Tag Archives: Positive News of Muslim Women of West Bengal

Kolkata’s Shagufta Hanaphie is what zero to hero stories are made of

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Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Shagufta Hanaphie

Shagufta Hanaphie’s story is incredible, starting from a child as a shy girl who could barely speak, chronically ill with many complications to the point she would fall unconscious. Yet, at one point in her life, a “magic wand” touched and transformed her. She rose to become an Event Curator, Storyteller, Digital Creator, Author, Womenprenuer, Award Curator, and Philantropist.

She is also the co-founder of Best Friendz Society along with her friend Rajiv, and founder of SHE – Shagufta Hanaphie Events – which is a PR and event boutique, and many other organizations.

A turnaround came during  COVID 19 – pandemic when Shagufta along with a team provided food for a village of 400 people in Ernakulam, Kerala. 

Post Cyclone Amphan that hit Bengal, she and her team also traveled to places in Sundarbans where they provided food, dry rations, and clothes to the needey persons. 

Again, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Best Friendz Society reached Sundarbans.

She started a campaign with her team called Hunger Free Bengal. She coaches people who are emerging with startups and does personal counseling for the lonely, and divorcees, and on occasions, has even match-fixed singles. She works with suicidal people and conducts counseling sessions with young girls and boys. 

Titled with many monikers such as Event Organizer, Author, founder and Director, CEO at Teacher’s Excellence Award, Founder Director, Owner of SHE  Founder, Director, CEO at Inspiring Women Achievers Awards – IWAA, she tells Awaz-the Voice, “I am not a brand but I want to honour, felicitate people for their outstanding work.  While I may not be able to give a formal award, I want to prize people for the recognition for their incredible work and dedication which otherwise gets overshadowed by other giants.”

Shagufta Hanaphie

Shagufta lived with her parents and three sisters in a joint family of 17 members in the 100-year-old bungalow-style British-styled house in Kidderpore, South Kolkata. 

Her  uncle and aunt adopted her. As a little girl, Shagufta was emotional and shy, she hid behind her mother; and never spoke to people outside the family circle. She struggled with illnesses, and due to this could not study well.

“We say bhagwan ka ishara alag hota hain, maybe if a person does not do well in early life, perhaps later in life he will do something different or great.I was a very sick child right from the beginning making me heavily pampered and if I didn’t want to study, they would say don’t put pressure on her. My mom was very strict but others were soft on me. We lived in an extended family, Baarey Papa, Baari Ma used to lavish love on me, to the point that I became lethargic. I had a ligament injury in class 6 which affected the left side of my body. I sometimes even became unconscious.

“When I was 9, I underwent surgical removal of gall bladder; it had 72 stones.This story was reported by newspapers. When I was in class 8, I did not take my exams so I lagged one year. At that time, an angel in the form of my Dad’s friend, Uncle Junaid took the imitative to help me to study saying, “Let us bring back her motivation to study and let me teach her.

“Bedridden, with traction around my neck, my body aching, lying down, he taught me Maths and I started to like the subject.  After being bedridden for three months, I returned to school in a robotic dress. My principal called my father and asked him to take me home saying, “You don’t understand, she is going through a mental trauma right now.

Glimpses of events organised by Shagufta’s NGOs

“I repeated classes, and with mocking classmates around, I changed the school and got an A. I could not believe it and thought the mark sheet got mixed with someone else!

“The talk of marriage exasperated me and decided to go to Ranchi and stay at my Aunt’s home to do college.

“After Baari Ma had a fall, I returned in 2002 and refused to go back to Ranchi. Dropping out of college, one day I attended a workshop where Ruby Bhatia and Michele Pinto came to Kolkata. That was a defining moment in my life because I never knew what the other world was.

“This workshop was a beautiful learning experience where I met these amazing people who told me, “Since you don’t want to study higher, help us, since your English is good.” With them, I learned oratory skills. Earlier, I never spoke to anyone outside, but presently, not only am I doing public speaking but now everyone meets me and I am well known.

“My first salary was Rs. 3200 and I spent more money going by taxi to reach my workplace.  My Baari Papa used to say, “Let her travel so at least she will learn to talk and mix with people.” All these were life-learning lessons.  It falls into place later on in life.

“After this, Rajiv, a good friend and I launched a new brand called Launchers. I have worked with Rajiv for 17 years as a PR Director in a partnership firm.

“My parents got hold of a very handsome boy, who is my husband now. My husband works the whole day; he is very supportive, most of my photographs are clicked by him, travels with me to all the places, and my parents stand right behind me.

