In India, Muslim women advertised for 'sale' on the 'Sulli Deals' app defy trolls who tried to silence them

From CNN: In India, Muslim women advertised for 'sale' on the 'Sulli Deals' app defy trolls who tried to silence them 

Hana Mohsin Khan says she knows why she was targeted on a website that appeared to offer her for sale.   "(It's) because of my religion. Because I am Muslim," she said.

In early July, the 32-year-old pilot and proud feminist was among more than 80 Muslim women -- journalists, writers and influencers -- whose photos were posted on a mock app called Sulli Deals, a derogatory term for Muslim women typically used by right-wing Hindu men.

Users were offered a chance to "buy" the women like commodities in an auction -- and while the women weren't actually for sale, they say it left them scared, traumatized and angry.

Two months later, the site has been taken down by US-based platform GitHub, but the women are still angry none its creators have been detained or arrested. They say the lack of action highlights the discrimination Muslim women face in Hindu-dominated India, where outspoken advocates of women's rights are singled out for attack on social media.

They say they won't be silenced.

read more here @ CNN

Horrifying Attacks On Indian Women

From Daily Mail Online:

An Indian husband walked to a police station in India carrying the decapitated head of his wife who he beheaded after accusing her of having an affair. 

Chinnar Yadav attacked his wife Vimla with a sharp weapon after a heated argument in which he accused her of being unfaithful with their neighbour, according to police.

After killing and beheading his wife, Yadav was then filmed carrying her severed head to their local police station in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Similar scenes were captured in Uttar Pradesh in February when another man decapitated his wife and walked through the streets singing the Indian national anthem. 

This is not the only attacks on women in this region. You have the following horrific examples:

- husband kills wife he thinks is about to give birth to a daughter

- gang rape reported but not believed by police

- reporting sexual assault is termed a conspiracy

- rape culture criticised

- vulnerability of women

- acid attack on woman by neighbours

- cremation of rape victim under scrutiny

- high incidents of crime against women

- congress woman assaulted for speaking out

- woman brutalised

- another gang rape death

- sexual assault not believed, justice delayed

- woman beaten for resisting public molestation

- high level of crimes against women

The northern region of Uttar Pradesh is one of the four largest states in India, with a population to 200 million (and growing). With the fifth largest economy, the state is now dominated by the services industry. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies.

Uttar Pradesh also has the highest number of crimes among any state in India, but due to its high population. Uttar Pradesh also continues to top the list of states with maximum communal violence incidents. An analysis of Ministers of State of Home Affairs states (2014), 23% of all incidents of communal violence in India took place in Uttar Pradesh - this includes violence against religious minorities, social castes, and women. According to a post from NDTV, "... 4,322 cases of rape were reported in 2018, with almost 12 taking place daily ..." - and further statistics are provided in this article from The Hindu, with this alarming statistic that "... the conviction rate in rape-related cases stood at 27.2% even though the rate of filing chargesheets was 85.3% in such cases ..."

This is just over the last year or so; it boggles the mind to think of the brutality women and girls have been silently subjected to in years past. Something needs to be done!

When Will Land Rights for South Asian Women Become a Reality?

In Meghalaya, India’s northeastern biodiversity hotspot, all three major tribes are matrilineal. Children take the mother’s family name, while daughters inherit the family lands.

Because women own land and have always decided what is grown on it and what is conserved, the state not only has a strong climate-resistant food system but also some of the rarest edible and medicinal plants, researchers said. The importance of protecting the full spectrum of women’s property rights becomes even more urgent as the number of women-led households in rural areas around the world continues to grow.

While their ancient culture empowers Meghalaya’s indigenous women with land ownership that vastly improves their resilience to the food shocks climate change springs on them, for an overwhelming majority of women in developing countries, culture does not allow them even a voice in family or community land management. Nor do national laws support their rights to own the very land they sow and harvest to feed their families.

read more here @ The Wire

Celebrating Nadia Mehr

From the Malaysia Sun - First Pakistani girl gets doctorate in medieval history in Indian Kashmir:

Nadia Mehr has scripted history by becoming the first Pakistani female to complete a doctorate in medieval history from the Kashmir University here.

She completed her thesis titled: "The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate period in Kashmir". Hailing from Kasur near Lahore, 31-year-old Mehr was selected under the South Asia Foundation programme.

