictions.
The
survey, conducted in May and June and released Wednesday, found that more than
45% of girls are not going to school, compared with 20% of boys. It also found
that 26% of girls are showing signs of depression, compared with 16% of boys.
Nearly
the entire population of Afghanistan was thrown into poverty and millions were
left unable to feed their families when the world cut off financing in response
to the Taliban takeover.
Teachers,
parents and experts all warn that the country's multiple crises, including the
devastating collapse of the economy, are proving especially damaging to girls. The
Taliban have restricted women’s work, encouraged them to stay at home and
issued dress codes requiring them to cover their faces, except for their eyes,
though the codes are not always enforced.
The
international community is demanding that the Taliban open schools for all
girls, and the US and EU have created plans to pay salaries directly to
Afghanistan’s teachers, keeping the sector going without putting the funds
through the Taliban.
But
the question of girls’ education appears to have been tangled in
behind-the-scenes differences among the Taliban. Some in the movement support
returning girls to school — whether because they see no religious objection to
it or because they want to improve ties with the world. Others, especially
rural, tribal elders who make up the backbone of the movement, staunchly oppose
it.
During
their first time ruling Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban imposed much
stricter restrictions on women, banning school for all girls, barring women
from work and requiring them to wear an all-encompassing burka if they went
outside.
In
the 20 years after the Taliban were driven from power in 2001, an entire
generation of women returned to school and work, particularly in urban areas.
Seemingly acknowledging those changes, the Taliban reassured Afghans when they
seized control again last year that they would not return to the heavy hand of
the past.
Officials
have publicly insisted that they will allow teen girls back into school, but
say time is needed to set up logistics for strict gender segregation to ensure
an “Islamic framework.”
Hopes
were raised in March: Just before the new school year was to begin, the Taliban
education ministry proclaimed everyone would be allowed back. But on March 23,
the day of the reopening, the decision was suddenly reversed, surprising even
ministry officials. It appeared that at the last minute, the Taliban's supreme
leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, bowed to the opposition.
Shekiba
Qaderi, a 16-year-old, recalled how she showed up that day, ready to start the
10th grade. She and all her classmates were laughing and excited, until a
teacher came in and told them to go home. The girls broke into tears, she said.
“That was the worst moment in our lives.”
Since
then, she’s been trying to keep up with studies at home, reading her textbooks,
novels and history books. She’s studying English through movies and YouTube
videos.
The
unequal access to education cuts through families. Shekiba and a younger sister
can’t go to her school, but her two brothers can. Her older sister is at a
private university studying law. But that is little comfort, said their father,
Mohammad Shah Qaderi. Most of the professors have left the country, bringing down
the quality of the education.
Even
if the young woman gets a university degree, “what is the benefit?" asked
Qaderi, a 58-year-old retired government employee.
"She
won’t have a job. The Taliban won’t allow her to work,” he said.
Qaderi
said he has always wanted his children to get a higher education. Now that may
be impossible, so he’s thinking of leaving Afghanistan for the first time after
riding out years of war.
“I
can’t see them growing in front of my eyes with no education; it is just not
acceptable to me,” he said.
Underground
schools present another alternative, though with limitations.
A
month after the Taliban takeover, Nazhand started teaching street children to
read with informal outdoor classes in a park in her neighborhood. Women who
couldn’t read or write joined them, she said. Some time later, a benefactor who
saw her in the park rented a house for her to hold classes in, and bought
tables and chairs. Once she was operating inside, Nazhand included teen girls
who were no longer allowed to go to public school.
Now
there are about 250 students, including 50 or 60 schoolgirls above sixth grade.
“I
am not only teaching them school subjects, but also trying to teach them how to
fight and stand for their rights,” Nazhand said. The Taliban haven’t changed
from their first time in power in the late 1990s, she said. “These are the same
Taliban, but we shouldn’t be the same women of those years. We must struggle:
by writing, by raising our voice, by any way possible.”
Nazhand's
school, and others like it, are technically illegal under the Taliban’s current
restrictions, but so far they haven’t shut hers down. At least one other person
operating a school declined to speak to reporters, however, fearing possible
repercussions.
