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Bengal woman tied naked to tree, beaten; opposition slams Mamata

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woman-tied-beatenKolkata: A woman in West Bengal Monday alleged that she was tied naked to a tree, beaten and branded over allegations of stealing. A couple were arrested but got bail which prompted the opposition to accuse the Mamata Banerjee government of “patronising criminals”.

Police Monday arrested a man and his wife for the incident that occurred Sunday in Kultoli in Baruipur subdivision of South 24 Parganas district. However, both the accused were granted bail by a court.

“I was accused of stealing and a gang lead by Sanjib Maiti tied me naked to a tree and beat me with sticks. They also branded me with hot metal,” said the woman who later filed a police complaint.

Baruipur sub-divisional police officer Deepak Sarkar said Maiti and his wife were arrested, but granted bail by a court.

While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) alleged the involvement of Trinamool Congress activists, the Congress and the BJP slammed the state administration over the accused getting bail.

“After tying her naked to a tree, they subjected her to indescribable atrocities. She was subjected to this brutality only just because she is a CPI-M supporter. Trinamool goons have been attacking our people for long. We demand the arrests of all the perpetrators,” former minister and CPI-M leader Kanti Ganguly said after visiting the woman.

However, Trinamool’s Kultoli block president Gopal Majhi denied the allegations.

“The entire thing has been staged by the CPI-M and their leader (Ganguly) is trying to frame us and malign the Trinamool,” he said.

Actress-turned-politician Rupa Ganguly, who recently joined Bharatiya Janata Party, slammed Chief Minister Banerjee for the rise in crimes against women in the state.

“When the chief minister herself described rape as a ‘petty matter’, then such crimes are bound to happen. It’s a shame that a state headed by a woman CM has been hitting the headlines for crime against woman,” said the actress, who gained cult popularity for playing Draupadi in the television series “Mahabharat”.

Former state Congress president Pradip Bhattacharya too attacked the administration for pressing lighter charges against the two accused.

“Not a single day passes when attacks on women are not taking place. Instead of taking strict action, the administration is actually encouraging criminals by either not taking any action or by pressing lighter charges,” said Bhattacharya.

The incident comes days after a woman in Birbhum district was tortured and nettle leaves rubbed into her private parts allegedly by a police team to extract information about her nephew – a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader wanted for his alleged involvement in a political clash.

A National Commission for Women team, headed by chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Saturday recorded the Birbhum woman’s statement and assured of taking action in the matter.

(IANS)

Saudi Arabia sends women drivers to 'terrorism' court

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Saudi activist Manal Al Sharif, who now lives in Dubai, drives her car in the Gulf Emirate city on October 22, 2013, as she campaigns in solidarity with Saudi women preparing to take to the wheel on October 26, defying the Saudi authorities, fight for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia. AFP / Marwan Naamani

Saudi activist Manal Al Sharif, who now lives in Dubai, drives her car in the Gulf Emirate city on October 22, 2013, as she campaigns in solidarity with Saudi women preparing to take to the wheel on October 26, defying the Saudi authorities, fight for women’s right to drive in Saudi Arabia. AFP / Marwan Naamani

by Al-Akhbar

Two women’s rights campaigners detained in Saudi Arabia for driving have been transferred to a special tribunal for “terrorism,” activists said on Thursday after the women appeared in court.

The ruling came at a hearing in al-Ahsa, in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, according to the activists who declined to be named.

Loujain Hathloul has been detained since December 1 after she tried to drive into the kingdom from neighboring United Arab Emirates in defiance of a ban. Maysaa Al-Amoudi, a UAE-based Saudi journalist, arrived at the border to support Hathloul and was also arrested.

US-ally Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.

Activists say women’s driving is not actually against the law, and the ban is linked to tradition and custom ultra-conservative Wahhabi nation, and not backed by Islamic text or judicial ruling.