See also the articles from -

The Greater Khasmir:

A Pakistani girl Nadia Mehr daughter of Mehr Din of Lahore, Pakistan has completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History from Kashmir University. She is the first Pakistani girl to have completed the doctorate from this Srinagar-based varsity under the South Asia Foundation (SAF) program.

The KU officials said Nadia pursued the research program vide University Registration No: 52-PhD-2010 from the Institute of Kashmir Studies. She did her thesis on “The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate Period in Kashmir”, under the supervision of Prof Gulshan Majeed, Institute of Kashmir Studies.

The Tribune:

After a difficult visa process, bouts of violence and four years of hard work, Nadia Mehr Din has completed her PhD in history from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar. She is the first Pakistani woman to have completed the doctorate from Indian-administered Kashmir under the South Asia Foundation (SAF) programme, report Kashmiri newspapers.

Her dissertation was titled “The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate Period in Kashmir”, under the supervision of Prof Gulshan Majeed, Institute of Kashmir Studies and she received her degree on December 9.

Sorry State of Women In India

Tragic tales of violence against women and children has emerged from India.  Here are just a few of the headlines that have appeared this week:

From the Guardian:

Indian PM Manmohan Singh: women's status and safety a growing concern...  India must make vast improvements to protect women, says prime minister amid protests over rape of five-year-old girl.

From the Times of India:

CPM politburo member Brinda Karat on Sunday called for the need to amend the criminal law to protect tribal women against the atrocities by officials and guards of forest department.Expressing concern over the increase in crimes against women, Brinda Karat said the issue of atrocities against tribal women should also be addressed. 

From The Hindu:
Even as protests against the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl in the Gandhi Nagar area of East Delhi snowballed into widespread public outrage, the 22-year-old casual worker accused of the crime was brought here on Saturday.

From The Siasat Daily:
The brutal rapist of the five-year-old girl had met his equally vile partner-in-crime during a chance meeting aboard a train earlier this year, sources claimed on Sunday. Identified by sources as one Pradeep, the man in question is now ‘officially’ the second accused in the case which took place precisely a week ago. “Manoj Kumar Sah, the main accused, kept twisting facts, changing his statements and putting the entire blame on Pradeep as soon as he was arrested,” said an officer.

Also from The Siasat Daily:
Second Delhi child rape accused arrested from Bihar .....One more person allegedly involved in the rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi a week ago has been arrested, police said on Monday. Pradeep, the second accused, was apprehended from Bihar in a joint operation by Delhi and Bihar Police, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar told PTI.

And this again from The Siasat Daily:

Delhi rape accused Manoj raped wife before marriage .....In another shocking revelation it has been reported that rape accused Manoj Kumar, who was arrested by police yesterday had also raped his wife before marriage.

From Huffington Post:
Women's groups here are hailing a new law, passed March 21, that stiffens punishments of sexual violence in the aftermath of the notorious gang rape last December that left a medical student dead.

And then this tragic story from The Siasat Daily:
A 22-year-old mentally challenged woman was raped allegedly by a ward boy at a nursing home whose doctors have been arrested on charge of trying to bribe the victim's kin to hush up the matter. The incident occurred at Walhekarwadi in Chinchwad town near hear on April 16 in the nursing home run by Dr Vishal Sonawane (34) and his wife Dr Varsha (31) where the victim was undergoing treatment, police said today. Police arrested the accused, identified as Subhash Modad (22), on the charge of rape and the doctor couple for trying to hush up the matter and bribe the victim's kin to not report the incident to police as it would bring bad name to their hospital.

From Opposing Views:

Gruesome footage surfaced today of four men relentlessly beating an Indian woman in Ludhiana, a city in the northwest Indian province of Punjab. The woman says she was beaten because she asked to be repaid a sum of money that she had lent to one of the men. The amount is reported to be 20,000 rupees, the equivalent of about $370 USD.

From CTV News:

But exotic ancient India has run headlong into the rapidly growing economic powerhouse, where women have stepped out of traditional roles, resulting in harsh questions about their treatment which is considered to be among the worst in the world. Rape is common. Sexual assault goes unreported. The victim is often blamed, which the perpetrator walks free.