Despite
her unwavering commitment, Nazhand worries about her school's future. Her
benefactor paid for six months’ rent on the house, but he died recently, and
she doesn’t have any way to keep paying for rent or supplies.
For
students, the underground schools are a lifeline.
“It
is so hard when you can’t go to school,” said one of them, Dunya Arbabzada.
“Whenever I pass by my school and see the closed door ... it’s so upsetting for
me.”
Source:
Times Of India
--------
Taliban
violently disperse rare women’s protest in Kabul
August
13, 2022
KABUL:
Taliban fighters beat women protesters and fired into the air on Saturday as
they violently dispersed a rare rally in the Afghan capital, days ahead of the
first anniversary of the hard-line Islamists’ return to power.
Since
seizing power on August 15 last year, the Taliban have rolled back the marginal
gains made by women during the two decades of US intervention in Afghanistan.
About
40 women — chanting “Bread, work and freedom” — marched in front of the education
ministry building in Kabul, before the fighters dispersed them by firing their
guns into the air, an AFP correspondent reported.
Some
women protesters who took refuge in nearby shops were chased and beaten by
Taliban fighters with their rifle butts.
The
protesters carried a banner which read “August 15 is a black day” as they
demanded rights to work and political participation.
“Justice,
justice. We’re fed up with ignorance,” chanted the protesters, many of them not
wearing face veils, before they dispersed.
Some
journalists covering the protest — the first women’s rally in months — were
also beaten by the Taliban fighters.
After
seizing power, the Taliban had promised a softer version of the harsh Islamist
rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.
But
many restrictions have already been imposed.
Tens
of thousands of girls have been shut out of secondary schools, while women have
been barred from returning to many government jobs.
Women
have also been banned from traveling alone on long trips, and can only visit
public gardens and parks in the capital on days separate from men.
In
May, the country’s supreme leader and chief of the Taliban, Hibatullah
Azkhundzada, even ordered women to fully cover themselves in public, including
their faces — ideally with an all-encompassing burqa.
Some
Afghan women initially pushed back against the curbs, holding small protests.
But
the Taliban soon rounded up the ringleaders, holding them incommunicado while
denying they had been detained.
Source:
Times Of India
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141811/world
--------
Inside
Afghanistan’s Secret Schools, Where Girls Defy The Taliban
August
13, 2022
KABUL:
Nafeesa has discovered a great place to hide her schoolbooks from the prying
eyes of her disapproving Taliban brother — the kitchen, where Afghan men rarely
venture.
Hundreds
of thousands of girls and young women like Nafeesa have been deprived of the
chance of education since the Taliban returned to power a year ago, but their
thirst for learning has not lessened.
“Boys
have nothing to do in the kitchen, so I keep my books there,” said Nafeesa, who
attends a secret school in a village in rural eastern Afghanistan.
“If
my brother comes to know about this, he will beat me.”
Since
seizing power a year ago, the Taliban have imposed harsh restrictions on girls
and women to comply with their austere vision of Islam — effectively squeezing
them out of public life.
Women
can no longer travel on long trips without a male relative to escort them.
They
have also been told to cover up with the hijab or preferably with an
all-encompassing burqa — although the Taliban’s stated preference is for them
to only leave home if absolutely necessary.
And,
in the cruellest deprivation, secondary schools for girls in many parts of
Afghanistan have not been allowed to reopen.
But
secret schools have sprung up in rooms of ordinary houses across the country.
A
team of AFP journalists visited three of these schools, interviewing students
and teachers whose real names have been withheld for their safety.
This
is their story.
Clandestine
classroom
Decades
of turmoil have played havoc with Afghanistan’s education system, so Nafeesa is
still studying secondary school subjects even though she is already 20.
Only
her mother and older sister know about it.
Her
brother fought for years with the Taliban against the former government and
US-led forces in the mountains, returning home after their victory imbued with
the hard-line doctrine that says a woman’s place is the home.
