Two Rajasthan Women, Hindu and Muslim, Run Away Fearing Marriage, Spark 'Love Jihad'
New Age
Islam News Bureau
05 July 2023
• Two Rajasthan Women, Hindu and Muslim, Run Away
Fearing Marriage, Spark 'Love Jihad'
• Saudi Arabia’s Human Spaceflight Program To
Benefit Science, Inspire Future Generations, Says Mishaal Ashemimry
• US Maternal Death Up 100% In 20 Yrs With
Highest Rate Among African Americans
• Brutal Mullahs’ Regime Hangs Six Prisoners,
Including Baluchi Woman
• Escaping The Chaos: Women's Stories Of Survival
In Sudan's Conflict
• Brazil Women's World Cup Team Pay Tribute To
Iran Protesters
• Over 165 Iranian Women Killed By Male Relatives
Since May 2021
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/rajasthan-hindu-muslim-love-jihad/d/130142
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Two
Rajasthan Women, Hindu and Muslim, Run Away Fearing Marriage, Spark 'Love
Jihad'
'Love Jihad' protests in Bikaner against teacher who ran away with her
student in Rajasthan.
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04 JUL
2023
On June
30, two women, aged 17 and 20, were reported missing from Bikaner in Rajasthan.
The 17-year-old is a student of class 12 at a private school in the town, while
her 20-year-old partner is a former teacher at the same school.
The
family of the minor lodged an FIR at the police station the next day, accusing
the teacher and her family members of influencing their daughter and
orchestrating her disappearance as part of a plot.
The
disappearance of the two women has sparked protests organised by certain
Hindutva groups, who called it 'love jihad'. These groups are pointing to the
religious difference between the minor student, a Hindu, and her teacher, who
comes from a Muslim family, as the basis for their allegations.
‘We ran
away as we are in love’
“We
could sense that the girl’s family has been thinking that I have been kidnapped
but the fact is that we have left our homes by our own choice because we both
are in love and want to stay together. We are lesbians and hence we cannot
marry another man as per our family's wishes,” the 17-year-old girl says in a
purported video, in an apologetic tone to their parents. She says that they
rain away due to the fear of being forcibly married off to someone else.
“The
only reason we ran away was to avoid the family pressure as we are aware of our
sexuality. I left my home on my own wish and accompanied her (the 20-year-old
teacher). She did not force me at all, and neither did she ask me to make this
video. The only reason behind making this video is to clear out the
misunderstanding and confusion our families are creating,” the minor girl adds
in the video.
The FIR
filed by the minor’s family charges the teacher and her family (two brothers)
under sections 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping, abducting, or inducing a
woman for forced marriage, etc.), and section 120-B of the IPC, in addition to
relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
‘Our
daughter has been brainwashed’
Speaking
to Outlook, the 17-year-old girl’s family members say, “When she did not return
home on the evening of June 30 from her school, we got worried. We went to her
school and found out that not only our daughter but the teacher is also absent
from the school. Hence we came to a point that she has been missing.”
When
asked about the video the duo have made “by choice” and circulated, the girl’s
uncle adds, “Our daughter is a minor and has been brainwashed. Of course we
have seen the video but we don’t believe it. At this point in time we want her
back as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile,
the 20-year-old teacher’s father has also registered a missing report at a
police station in Bikaner in which he alleged that she had boarded the school
bus and got dropped from the bus midway while en route to school.
The
20-year-old teacher’s father tells Outlook, “We are equally worried about both.
Our family only filed a missing report. But the minor (student’s) family has
lodged an FIR against my sons, and my daughter who herself is missing.” As per
the teacher’s family members, she is engaged to a man living in the
neighbouring district and their wedding is set to happen in a few months.
Meanwhile,
Bikaner Police have launched an extensive search operation to locate the two
women and ensure their safe return. Bikaner SP Tejaswani Gautam stated,
"One of the individuals is a 17-year-old minor. We are actively working to
track their whereabouts and establish contact with them. We hope to find them
soon."
Hindu
outfits claim 'love jihad'
The
disappearance of the two individuals has sparked protests in Rajasthan. The
incident has led to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticising the
Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state. The BJP has expressed
support to the protesters who shut the local markets to raise the issue.
