Tag: India

  • Bella Hadid calls out India over ‘ban hijab’ conflict

    Bella Hadid calls out India over ‘ban hijab’ conflict

    Model Bella Hadid, a vocal advocate of women’s rights and the rights of Palestinians, criticized the discrimination faced by Muslim women in India and elsewhere.

    Taking to Instagram, the supermodel shared multiple news items from several countries and wrote, “In other forms of discrimination: I urge France, India , Quebec, Belgium, and any other countries in the world who are discriminatory against Muslim women, to rethink what decisions you have made or are trying to make in the future about a body that is not yours.”

    She added, “It’s not your job to tell women what they should or shouldn’t wear, especially when it is pertaining to faith and safety.

    It’s not your job to tell women whether or not they can STUDY or PLAY SPORTS, ESPECIALLY when it is pertaining to their faith and safety. Hijabi women in France are not allowed to wear their Hijab to school, to play sports, to swim, even on their ID pictures. You can’t be a civil worker or work in hospitals with a Hijab. To get an internship, most universities will say, the only way to get one is to take off the hijab. It’s ridiculous and really shows how Islamophobic the world is without even acknowledging it. In regards to these new Bills that are either in the process of being passed , or have already.”

    Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor has also appreciated Bella Hadid’s Instagram post.

    Bella Hadid calls out India for banning hijab
  • Pakistan rescues woman in love gone wrong, saves wife left in Indian jail by husband

    Pakistan rescues woman in love gone wrong, saves wife left in Indian jail by husband

    Pakistan has issued a nationality certificate, which will lead to becoming a citizen of Pakistan, to a stateless woman, Sumaira who has been stranded in India for four years. It was issued after verification by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and her family. Pakistan Interior Minister has sent her nationality certificate to Foreign Ministry.

    Pakistan High Commission in India, New Delhi will issue travel documents and she will be able to come to Pakistan with her daughter who is four-years-old.

    According to her lawyer, Sohana Biswapatna, Sumaira was born in Qatar to Pakistani parents who moved from Karachi for employment. She married an Indian Muslim for love in Qatar without the consent of her parents. She illegally moved to India with her husband in 2016.

    Sumaira and her husband were arrested in 2017. However, her husband, who faced the charges of facilitating a foreign intruder, was released on bail after a few months. She remained in jail.

    She gave birth to a daughter in prison.

    The message she sent through her lawyer to BBC, “I have been punished by law for the mistake I made, but my sorrows and pains are not diminishing. The family had already separated, but now the husband in India has also turned away. At the moment, my only recourse is my country, Pakistan.”

    According to Sumaira, she wanted to confess her crime but her husband stopped her from giving a statement. The husband thought that India would deport her if she confessed. He was trying to find a way to release her from jail and settle her in India.

    Her case was stalled in India for three years as she did not confess to her crime.

    Her husband stopped visiting her and attending her calls without any explanation around after two to three years. After losing hope of reunion, she confessed to her crime.

    She was sentenced to a three year imprisonment, which she has already completed.

    Currently, she is living in a state shelter in Bengaluru, Karnataka, a state of India.

  • Minister for Religious Affairs requests PM Khan that Pakistan observe Hijab Day on March 8

    Minister for Religious Affairs requests PM Khan that Pakistan observe Hijab Day on March 8

    Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri has reportedly written a letter to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and proposed to observe International Hijab Day on March 8 which is also celebrated as International Women’s Day, reports Jang.

    The minister also sent a copy of his letter to President Dr Arif Alvi.

    The letter states that Hijab Day would draw the world’s attention towards the discrimination happening against Muslim women in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IoK) and India.

    On the occasion of March 8, several women’s rights organisations organise Aurat March in form of rallies across the country to talk about the issues faced by women in the communities of Pakistan.

  • [VIDEO] Muslim man builds Hindu Temple in India

    [VIDEO] Muslim man builds Hindu Temple in India

    A Muslim businessman, Mohammad Naushad Sheikh, constructed a Hindu temple to promote communal harmony in the district of Jharkhand, an Indian state.

    The temple is dedicated to the Hindu god, Lord Krishna. He spent his own money of over Rs. 60 lakh (Pakistani rupees) on the construction.