Some leading members of the kingdom’s powerful Wahhabi clergy have argued against women being allowed to drive, which they say could lead to them mingling with unrelated men, thereby breaching strict gender segregation rules.

Last November the oil-rich kingdom’s top cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, said the female driving prohibition protects society from “evil” and should not be a major concern.

“They will transfer her case to the terrorism court,” said an activist familiar with Hathloul’s case, adding that her lawyer plans to appeal.

A second activist confirmed that Amoudi’s case was also being moved to the specialist tribunal.

Human Rights Watch have urged the Saudi authorities to abolish The Specialized Criminal Court, Saudi Arabia’s scandalous “terrorism tribunal,” to which the women’s cases were referred.

The court is the same body that convicted prominent cleric and pro-rights advocate Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and sentenced him to death alongside four other pro-democracy advocates for criticizing the kingdom’s unfair doings and calling for greater rights for Saudi minorities.

HRW said that analysis of trials of a number of human rights workers, peaceful dissidents, activists and critics of the Saudi regime revealed “serious due process concerns” such as “broadly framed charges,” “denial of access to lawyers,” and “quick dismissal of allegations of torture without investigation.”

Activists did not provide full details of the allegations against Hathloul and Amoudi but said investigations appeared to also focus on the women’s social media activities.

Saudi Arabia, which is on media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) group’s “Enemies of the Internet” list, has been particularly aggressive in policing the Internet, including by arresting those who post critical articles or comments.

Hathloul, who has 228,000 followers on Twitter, tweeted before her arrest, sometimes with humor, details of the 24 hours she spent waiting to cross into Saudi Arabia after border officers stopped her.

Amoudi has 131,000 followers and has also hosted a program on YouTube discussing the driving ban.

Some 41 percent of internet users in the oil-rich kingdom use Twitter, a study published by the US-based Business Insider website found.

The micro-blogging site has stirred broad debate on subjects ranging from religion to politics in a country where such public discussion had been considered at best unseemly and sometimes illegal.

Scores of Saudis have been arrested over the years for posting content critical of the Wahhabi regime on Twitter and other social media outlets.

In February, RSF said that Gulf monarchies, in a yet another crackdown on dissent, have stepped up efforts to monitor and control the media, particularly online.

In early December, Saudi authorities blocked the website of a regional human rights group which reported the two women’s arrest.

Moreover, Saudi women have taken to social media in protest of the ban on female driving.

In October, dozens posted images online of themselves behind the wheel as part of an online campaign supporting the right to drive.

They also circulated an online petition asking the Saudi government to “lift the ban on women driving” in a move that attracted more than 2,400 signatures ahead of the campaign’s culmination on October 26.

In response, the Ministry of Interior said it would “strictly implement” measures against anyone undermining “the social cohesion.”

Late October, the UN Human Rights Council urged Saudi Arabia to crack down on discrimination against women among other rights abuses.

The council had already adopted a report listing 225 recommendations for improvements a couple of days earlier in Geneva during a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Western-backed kingdom’s rights record.

Many of the UN recommendations called on Riyadh to abolish a system requiring women to seek permission from male relatives to work, marry or leave the country, and one urged it to lift the driving ban.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

Saudi Cleric Says Women Are not Required to Wear Hijab, Can Put Makeup

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Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi

by Aziz Allilou, Morocco World News

Rabat: A new fatwa against wearing Hijab has been issued last week by a Saudi Cleric who said that “Islam doesn’t require women to wear veil,” adding that women can put makeup on, take pictures for themselves and post them on social media networks.

The fatwa was issued by Saudi Arabia’s former head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah, Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi.

Answering a question in which a Twitter user asked him whether women can post their pictures on social media, the Saudi cleric said that “there is nothing wrong if a woman showed her face or put make-up.”

He goes on to add that it is permissible for a woman to post her pictures on social media, reported Al Moheet.

In another tweet, Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi goes as far as to claim that only the wives of prophet (MPBUH) “were required to wear Hijab so that adult males outside of their immediate family couldn’t see them.”