Child Marriage In India

From Gulf News:

Child marriage, known as ‘Bal Vivaha’, is believed to have begun during the medieval ages of India. Later child marriage became a widespread cultural practice with various reasons to justify it, and many marriages were performed while the girl was still an infant.

After independence, the feudalistic character of the Indian society coupled with caste system gave a major boost to incidences of child marriage, particularly in the rural areas.

“Castes, which are based on birth and heredity, do not allow two people to marry if they are from different castes. This system was threatened by young people’s emotions and desires to marry outside their caste, so out of necessity child marriage was created to ensure the caste system continued. Also parents of a child entering into a child marriage are often poor and use marriage as a way to make their daughter’s future better, especially in areas with little economic opportunities.

“During times of war, parents will often marry off their young child to protect her from the conflicts raging around her. Some families still use child marriage to build alliances, as they did during the medieval ages,” Nirmal Kaur, Delhi-based child rights activist, told Gulf News.

“Statistically, a girl in a child marriage has less of a chance to go to school, and parents think education will undermine her ability to be a traditional wife and mother. Virginity is an important part of Indian culture, and parents want to ensure their daughters do not have pre-marital sex, and child marriage is an easy way to fix this,” Kaur said.

India: Ganesh Madal Supports The Girl Child

From Express India:

If many Ganesh Mandals have adopted the popular sentiment of the Anna Hazare movement against corruption to decorate Ganpati pandals, there are others that have picked up social causes which are in news these days. One mandal, for instance, the Rashtriya Sattoti Haud Mandal at Kasba Peth, has taken up female foeticide as the theme and is trying to create awareness on the importance of saving the girl child.

The mandal also felicitated eight couples who either have a single child, a girl, or two girl children. The mandal has used several ideas to drive home the point. For instance, a woman is shown near the pram of an infant. “It is the mother who is responsible for educating her daughter. Through proper upbringing, a mother can inculcate self-esteem in a girl child and make her independent.” said Sandeep Bangar, president of the mandal.

Notable Female Indian Politicians

From the Bangalore Mirror:

For the first time in the history of our democracy, four states are being led by women chief ministers. Here’s looking at what makes the behenji different from the amma, and the didi from the school teacher .

Mamata Banerjee - the woman who ended the 34-year-old communist regime in West Bengal.

J Jayalalithaa - The actress-turned powerful politician.

Sheila Dixit - three time election winner.

Mayawati - this Dalit leader heads the most populous state in the country.

India's Glamour Royal Women

From rediff.com:

These queens and princesses had hordes of admirers in their time and it's easy to see why.

The Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa may be making headlines across the world each day, but there are several Indian princesses and queens from history who were just as fascinating , beautiful, and glamorous as the Middletons.

In the following pages, we bring you a brief insight into the personalities and lives of our own maharanis and princesses.

 

Indian Census: Girls Declining

From NPR:

India's latest census revealed a disturbing trend: There are far fewer girls born each year than boys.

Activists say the disparity is deliberate.

Much of Indian culture regards boys as assets to families and girls as liabilities. Some families are using ultrasound technology to determine the gender of fetuses and then aborting the females.

The process has been going on for decades, leading to a shortage of marriageable girls that is beginning to make itself felt all over India.

Dr. C. Chandramouli, India's census commissioner, says the numbers don't lie: The girls are missing.

Among children under 6 years old in India today, there are only 940 girls for every 1,000 boys. Worldwide, it's around 986 to every 1,000.

Chandramouli says this is a continuation of a trend that was first seen clearly in the 2000 census — but the new figures show the problem is spreading.

As a comparison, I would like to compare these results with census' taken in other countries to see whether it is a universal trend or localised.

Indian Women & the Mahalaxmi Temple

From the Ahmedabad Mirror:

The Anna Hazare blitzkrieg, which shook up the entire system, proved that India is changing fast. A similar tremor of change was felt at the heart of the Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur on Saturday. In this case, the pride of the patriach, the ultimate male bastion fortified by centuries of rules loaded against the fairer sex, was finally breached.

The garbhagruha (sanctum sanctorum) of the important twelfth century temple in a city of half a million, nestled in the lush corner of south Maharashtra’s sugar belt, was witness to a change in the course of history, with one line shouted out by a trustee of the temple a few minutes past 10.30 am: “Let the women devotees in.”