    On Sunday, while speaking to the Indian news agency, ANI, he said, “I had a dream in 2019 to establish this temple. Today this temple has been completed.”

    Hindu ritual, Jalabhishek (offering of water) to Lord Krishna was held in the temple on February 14.

    He further added that this temple is the symbol of unity.

    “I have nothing to do with politics and cast. I would like to give the message of unity and oneness of God, to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian,” he added.

  • After Karnataka, Hijab conflict begins in India’s Uttar Pradesh

    After Karnataka, Hijab conflict begins in India’s Uttar Pradesh

    The dispute concerning the banning of the hijab has reached India’s large and populous state, Uttar Pradesh. A group of young men distributed a memorandum to college officials on Monday.

    They insisted that the administration of Dharma Samaj College implement a complete ban on the hijab in its premises. The college is located in the Aligarh district.

    The College Chief Proctor, Mukesh Bharadwaj, while talking to Reuters said, “Two years ago the same issue was raised and it has been raised again. We do not allow any type of religious uniform and we have a civil code of uniform for everyone.”

    He further added, “There is a changing room for girls and they can change their dress there before attending class.”

    He said, “We are investigating the matter.”

    The tension arose when the Indian state, Karnataka, banned religious clothes in government schools and colleges in February amid a controversy over the hijab and saffron scarves.

    Various incidents have been reported in the state when hijab-clad students were denied entry to college campuses over a fear of clashes with people belonging to the Hindutva ideology.

    Recently, the Muskan Khan incident has grabbed attention from all over the world. Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai spoke out regarding the incident as well as various Pakistan government ministers.

    Scholar and Professor Noam Chomsky also condemned the growing hatred against Islam and compared the brutal situation of IoK to Israeli forces occupying Palestine and blamed Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s right-wing Hindu nationalist regime for it.

  • Gehraiyaan: The movie actually makes you sink

    Gehraiyaan: The movie actually makes you sink

    Note: This review contains small spoilers

    Gehriyaan, the much talked about movie released after much delay on February 11 on Amazon Prime. The movie revolves around four main characters, Alisha (Deepika Padukone), Tia (Ananya Panday) who are cousins, Karan (Dhairya Karwa) who is Alisha’s boyfriend and Zain who is (Siddhant Chaturvedi) Tia’s boyfriend. The movie starts off with a couples weekend at Tia and Alisha’s childhood home where Alisha and Zain fall for each other.

    The movie’s main plot was the twisted love affair between Alisha and Zain. Their relationship starts off in a predictable way but ends rather dramatically.

    I started watching the movie thinking it was about infidelity and expected a millennial version of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. However, to my surprise, the movie had more to offer than that. Gehriyaan discusses how childhood trauma impacts our relationships when we grow up. It also talked about mental health issues in a very sensitive manner.

    The movie also stars Naseeruddin Shah who is Alisha’s father, but he is given very little screen time which was an injustice to his character. His character had a very strong impact on Alisha and the choices she made as an adult was the product of her childhood. In fact, one of the scenes in the movie in which Deepika and Naseeruddin Shah are having a conversation is one the strongest scene of the movie, and their conversation leaves you wanting more, which you don’t get.

    What worked for me and even for the people who did not like the movie, is the fact that Deepika looked effortlessly hot in the movie. Some might disagree but her hotness is the reason that doesn’t make us hate her character even after she leaves her fiance for her cousin’s fiance and starts a torrid affair. But the way she looks, the trials she suffers makes Deepika the ‘end-all, be-all’ of this movie.

    Final word: The movie does justice to the name Gehriyaan, as the movie actually makes you sink, especially in the last half of the movie. Its unpredictability and sudden twist in the story is what I liked most. However, the movie is facing criticism for the exact same reason, that it didn’t make much sense. However, the movie is worth the watch since it does highlight issues that affect all of us in the relationships that change the way we are.

  • Two men die while taking selfies

    Two men die while taking selfies

    Two men died on spot after being hit by a train in India. The deceased were standing on the railway track.

    According to India Today, Mithun Khan, 36, and Abdul Gain, 32, were taking selfies when the unfortunate incident took place in the West Medinipur district of West Bengal on Sunday.