To support his claims, he quoted a previous saying of the Palestinian Islamic scholar Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdqsi in which he said that “if the woman’s face and hands were intimate parts of her body, it would not be Haram for her to cover them while performing Al Haj.”

Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi goes on to add instead of blaming women, the blame should put on men who are required to lower their gaze. The Saudi cleric quoted Morocco’s scholar Qadi Ayyad, who once said: It’s not mandatory for woman to cover her face outside her house, but it is a Sunna Mustahaba_ (preferable not obligatory). Men, on the other hand, shall lower their gaze.”

To End Hunger, Empower Women: Study

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We must not tolerate discrimination against women and instead, demand a comprehensive approach to women’s empowerment that includes applying a gender lens to all programs and policies.

Girls who receive quality education are more likely to work when they are adults, have fewer children, and exercise more decision-making power in their households, the Bread for the World Institute finds. Photo: Bread for the World

Girls who receive quality education are more likely to work when they are adults, have fewer children, and exercise more decision-making power in their households, the Bread for the World Institute finds. Photo: Bread for the World

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Empowering women and girls is critical to ending hunger, extreme poverty, and malnutrition around the world—including in the United States—according to a new report released Monday by the Bread of the World Institute.

The report by the Institute, a non-partisan, Christian citizens’ movement aimed at educating policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about hunger, shows that discrimination against women is a major cause of persistent hunger and that increasing women’s earning potential by boosting bargaining power, reducing gender inequality in unpaid work, increasing women’s political representation, and eliminating the wage gap between male and female labor could help stem the worldwide epidemic.

“Neither women nor men living in poverty have much economic bargaining power—that is, an ability to negotiate favorable economic outcomes for themselves—especially in developing countries, as the vast majority of people do low-paying, low-productivity work,” reads “When Women Flourish…We Can End Hunger” (pdf). “Even within the constraints of poverty, however, working conditions for men and women are far from equal: women suffer many more forms of discrimination, which worsen the effects of poverty on their lives. Discrimination that establishes and reinforces women’s lower status in society starts within the family and extends through community customs and national laws.”

“Discrimination,” the analysis continues, “is why women farmers labor with fewer productive resources than their male counterparts, why women in all sectors of the economy earn less than men, and why girls are pulled out of school to work or to marry.”

Yet women are the ones the world relies on to combat hunger and malnutrition. And when they are afforded more agency—when they are given control of their own earnings, allowed to participate in the development of agricultural programs, protected from domestic violence, or permitted to stay in school longer, for example—health outcomes improve.

“Eliminating barriers and empowering women around the world is key to ending hunger in our time,” said Asma Lateef, director of Bread for the World Institute. “We must not tolerate discrimination against women and instead, demand a comprehensive approach to women’s empowerment that includes applying a gender lens to all programs and policies.”

While the report examines hunger worldwide, it devotes an entire chapter to “The Feminization of Hunger and Poverty in the United States.” To reduce hunger and poverty in the U.S.—issues that are compounded by high levels of incarceration, a persistent wage gap, and insufficient childcare benefits—the report declares, “we must identify and adopt policies that help eliminate entrenched and interconnected sexism and racism.”

The report includes a joint statement from U.S. Representatives Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Nita Lowey (D-New York), urging policymakers at home and abroad to consider the implications of giving women the tools they need to survive and thrive.

“There is no greater force multiplier than empowered women,” they write. “In developed and developing countries alike, from conflict zones to refugee shelters, when we make women’s rights and opportunity top priorities, we stand a much better chance of defeating intolerance, poverty, disease, and even extremism.”

AMU students protest against ‘negative portrayal’ of university in media

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protest AMU students media

Aligarh: Students of Aligarh Muslim University protested here on Wednesday at the alleged negative portrayal of the university in certain sections of the media. The AMU Students’ Union and Women’s College Students’ Union staged a protest march in the university campus and said that simple administrative issues were allegedly blown into an issue of gender bias by the media.