He
allows her to attend a madrassa to study the Qur'an in the morning, but in the
afternoon she sneaks out to a clandestine classroom organized by the
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).
“We
have accepted this risk, otherwise we will remain uneducated,” Nafeesa said.
“I
want to be a doctor... We want to do something for ourselves, we want to have
freedom, serve society and build our future.”
When
AFP visited her school, Nafeesa and nine other girls were discussing freedom of
speech with their female teacher, sitting side-by-side on a carpet and taking
turns reading out loud from a textbook.
To
get to class, they frequently leave home hours earlier, taking different routes
to avoid being noticed in an area made up mostly of members of the Pashtun
ethnic group, who form the bulk of the Taliban and are known for their
conservative ways.
If
a Taliban fighter asks, the girls say they are enrolled in a tailoring
workshop, and hide their schoolbooks in shopping bags or under their abaya and
burqa overgarments.
They
not only take risks, but also make sacrifices — Nafeesa’s sister dropped out of
school to limit any suspicions her brother might have.
No
justification in Islam
Religious
scholars say there is no justification in Islam for the ban on girls’ secondary
school education and, a year since taking power, the Taliban still insist
classes will be allowed to resume.
But
the issue has split the movement, with several sources telling AFP a hard-line
faction that advises supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada opposed any girls’
schooling — or at best, wanted it limited to religious studies and practical
classes such as cooking and needlework.
The
official line, however, remains that it is just a “technical issue” and classes
will resume once a curriculum based on Islamic rules is defined.
Primary
girls still go to school and, for now at least, young women can attend
university — although lectures are segregated and some subjects cut because of
a shortage of female teachers.
Without
a secondary school certificate, however, teenage girls will not be able to sit
university entrance exams, so this current crop of tertiary female students
could be the country’s last for the foreseeable future.
“Education
is an inalienable right in Islam for both men and women,” scholar Abdul Bari
Madani told AFP.
“If
this ban continues, Afghanistan will return to the medieval age... an entire
generation of girls will be buried.”
Lost
generation
It
is this fear of a lost generation that spurred teacher Tamkin to convert her
home in Kabul into a school.
The
40-year-old was almost lost herself, having been forced to stop studying during
the Taliban’s first stint in power, from 1996 to 2001, when all girls’
schooling was banned.
It
took years of self-study for Tamkin to qualify as a teacher, only for her to
lose her job at the education ministry when the Taliban returned last year.
“I
didn’t want these girls to be like me,” she told AFP, tears rolling down her
cheeks.
“They
should have a better future.”
With
the support of her husband, Tamkin first turned a storeroom into a class.
Then
she sold a family cow to raise funds for textbooks, as most of her girls came
from poor families and couldn’t afford their own.
Today,
she teaches English and science to about 25 eager students.
On
a rainy day recently, the girls trickled into her classroom for a biology
lesson.
“I
just want to study. It doesn’t matter what the place is like,” said Narwan, who
should be in grade 12, sitting in a room packed with girls of all ages.
Behind
her, a poster on a wall urges students to be considerate: “Tongue has no bones,
but it is so strong that it can break the heart, so be careful of your words.”
Such
consideration by her neighbors has helped Tamkin keep the school’s real purpose
hidden.
“The
Taliban have asked several times ‘what’s going on here?’ I have told the
neighbors to say it’s a madrassa,” Tamkin said.
Seventeen-year-old
Maliha believes firmly the day will come when the Taliban will no longer be in
power.
“Then
we will put our knowledge to good use,” she said.
'We
are not afraid'
On
the outskirts of Kabul, in a maze of mud houses, Laila is another teacher
running underground classes.
Looking
at her daughter’s face after the planned reopening of secondary schools was
canceled, she knew she had to do something.
“If
my daughter was crying, then the daughters of other parents must also be
crying,” the 38-year-old said.
About
a dozen girls gather two days a week at Laila’s house, which has a courtyard
and a garden where she grows vegetables and fruit.
The
classroom has a wide window opening to the garden, and girls with textbooks
kept in blue plastic folders sit on a carpet — happy and cheerful, studying
together.