BJP MLA
and Rajasthan's leader of the opposition, Rajendra Rathore on Monday visited
the Bikaner and extended his support to the protestors. “Our innocent daughters
are being brainwashed and kidnapped. The religious conversions are being
carried out in the state in garb of love. Our culture is at risk and they are
trying to dilute it. The police should find out the missing girl and hand her
over to her family safely,” he said.
Source: outlookindia.com
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/rajasthan-teacher-and-her-student-run-away-fearing-marriage-spark-love-jihad-protests-in-bikaner-news-300310
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Saudi
Arabia’s Human Spaceflight Program To Benefit Science, Inspire Future
Generations, Says Mishaal Ashemimry
Mishaal Ashemimry, Special adviser, Saudi Space Agency
------
July 04,
2023
RIYADH:
The recent Axiom Mission 2 that took two Saudi astronauts to the International
Space Station has brought the Kingdom into the fold with countries that have
operated manned space flights for decades.
Mishaal
Ashemimry, an aerospace engineer and entrepreneur who serves as a special
adviser to the Saudi Space Agency, told Arab News that the Ax-2 mission will
benefit humanity as well as inspire the next generations of Saudis.
Saudi
astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni conducted 14 experiments in the
microgravity environment of the ISS.
The
inaugural mission that took Saudi astronauts to space was part of Saudi
Arabia’s human spaceflight program that is intended to be sustainable for long
and short stays.
Ashemimry
said: “Long stays are usually about 180 days or six months. Short stays range
between a few days to 10 days. The objective of the human spaceflight program
as a whole is scientific achievement and scientific discovery.”
Space
missions are highly beneficial for research, including in non-space sectors.
The Saudi missions will capitalize on the microgravity environment, which
offers very different conditions compared to Earth, proving useful for certain
experiments.
“You can
produce certain data that can help you develop medicine, understand diseases,
and see cell science in a different way because it’s not compressed by gravity,
but rather is in a weightless situation.
“So you
almost can see it in 3D, understand what’s going on and be able to look at
cells and protein crystalline structures differently,” said Ashemimry.
The
aerospace expert added that the effects of radiation on the human body and its
reactions can also be researched in order to develop the means to enable people
to spend longer periods of time in space, such as during future missions to
Mars.
In
addition to groundbreaking research, Ashemimry said that reaching out to
children through live events and STEM outreach “is really critical, because
that’s how you inspire generations to become the future astronauts, scientists
and engineers.”
One
aspect that had her personal attention was the development of experiments for
children of different age groups aimed at boosting their critical thinking
skills. The experiments conducted on the ground were compared with the results
obtained by the crew aboard the ISS, which helped understand the effects of the
microgravity environment and weightlessness.
For
example, the heat transfer experiment tried to study radiation as a mode of
heat transfer. It is important because electronics in space emit heat that
needs to be ejected and “can’t just stay there because the system will
overheat. So how do you get rid of that heat? It’s a very complex system in
comparison to having a computer on the ground.”
Research
conducted in space is for the benefit of humanity and “that’s the intention of
the human spaceflight program … to contribute to the scientific body on a
global scale.” Technology that is developed for space can later be applied on
Earth, such as high-precision robotic instruments that can be used for surgery.
The detailed engineering that goes into building spacecrafts also contributes
to advancements in technology.
According
to Ashemimry, the experiments and engagement with the local scientific
community is enabling the Kingdom to test the waters for larger space missions
in the future.
“Many
countries have had sustainable human spaceflight programs for decades and have
benefited significantly, whether from developing a local capability to
developing solutions to problems on Earth,” she said.
She
added that being a participant in these innovations is a requirement to be able
to compete on a global scale in the space economy.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2332506/saudi-arabia
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US
Maternal Death Up 100% In 20 Yrs With Highest Rate Among African Americans
Tuesday,
04 July 2023
Maternal
deaths across the US have more than doubled over the past two decades, with
African American women dying at the highest rate, a new study has unveiled.