The students also condemned the “irresponsible and careless” remarks of the Vice- Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah.

“The AMUSU and Women’s College Students’ Union feel shocked and angered by intense negative portrayal of AMU in some section of the media. The anti-women depiction of the historical campus of AMU is not only factually wrong but also an unnecessary sensationalisation of a simple administrative issue into an issue of gender bias,” said Abdullah Azzam the AMUSU president.

He said the allegation of gender bias against the university was wrong as Maulana Azad Library has more than 2,700 registered female members including PG students, research scholars and students of various professional courses.

Arguing that the women’s college has its own library meant to cater the requirements of the college girls, he highlighted the long standing demand of the Women’s College Students’ Union regarding updating the existing library and providing easy access to the books of Maulana Azad Library.

Meanwhile, the university administration has also clarified the position.

“It must be put on record that there is absolutely no issue of gender in allowing or not allowing membership to Maulana Azad Library. Girl students of the University which include research scholars, postgraduate and undergraduate students (including students in undergraduate professional courses) are members of Maulana Azad Library and they avail its facilities in a routine manner,” said Dr Rahat Abrar, Public Relations Officer.

“AMU Women’s College offers education in conventional undergraduate courses and is located around 3 kilometers away from the main campus of the University. It has its own system including the library and book bank.”

Dr. Abrar further said that Maulana Azad Library was established in 1960 and AMU Women’s College in 1936 and since then the two have been functioning smoothly. “The University has not imposed or introduced any new rule regarding membership to Maulana Azad Library as the media reports seem to mischievously suggest,” he said.

Woman paraded naked on Donkey in Jaipur village as 'punishment'

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(Photo credit: HT)

(Photo credit: HT)

Jaipur: In a contemptuous incident of gross brutality, a community panchayat in Jaipur’s Rajsamand district allegedly stripped a 45-year-old woman and paraded her on a donkey on Saturday, after they accused her of killing her nephew.

The incident reportedly took place in a tribal area in Jaipur, following a meeting of the panchayat that declared her to be the killer of her nephew, who had died under unknown circumstances and whom the villagers cremated without informing the police, The Times of India reported.

The man’s wife had accused the woman of killing him, and complained to the local panchayat, which heard the matter in a public meeting.

As a form of punishment, the villagers blackened the woman’s face with coal, stripped her naked and then paraded her on a donkey for an hour in Thurval village. Her husband later complained to the police, who arrested 30 people on Sunday.

“One Vardi Singh had died on 2 November. The circumstances of his death are not known because the villagers cremated his body and didn’t inform the police,” SP, Rajsamand, Sweta Dhankar told TOI.

“Singh’s wife approached the local community panchayat which decided to hear the case publicly. A meeting was held in the village in which it was declared that the man’s aunt had committed the crime, so she must be punished,” the officer said.

Following the shocking incident, the police arrested about 30 people, nine of whom are from the victim’s family, and have also deployed heavy police force in the village.

“We have arrested 30 persons including nine from the woman’s family. We have booked them under relevant sections of the IPC,” said the officer.

The woman is said to be in a state of shock and is currently in a shelter home where she is being counselled.

Women beat up their husbands

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Saudi Arabia

Jeddah/Arab News: In a strange twist to the issue of domestic violence, reports of women beating up men have recently come to light, prompting widespread public debate. Wai center for social consultations stated that it received more than 557,000 complaints from abused men. However, Nouf, a teacher, rejected the claims.

“Women tend to avoid violence often for the sake of the children,” she said.

Abeer Okal, on the other hand, attributed male abuse to women’s backlash of enduring life-long neglect and abuse from their own families.

“When women are driven to anger, they are capable of the unthinkable,” she said.

Many believe that female violence is the result of insecurity because some husbands do not appreciate married life.