The trustee requested the male devotees to empty the tiny space and make way for the women. What followed was a group of women, who walked up the silver-coated staircase leading to the innermost shrine of Ambabai with a quiet zest in their steps, even as the few priests inside watched, aghast.

The centuries-old barrier had been broken at last, even as the hardcore traditionalists, which most of the priests in the garbhagruha are, watched in dismay because to them the sanctity of the divine abode of Ambabai, one among the Shaktipeeths, had been defiled.

Vanishing Women of Natural Beauty

I was reading Vincent Akanmode's article " Vanishing Women of Natural Beauty " when I came across this pargraph right at the conclusion:

Physicians in ancient India are reckoned to have used skin grafts for reconstructive works as early as 800 BC, but it was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that plastic surgery began to gain recognition in Europe and America, with Dr. John Peter Mettaeur as America’s first plastic surgeon of note.

Amazing!

India: Pongala Ritual

From the Times of India:

Thousands of women today performed the 'pongala' ritual of the famed Attukal Bhagavathy temple here today, one of world's largest all-woman religious gatherings which made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records due to its uniqueness.

Cutting across class, caste and even religious barriers, devotees congregated around the temple and beside the highways and by-lanes to perform the annual ceremony of cooking of rice-jaggery mix in fresh earthen pots as their offering to the presiding Goddess of the shrine, seeking her blessings for year-round peace, plenty and prosperity.

For the last few years the festival has been attracted an average 2.5 million women, which prompted the Guinness to record it as the biggest gathering of women on a single day for a religious ritual.

Do And Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34

From IOL Tonight:

Adapting a work of literature into a movie is an arduous task. Film-makers have always been fascinated by best-selling books for adaptation into feature films. Even in Hollywood, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Narnia and many more have been successfully adapted from novels by reputed names.

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is yet another book-to-movie adaptation by Ashutosh Gowariker (based on the book Do And Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 by Manini Chatterjee); and not the first time Gowariker has revisited the bygone era.

Set in 1930s British India, the movie tells the story of a revolution in the peaceful port of Chittagong. One night, five simultaneous attacks take place under a group of unsung heroes, including two determined young women and an idealistic leader (Surjya Sen), a teacher.

Mary Glowrey - Saint in Waiting

From the Herald Sun:

Mary Glowrey, a Melbourne University graduate who went on to work as a missionary in India, looks set to become the nation's second saint after the first stage of the long process began yesterday.

Glowrey was born in 1887 in Birregurra, 135km southwest of Melbourne, but moved to Melbourne to study medicine.

After graduating with a bachelor of medicine and a bachelor of surgery, Ms Glowrey worked for a short time in Sydney before moving to Melbourne's Eye and Ear Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital. She later opened her own practice on Collins St.

She said she had her religious calling at East Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1915 after reading a pamphlet about the plight of children in India.

In 1920 she migrated to Bangalore, where she joined the Congregation of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and carried out missionary work there until her death in 1957.

From the Catholc Archdiocese of Melbourne:

The Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga has been working closely with the Society of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in India for the past two years preparing for the commencement of Mary Glowrey’s cause.

The Archbishop of Bangalore, the Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras, appointed Fr Paul Puthanangady on 11 November this year to assist and guide the Society of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the preparation of all documents and records needed in the preliminary phase of Mary Glowrey’s cause. The Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga hold more than 80% of Mary Glowrey’s personal writings.

From the Catholic Women's League Australia:

The inaugural President of the League was Mary Glowrey, a gifted young doctor whose actions were grounded in an understanding of the absolute inviolability of human life. In 1920, Mary left her thriving career as an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. Surrendering herself completely to God’s will, Mary sailed for India to become a medical missionary with the Congregation of the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph in Guntur. Pope Pius XI bestowed a special blessing on her medical mission work and Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, as Mary Glowrey was then known, became the first nun-doctor missionary.

India: Love Commandos

From the Guardian:

A spate of brutal killings in northern India has spurred a group of volunteers to set up a helpline to rescue couples whose lives are in danger because they want to marry across caste lines.

It is a reflection of just how tightly caste still holds India in its grip that a group such as the Love Commandos should need to exist at all. But exist they do, a volunteer force dedicated to rescuing young lovers from families who would rather kill them than suffer the social stigma of an unsuitable match, and from the khap panchayats, the notorious village caste councils that rule on who can and cannot marry and regularly pass sentence of death on those who refuse to accept their diktats on caste or gotra (another subdivision based on lineage). The Love Commandos' phones ring night and day. What started as a group of like-minded friends protecting couples trying to celebrate Valentine's Day is rapidly becoming a national movement, with 2,000 volunteers across the country and more coming forward every day.