Black
mothers died at the nation's highest rates, while the largest increases in
deaths were found in American Indian and Native Alaskan mothers, according to
the study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It
further noted that some US states — and racial or ethnic minority groups within
them — fared worse than other groups.
Researchers
conducting the study looked at maternal deaths between 1999 and 2019 — but not
the pandemic spike — for every state and five racial and ethnic groups.
"It's
a call to action to all of us to understand the root causes — to understand
that some of it is about health care and access to health care, but a lot of it
is about structural racism and the policies and procedures and things that we
have in place that may keep people from being healthy," said Dr. Allison
Bryant, one of the study's authors and a senior medical director for health
equity at Mass General Brigham.
According
to the report, among wealthy nations the US has the highest rate of maternal
mortality, which is defined as a death during pregnancy or up to a year
afterward. Common causes include excessive bleeding, infection, heart disease,
suicide and drug overdose.
African
American women had the greatest median maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live
births, which had tripled in certain northeastern states over two decades, the
study found.
In the
state of Arkansas, black females have a twofold higher likelihood of experiencing
pregnancy-related fatalities compared to white females, according to a 2021
state report.
Dr.
William Greenfield, the head physician overseeing family well-being at the
Arkansas Department of Health, stated that the discrepancy is substantial and
has "endured consistently" over the years. He also added that it is
challenging to precisely determine the reasons behind the surge in the maternal
mortality rate for Black mothers in the state.
"Most
of the deaths we reviewed and other places have reviewed … were
preventable," Greenfield said.
The
authors of the report also emphasized the importance of comprehending these
discrepancies in order to concentrate on solutions that are rooted in the
community and to ascertain the necessary resources to address the issue.
Source: presstv.ir
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/07/04/706436/US-Maternal-death-up-100--in-20-yrs,-highest-among-African-Americans
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Brutal
Mullahs’ Regime Hangs Six Prisoners, Including Baluchi Woman
4th July
2023
On
Sunday, July 2, the repressive regime of Khamenei hanged six prisoners in the
prisons of Kerman, Karaj, Khorramabad, and Qazvin. In these criminal
executions, a 50-year-old woman prisoner named AfsanehShahiki, a Baluch
compatriot, was executed in Kerman Central Prison. FarshadAbdoli,
MojtabaChegini, and another prisoner in Karaj Central Prison, YaserGolzardian
in Khorramabad Central Prison, and BahadorSalimi in Qazvin Central Prison were
executed by the regime’s executioners.
The
Iranian Resistance once again calls on the United Nations, the European Union,
and member countries to take immediate and effective action to save the lives
of the death row prisoners.
Source: ncr-iran.org
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/stop-executions-in-iran/mullahs-brutal-regime-hanged-six-prisoners-including-a-baluchi-woman/
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Escaping
the chaos: Women's stories of survival in Sudan's conflict
04 July,
2023
They
woke up on the morning of April 15 2023 to the sound of gunfire, followed by
airstrikes. The skies over Khartoum filled with black smoke.
Sarah
and her husband were living in a building about six kilometres away from the
headquarters of the General Command and Khartoum International Airport where
the clashes began.
Sarah,
familiar with past disturbances, believed the situation would soon calm down.
But, contrary to her expectations, she and other foreign and Sudanese women
were forced to flee Khartoum.
The New
Arab interviewed several women who have since left either Khartoum or Sudan
entirely.
Sarah,
an Egyptian woman in her thirties living in Sudan with her husband, recounted
the moment everything changed: "A shell hit our neighbour's house below
us. They took shelter behind the apartment door, moving furniture to secure the
windows. They quickly gathered food from the kitchen and sought safety with
their three children."
Sarah's
six-year-old son was in his bedroom when a gunshot pierced through the window,
narrowly missing his head and shattering a cement pillar.
Fearing
for their safety, they left their tenth-floor apartment and sought refuge in a
friend's apartment on the first floor. Unfortunately, even there, a bullet from
a "Dana" weapon penetrated the window.
They
decided to live in their garage before making the decision to leave Khartoum
during the ceasefire. Sarah argued with her husband as he didn't have a valid
passport. It would eventually lead to the family splitting up.
"Tickets
that used to cost 25,000 Sudanese pounds ($42) reached 250,000 Sudanese pounds
($420)," Sarah told The New Arab.