Mohammed Al-Sayyed, also a teacher, denounced this behavior, saying it is impossible to live with an abusive wife and that it is better for such couples to be separated.

Imad Al-Khouli said some women are naturally violent, saying: “A friend of mine can’t stay in the house for long hours because his wife begins abusing him in front of their children.”

Dr. Eid Al-Inizi, social consultant at Wai center, said that issues of women’s violence against men are fewer than men’s violence against women, and such cases are often witnessed when the latter have had enough that they turn to violence.

Other reasons for women becoming abusive are when husbands are unable to provide basic necessities to their families, forcing their wives to assume the responsibility or because of mental disorder among some women, Al-Inizi said, adding that some women are simply copying what they have seen their mothers doing in terms of abusing their father.

If the husband drinks alcohol or has unlawful relations, he becomes even more vulnerable making it easy for her to vent out her frustration. Experts say lack of respect generating from recurring conflicts leads to escalation of abuse between men and women.

Hink Al-Otaibi, a social specialist said women’s violence can result from discovering the husband’s infidelity which makes the man ashamed of his actions, and incites the desire for revenge among women.

Sometimes violence can result from the husband’s inability to deal with his wife.

The Voice of Women In Gaza

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A radio broadcaster sits in the sound booth at NISAA FM radio station, which focuses on women's issues, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, July 9, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)

A radio broadcaster sits in the sound booth at NISAA FM radio station. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)

A Gaza based women’s radio station was destroyed in the last days of the Israeli war, when the 14 story building housing the studio was brought down as an act of terrorizing the population.

Gaza’s Nisaa FM was located in Basha towers inside an office building in the north of Gaza. The tower was a target for Israeli assault on August 26th, and the whole building, including Nisaa Gaza radio office, collapsed.

The office contained all the equipment, radio studio, computer training lab, the archive and furniture within. They took it upon themselves to not stop running the radio, and started working from a volunteer’s home.

Nisaa FM wants to rebuild its offices, so the channel can return its full potential, be productive and regain its hub for women in the Gaza strip.

We are producing Nisaa FM’s appeal to its well wishers and supporters to come forward to its assistance.

The Voice of Women In Gaza

A group of us, women from across Gaza, have come together in 2013 to form the first online community radio for women in the Gaza Strip. Not only we were proudly taking part in democratizing communications in our country, but we created a platform to share first hand our challenges, our findings and our voice on all fronts. It is a challenge for Arab women to be outspoken, let alone creating a community radio managed by women in Gaza. We helped pass this opportunity forward to the women of our community through a training center dedicated to training women on the use of multi-media. This will give them the chance to participate in the forms of communication, accessing information and the production of high quality material.

We help women of Gaza fully understand their rights; provide them the knowledge and the tools to apply their freedoms on ground depending on themselves, fighting their own injustices, involving their community and reflecting positively on the generations to come.

Our goals are:

  • Recognizing women’s role in communication and media, elevating the media scene for women journalists in Gaza
  • Bringing awareness to public on women’s issues and opinion, especially those living in marginalized areas in Gaza.
  • Women documenting stories of the oppressed within the Gaza community
  • Recruiting men and women to fight for gender equality in Gaza

Appeal

Since our office building has been destroyed, we will need to locate to a different location. At the new location, we will need to rebuild a modest radio studio, purchase equipment and furniture for the radio, training labs, and general office furniture. This includes studio equipment, recording equipment, 10 computers, a generator, and office furniture. We have estimated the amount needed to operate at our original capacity at $18,000.

What you get

For any funding we receive, we are ready to send you special handcrafts made by women of Gaza, which reflects on our culture and heritage.

Other ways you can help

Spread the word about our campaign through your social media networks and any other way you feel that could help us reach our maximum potential!!

To contribute: http://igg.me/p/939422/x

You can reach Nisaa FM at:

qaryamedia@gmail.com

www.nisaagaza.com

https://www.facebook.com/nisaagaza1

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