As
the class begins, one by one they read out the answers to their homework.
“We
are not afraid of the Taliban,” said student Kawsar, 18.
“If
they say anything, we will fight it out but continue to study.”
But
the right to study is not the only aim for some Afghan girls and women — who
are all too frequently married off into abusive or restrictive relationships.
Zahra,
who attends a secret school in eastern Afghanistan, was married at 14 and now
lives with in-laws who oppose the idea of her attending classes.
She
takes sleeping pills to fight her anxiety — worried her husband’s family will
force him to make her stay home.
“I
tell them I’m going to the local bazaar and come here,” said Zahra of her
secret school.
For
her, she says, it is the only way to make friends.
Source:
Times Of India
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2141756/world
--------
Nigeria:
'Hijab Not an Obstacle to Female Muslims'
12
AUGUST 2022
By
Abdullateef Aliyu
The
Executive Director of Hijab Right Advocacy, Mutiat Orolu Balogun, has said the
use of Hijab does not constitute an obstacle to female Muslimahs to achieve
greater things in life.
Balogun
spoke at the Bounties Charity Initiative's Muslimah Impact Conference and
Exhibition with the theme 'Rising Beyond Challenges and Distractions in Today's
World'.
The
initiative was to showcase the innovative ideas of Muslim women in different
professions.
Speaking
at the conference, Balogun said the participants at the exhibition were female
Muslims who had impacted society positively in one way or the other.
She
said, "So, we have gathered here today to tell the Muslimahs in partial or
complete Hijab that they should not see the practice as an obstacle to good
thought in making the society a better place.
"The
women in Islam that have not been using Hijab (veil) should not be mocking
those who are interested in practicing the instruction of Allah.
"If
you cannot mock those that went to Saudi Arabia for performing the Islamic rite
(Hajj), so, wearing Hijab should be emulated, not to be mocked because both
practices are instructions from Allah."
She
also called on parents to take care of their children and the children of other
people, saying, "We should also be optimistic that being pious and
altruistic is worth rewarding at the sight of Allah."
Executive
Director of Sisters Chilling, Ola Olabimpe Sanusi, said those that are fond of
saying that women belong to the kitchen need to be enlightened, adding that men
are naturally meant to be in the kitchen as well.
The
moderator of the event who is also the Chief Executive Office of Egret Media
Concept, Mutiat Olagoke, said Muslim sisters should be confident in wearing the
partial or complete Hijab, adding that the practice has evidence in the Holy
Qur'an.
Source:
All Africa
https://allafrica.com/stories/202208120502.html
--------
No
end to Pakistani Hindu girls' ordeal, another teen tells court she was married
after forcible conversion
12th
August 2022
KARACHI:
Hindu teenage girl Kareena Kumari, who was kidnapped from Pakistan's southern
Sindh province in June, told a court here on Friday that she was forcibly
converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man, in yet another case of atrocity
against the women of the minority community.
Kareena
was abducted on June 6 from outside her home in Benazir Shaheedabad in the
interior of southern Sindh province.
After
painstaking efforts by her poor father Sundar Mal, the girl was produced in a
court in Nawabshah where she said in a video message that she was abducted and
forcibly converted to Islam and then married to Khalil in June.
The
girl, who was sent to a women's centre, has asked the court that she be allowed
to return to her parents.
"We
are poor people and we don't even have money for bus fare to come to court.
Today my daughter told the truth. The court must let her go and punish the
culprits who abduct, sexually molest and even sell off girls," Mal said.
Dilip
Kumar Manglani, a lawyer who is representing Mal in Kareena's case, says the
culture of forcible conversions has put Hindu girls and their families at risk,
especially in the interior areas of Sindh.
"We
try to do our best, but in most cases the kidnapped girls are underage and in
court, the accused produce fake documents or certificates and the police also
do not help," he complained.
He
said in Kareena's case also she was a minor.
"The
parents of these abducted girls are poor and they don't have any certificates
or documents to verify the age of their daughters and the accused and police
take advantage of the situation. In some cases, parents are not even allowed to
meet their daughters," Manglani said.