Zahraa,
a Palestinian who has lived in Sudan since she was nine, shared a similar
experience before she decided to travel after a month of clashes.
Zahraa
shared her concern, saying, "When the RSF broke down our neighbours' door
using a pickup truck, with weapons pointed at the heads of family members, I
feared for the safety of my children. We made the decision to leave."
"I
consider Sudan my second home, maybe even first. Despite being Palestinian, I
have lived only in Sudan." She left behind all her possessions, taking
only essential clothes and food as she bid farewell to her home.
Um
Faraha, an Egyptian woman who was nine months pregnant, did the same. She
brought only her childbirth bag and left behind everything else, even her gold,
fearing it would be stolen. "When a shell hit our house while we were
sleeping, that's when we decided to leave."
Um
Faraha and her daughter, Faraha, journeyed on Eid al-Fitr night to Wad Madani,
a five-hour drive away in her husband's car. Then they travelled for another
six hours to Kosti, where they knew someone. Kosti has remained largely
untouched by the intense conflict in the capital.
"[In
Kosti] I fainted so I had to go to the hospital. I found patients lying on the
floor. I thought I was dying but the nurse said it was fatigue and the fact I
was pregnant. But I suffered for hours and I trembled in fear. I later
discovered these trembles were from malaria."
Their
journey continued by bus as they made their way to Kassala. "The roads
were broken, the weather was hot, and the buses were poorly equipped for a
seven-hour ride. I feared I would lose my baby or have a premature delivery on
the roadside, Um Faraha added.
Having
reached Kassala, the two then embarked on the most difficult part of their
trip: the 10-hour journey to Port Sudan.
The
military plane that transported them only had rope seats. The plane was
overcrowded and accommodated three times its capacity. Despite the discomfort,
Um Faraha found solace in the fact that she was returning to her homeland. The
flight lasted 3.5 hours, and upon arrival at Almaza military airport, they had
to undergo a seven-hour wait for passport security checks.
After
enduring six days of shelling and approximately 5 intermittent trips, Um Faraha
finally reached Egypt, where she gave birth to her second daughter.
But the
journey to Egypt was different for the Palestinian Zahraa. She went on a
regular trip, not an evacuation. "It was exhausting in every sense of the
word. We passed through 10 RSF checkpoints during the trip, and each time
someone would come on board and search some of the bus passengers with a
threatening weapon. The tenth and final checkpoint by the army was before we
got off in Dongola," Zahraa told The New Arab.
Zahraa
mentioned that they spent the night in Dongola, sleeping on the street in
darkness while waiting for the driver to rest before continuing their journey.
"We didn't sleep, we just waited for daybreak. The children slept from
exhaustion," she explained. Zahraa had two children, and her brother's
wife had two more.
The
family rationed the limited snacks they had brought, distributing them
sparingly among them. They also had to conserve the scarce water despite its
heat. "I witnessed my children's hunger before my eyes but I couldn't do
anything to help," Zahraa shared. Then they continued the road to
WadiHalfa near the Egyptian border.
Zahraa
expressed her frustration with the bus owners they encountered at the border.
"We paid 160,000 pounds (260 dollars) for each ticket, and the Sudanese
bus driver had agreed with another driver to continue the journey with us and
share the cost. However, upon arrival, the other bus driver attempted to change
the price after seeing the large number of people who might be willing to pay
more for the crossing."
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Zahraa's
family spent 3 days in WadiHalfa, waiting for a bus and her husband's visa to
be issued. While Zahraa, her brother's wife, her mother and the children could
enter Egypt without a visa, her husband couldn't, despite his mother being
Egyptian. They rented a basic house without even water and slept in the
courtyard. They went to the border every morning, hoping to cross, but it
wasn't until the third day that they were able to cross without Zahraa's
husband.
"We
slept in the neutral zone, waiting for the morning shift," Zahraa said.
With passengers from 30 other buses, they suffered from a lack of amenities
like toilets and food. Flies swarmed around them from all directions. Zahraa
was grateful none of them suffered the tragic fate she witnessed that night, as
a man and a woman passed away and were repatriated to Sudan.