    A third person, who was also present with the two, sustained crucial injuries and is currently hospitalised.

    The three men had gone for a picnic on the banks of the Kangsavati River. The railway bridge was situated near the spot where they went to take selfies. Eyewitnesses told the police that a train was running on the track at full speed.

    Railway Senior Section Engineer Biswajit Bala said, “Everyone is forbidden to climb on this part of the railway line. Despite the ban, many people are taking selfies lying on the train tracks. However, they did not move and ran along the line. So this accident happened.”

  • ‘Anyone who understood Afghanistan’s history would never have done what Americans did’: PM Khan

    ‘Anyone who understood Afghanistan’s history would never have done what Americans did’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has spoken about the invasion in Afghanistan by the United States (US) for the “war on terror”, which continued for 20 years, terming it as a failure.

    In an interview with the Director of the Advisory Committee of China Institute of Fudan University Dr Eric Li, PM Khan said, “Anyone who understood the history of Afghanistan would never have done what the Americans did.” He argued that after the killing of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, American forces didn’t know what they were doing there.

    “They [Americans] were never clear on what they were trying to achieve in Afghanistan. Was it nation-building; was it democracy; was it liberating the Afghan women? They had no clear aims,” the premier posed several questions during his interview.

    Since the ousting of the Ashraf Ghani-led government, the prime minister has been supporting to unfreeze the Taliban-run country’s assets.

    He said joining the “war on terror” and the corruption of the past rulers badly affected Pakistan. Furthermore, he highlighted that the country lost about 80,000 people and over $100 billion in the war.

    Talking about the recent treatment of Indian Muslims in India, the prime minister criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for marginalisation of minorities, including Muslims, and termed it a “tragedy” for the Indian nation.

  • Pakistan slams Modi’s fascist government’s planned ‘ghettoisation of Muslims’

    Pakistan slams Modi’s fascist government’s planned ‘ghettoisation of Muslims’

    Pakistani politicians and journalists have expressed their concern and called out Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s fascist government amid the hijab ban in the Indian state Karnataka.

    The backlash on Modi is coming after a Muslim student, Muskan Khan, wearing a burqa was surrounded by Hindutva mob on Tuesday within her college premises.

    In a video, it can be seen that the mob with saffron shawls are shouting at her, chanting “Jai Shri Raam”. Khan fearlessly retaliated by shouting back “Allah Hu Akbar” (God is Great).

    In an interview with NDTV, Khan said, “Since I started studying here, I’ve always worn the burqa and hijab.” Asked if she knew the men who bullied and harassed her, Khan responded, “Some were familiar faces from the college. Others I couldn’t recognise. My college principal and lecturers were very supportive after the incident took place.”

    Reacting to her video, Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly condemned the banning of Hijab at educational institutions in India. He said, “World must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims.”

    He has also urged Indian Muslims to stand up for their rights in the neighbouring country, reports Radio Pakistan.

    Praising Muskan Khan for her courage, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif said, “A young Muslim Indian girl is a symbol of resistance against the Hindutva mindset.”

    Several other politicians and journalists also highlighted the fascism of the Modi government.

    Last week, the Indian state, Karnataka, banned religious clothes in educational institutions amid a controversy over the hijab and saffron scarves.

  • KFC, Pizza Hut, Hyundai under fire in India for pro-Kashmir posts

    KFC, Pizza Hut, Hyundai under fire in India for pro-Kashmir posts

    Major Indian brands are facing calls for ban and boycott by Indian nationalists after the social media handles linked with the brands in Pakistan posted messages of solidarity with the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

    Some of the major brands that are facing backlash include KFC, Pizza Hut and Hyundai.

    Have a look at the posts that resulted in a backlash:

    A screenshot of a 2021 post from KFC Pakistan expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir went viral on Indian social media.

    A screenshot of an Instagram post of Pizza Hut is also being widely shared. However, it is not clear if the post is from 2022.

    Similarly, a post by Hyundai Pakistan is also being shared by Indian nationalists calling for a ban on the company.

    After the backlash, and calls for boycott, Hyundai India, KFC India and Pizza Hut have issued statements.

    Pizza Hut also issued a statement saying “it does not condone, support or agree with the contents of a post circulating in social media”.