The
abduction and forcible conversion of young Hindu girls in the interior of Sindh
has become a major problem.
In
March this year, three Hindu girls - Satran Oad, Kaveeta Bheel and Anita Bheel
- were abducted, converted to Islam and married to Muslim men within eight
days.
None
of the three girls have been traced so far by the police.
In
another case on March 21, Pooja Kumari was brutally shot dead outside her home
in Rohri, Sukkur.
Apparently,
a Pakistani man wanted to marry her but she refused and he and two of his
accomplices opened fire on her a few days later.
Civil
rights activists say Pooja's case has been on the back burner since March,
although the parents have filed a complaint against the accused but are being
pressured to reach a compromise with the accused.
The
Sindh High Court took notice of the case but so far nothing has happened.
Not
only young teenage girls but older Hindu women have also fallen prey to
abduction and forced conversions.
Gori
Kohli, a mother of four children, was abducted from Khipro in Sindh and later
it transpired she had converted to Islam and married Aijaz Marri, the man
accused of kidnapping her.
Her
husband claims Marri is an influential person in the area and no one listens to
him.
"Even
the police took Rs.15,000 as bribe from me but later just said my wife had
converted to Islam and married Marri and told me to go home," he said.
However,
there are some cases where senior police officials have intervened and
recovered abducted Hindu girls, the most prominent being that of Reena Meghwar
who was abducted from Kario Ghanwar village in the Badin district last year.
Reena
who was rescued said she was forcibly converted to Islam.
The
court ordered that she be handed back to her parents in July last year.
SSP
Badin Shabbir Ahmed Sethar, who played a role in Reena's rescue, admits that
due to local politics, influential people and corruption in the lower ranks of
police such cases usually do not reach a conclusion.
On
July 16, 2019, the issue of abducting and forcibly converting Hindu girls in
various districts of Sindh province was taken up in the Sindh Assembly, where a
resolution was debated and unanimously passed after it was modified over
objections of certain lawmakers that it should not be restricted to Hindu girls
only.
But
the bill which criminalised forcible religious conversions was later rejected
in the assembly.
A
similar bill was again proposed but rejected last year.
Source:
New Indian Express
--------
Lebanese
female MP exposes harassment culture inside parliament, says erotic magazines
were left in her office
July
28, 2022
DUBAI:
A newly elected Lebanese MP from the “change” bloc has accused several of her
fellow politicians of intimidation and sexual harassment.
Cynthia
Zarazir said that she found pornographic magazines, condoms and rotten food in
the office assigned to her in parliament, and had been the victim of catcalling
by MPs from the Amal bloc headed by Nabih Berri.
She
added that the MPs had also likened her to a “zarzour,” or cockroach, because
of the word’s similarity to her family name.
“When
I entered the session, two MPs were sitting next to MP Ali Hassan Khalil and
they proceeded to bully me over my family name saying here comes the
‘cockroach,’” she told Lebanese channel MTV.
She
described the situation as “utter chaos,” adding that she had found files in
her office under the name of “Hajj Mohammed” but had yet to determine the
identity of the MP who used to occupy the office.
She
continued: “Every day, I ask the employees at parliament for a proper parking
spot. The first few days I had to use my friend’s small car to be able to park
properly. When I requested a bigger spot, I was told by MP Ali Hassan Khalil,
‘Go buy a small car, you have the money for it.’”
On
Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday, Zarazir spoke out about the harassment she had
faced from her male counterparts.
“Ever
since I entered parliament, I have not been shown any respect to suggest that
those who I will be working alongside for the next 4 years are firstly, humans
and secondly, respectable people.
“Being
catcalled by men whose misogyny outweighs their masculinity, being given a dirty
office littered with Playboy magazines, unused and dirty condoms in the drawers
and on the floor, being bullied over my family name, and not given a parking
spot.
“If
this is how they treat an elected fellow MP, how will they deal with those who
are voiceless?” she said.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2131001/offbeat
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