Commonwealth Games: Women Lured By Easy Money

From Sify News:

An estimated 40,000 women from India's northeast were recruited by various escort services for the Commonwealth Games, sparking fears that a vast majority of the women could be engaged in a prostitution racket in New Delhi during the 12-day mega event, rights groups and a minister said here Tuesday.

'We are indeed worried with girls from the northeast, numbering somewhere around 40,000 recruited by various agencies, luring them of good money and job opportunities... it has all the possibilities of being engaged in an organised prostitution racket,' Hasina Kharbih, chairperson of Impulse NGO Network, a rights group working in rescuing women trafficked from the northeast, told IANS.

According to inputs with the Impulse NGO Network and the Meghalaya government, gullible girls from the eight northeastern states, including Darjeeling and Siliguri in West Bengal, were wooed by smart operators by putting out newspaper advertisements - promising lucrative remuneration and good assignments during the Games.

India: Firsts For Muslim Women

From the Times of India: Muslim Women Offer Eid Prayers

Fighting back convention, 1,000 women congregated at Hyderpur in Malda to offer Eid namaz on Saturday just like their male counterparts. Succeeding in breaking free from the shackles of male domination, the women gathered under the banner of Muslim Mahila Janakalyan Samity and prayed, led not by a moulvi but a woman from among them.

"We have been doing this for the last nine years. It is the first all-women prayer to be held in West Bengal. We are proud that women are coming out from behind the purdah. There were initial objections from male family members, but they have now accepted it," said Shamima Begum, who led the prayer.

From the Times of India: Kendrapara Mosque Opens To Women

Hundreds of Muslim women offered prayers at an exclusive namaz for females at Kendrapara's Minar mosque on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Saturday. Mosque authorities said the annual event was aimed at women's empowerment.

"Each year, Eid brings joy to hundreds of women from the Alhadis sect in Kendrapara as they offer special prayers at the mosque at Badahat in Kendrapara," said Ainur Haque, cleric of Minar mosque. "The mosque managing committee's decision is a bold step towards giving women equal rights," he added.

 

India: Unwanted Daughters

From the Hindu:

India is one of the few countries in the world in which there are fewer women and girls than men and boys: their share in the country's population has declined continuously over the past century. The census of 2001 revealed that for every 1000 males, there were only 946 females. If women and girls are ceded the same life chances as men and boys, including health care and nutrition, there would be roughly equal numbers of females and males. Instead, there were 35 million fewer women and girls than men and boys in 2001. In a stark sense, what these figures establish beyond doubt is that social, cultural — and increasingly technological — processes of discrimination, neglect and hostility have extinguished life chances of these many million ‘missing' girls and women.

Annie Besant

From One India:

Annie Besant is a well known lady till today . She was born in the year 1847 in London to a middle class family of Irish Origin. She is the most prominent Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator. She supported the Irish and the Indian self rule too. In the year , 1873 she married Frank Besant and moved to London where she became the speaker for National Secular Society. She also travelled to India in the year 1898 and helped to establish the Central Hindu College in India.

In the year 1908 the famous Annie Besant became the President of the Theosophical Society. She began to steer the society away from Buddhism and towards Hinduism. By joining the Indian National Congress she became involved in politics in India. She also helped to launch the Home Rule League to campaign for democracy in India and the dominion status within the empire which culminated in her election as president of the Indian National Congress.

She was such an extraordinary person , she fought for the causes she had thought that was right , they were women' rights, freedom of thought, secularism, birth control Fabian Socialisim and worker rights. Besant was a prolific writer and a powerful orator, she wrote a column for the National Reformer which was the newspaper of the National Secular Society. In the year, 1889, she was wrote a review for the Pall Mall Gazette on the Secret Doctrine.

She became the member of the Theosophical Society and visited India for the first time in the year 1893.In her honour a neighbourhood near the Theosophical Society called Besant Nagar in Chennai,was named.

After the war that broke out in Europe in the year, 1914, Annie continued to campaign for Indian Independence until she passed away in 1933.