They
crossed the neutral zone at noon the following day but had to endure another
night at the Egyptian border before their passports were checked.
Zahra
told us that her husband is still in Halfa and has been for a month now, with
her male siblings later joining him. Along with about two thousand other people
who sleep near the consulate, they were trying to obtain visas while their hope
dwindled along with their money.
Some
individuals sought refuge from the conflict in the Sudanese capital but
remained within the country. Among them was Elaf Faisal's family, a Sudanese
journalist. Fearing the risk of rape and sexual violence, Elaf's mother made
the decision to relocate her daughters to a distant city far from Khartoum.
Meanwhile,
Elaf's father and brother stayed behind, concerned about the potential theft of
their home and unable to afford the expensive transportation tickets for all
eight family members. As a result, Elaf's mother and her four daughters
embarked on a challenging 18-hour journey to Port Sudan.
"We
still don't feel completely safe even though we've escaped. The sounds of
bullets and bombs still haunt us and we left our beloved ones behind," she
expressed. They have decided to stay in the coastal city until their father and
brother can join us or until they can return home if the war stops.
Source: newarab.com
https://www.newarab.com/features/women-forced-flee-violence-sudan-displacement-looms
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Brazil
Women's World Cup Team Pay Tribute To Iran Protesters
July 5,
2023
Brazil's
team arrived in Australia on Wednesday for the FIFA women's World Cup with a
message of solidarity with Iranian demonstrators who took to the streets last
year over the death of Mahsa Amini.
The
Islamic republic was rocked by civil unrest after the death in custody of
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, in September following her arrest for
allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.
The
Brazilian footballers disembarked in Brisbane from a plane with the statement,
"NO WOMAN SHOULD BE FORCED TO COVER HER HEAD", painted on its
fuselage.
The show
of support comes after FIFA unveiled eight armbands last week highlighting
social causes, including gender equality and ending violence against women,
which team captains can wear at the tournament.
Rights
groups have accused Tehran of increasing the use of the death penalty to spread
fear in the wake of the protest movement that began after Amini's death.
Iran has
hanged at least 354 people in the first six months of this year, Norway-based
Iran Human Rights said Monday, a pace of executions much higher than in 2022.
Footballer
Amir Nasr-Azadani is among dozens of Iranians sentenced to years in prison over
the largely peaceful protests, which have been seen as the biggest challenge to
the government since the 1979 revolution.
The
Brazilian women's team, who are in Group F with France, Jamaica and Panama,
will start their World Cup campaign against Panama in Adelaide on July 24.
The
tournament is co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand and begins on July 20.
Source: barrons.com
https://www.barrons.com/news/brazil-women-s-world-cup-team-pay-tribute-to-iran-protesters-621832a9?refsec=topics_afp-news
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Over 165
Iranian Women Killed By Male Relatives Since May 2021
05-07-23
New
research has revealed that at least 165 women were killed by one of her family
members in Iran within the last two years.
According
to an investigative report by Sharq daily citing official sources, 108 women
were killed by their husbands, 17 by their brothers, nine by their sons, 13 by
their fathers, and 19 by other men in the family.
The
findings, which reveal how deeply domestic violence has become embedded in
Iranian society, show that on average, a woman was killed by a man in her
family every four days.
Out of
165 women who were murdered, 43 were shot, often with hunting rifles, pistols
and even Kalashnikovs. Another 40 were stabbed to death and 35 were strangled
either by hand, scarves and bedding.
Six
women were set on fire, either by pouring gasoline directly on them, or setting
fire to the car or the house where the victim was staying. Another 41 victims
were killed in other brutal ways such as hammer blows to the head and body and
mutilation. Only in 11 cases did the killer commit suicide after the crime.
Family
disputes have been quoted as the cause of 87 cases out of 165 murders while 38
cases have been deemed as honor killing, 10 murdered due to financial issues
and 30 others where there is no clear cause for the murder.
Perpetrators
of honor killings are often not brought to justice in Iran as most families do
not demand harsh punishment for them, particularly if the perpetrator is the
victim’s father.
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202307053380
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/rajasthan-hindu-muslim-love-jihad/d/130142