“My life changed in October 2018 when my Baarey Papa was diagnosed with cancer. We spent long hours talking till he passed away in 2019. I was shattered.I felt uprooted and disconnected and took a break from work. It was a break tha my Baari Papa used to encourage me to take.

“In 2020 I did my first event and soon went on to do 5 events. On March 22, 2020, lockdown closed everything. People say lockdown was bad, for me lockdown was a boon. Our NGO called Best Friendz Society was helping people.

A wall celebrating women from dfference backgrounds in Shagufta’s office

“One day, one of my friends Nisha, a fashion designer, asked me to help people in an area in Kerala during the COVID 19 Pandemic. I was into PR and media. First I wondered how could I reach out to people in Kerala. I told myself: Okay, we will find a way to them even though we are not into this.

“At first, we heard there were four people, turned out to be 40, and finally they turned out to be 400 people stuck in Bengali Para in Ernakulam. While the BSF was providing food in the general area they were not reaching out to the red done. We had to locate the exact place and then Nisha and I arranged for food for 400 people for a month. I felt new energy and joy rising in me. I started gathering people, and communicating with them.

“While people speak up for daily wagers, I started to have a burden for a class of people that are largely ignored such as models who barely get Rs. 2,000 for an assignment which may be all they have for that month, photographers, and even school teachers. I started to post about and for them and personally WhatsApp them telling them if they need help, let me know. I assured them help will reach theirplace, they don’t have to let anyone know about it.

“I got a huge response from many photographers and models.I learned that many people were on the verge of suicide, and sitting at home. I started helping them and listening to their woes. Under the umbrella of Best Friendz Society, we started a campaign called Phone a Friend.

“I am blessed to have amazing clients. I would message PR clients who were on Facebook and tell them, “Sir, I am going to this area to help so-and-so, if you can help me out, it will be a big support to this person. They were responsive and kind, some sent sacs of rice, dal, and many other goods. They told me that they wanted to help but had no idea what to do. Here, many NGOs are misusing funds and are running corruption rings. They told me that they knew could trust me and that I would use their money honestly. They stood behind me while I ran around with their help. This is how our connection happened.

“I organize a philanthropic club, which is a virtual club and I tell our helpers that they don’t have to go around; just help us with money or goods. Those days, I used to get out of the house at 4 a.m. and visit Sundarbans, and other areas during COVID-19 almost 18 times in 2020, and attend to everyone. Sanjay Mondal, a photographer and boat owner told me point blank that he doesn’t want money, only cash for the diesel tu run his boat. He travelled with us. He had three boats. We went to the village where we found their homes submerged under water. We helped the boat owner families.

“We returned from Sundarbans at 11:30 night, reached home by 12:30 night and my mother woke me up at 3:30 a.m. to tell me to catch the vehicle going for another trip for the COVID team. She said, “They are waiting for you. Since you promised, you have to go, whether it is raining or whatever it is, even if you are sick, you have to go.”

“You need parents like that. While we went out so much during COVID, by the blessings of Allah we never got COVID, but people in 5-Star Hotels got COVID.  Believe in yourself, believe in your God who has that specific blessing on you, keep doing good to others, and good will return to you and you don’t have to look back, all blessings are there, and people’s prayers are on your life. Just keep doing your work. When the government is doing 98 percent, I am doing my 2 percent.”

On the difficulties they face, she said, “Bengal is a politically disturbed area so to meet the right person is very difficult. In the last five years since 2020, I have opened small centers in every place I have worked with around 20 people or more in each center. We have adopted 23 orphans, senior citizens, teachers, and daily wagers who sum up to over 70 people and every month we send them food and other goods to help them run their daily lives.  Nothing is fixed on what we send, but it is enough to ensure them good nourishing food and other commodities so that they can sleep peacefully without going to bed hungry.

A Poster of the event of Shagufta’s NGO

“In October 2020, the Phone a Friend campaign opened our lives to many people. Each night, we got calls from senior citizens- 65 or 70 years old – or young girls or men, and I listened to and counselled them over the phone. One woman did not even have time to have a cup of coffee and was always serving others suffering mental and physical abuse. Due to this, I launched my new campaign called Abuse Durga, which became Amar Durga, Amar O Durga, with a question mark. I asked the public a lot of questions, such as, “If this is my Durga, who are you to ask me a question whether I should celebrate or not?” Being a Muslim, people found it unusual.

“I felicitated people who had running cases against them for 15-20 years who were not guilty and celebrated 11 people. Last year, we held an exhibition to give table space to NGOs which cannot invest; awarded the LGBT community and single mothers. We will be holding another event for the LGBT community soon.

“My NGO is my charity partner. I did this because I was feeling bad to keep asking people to fund my NGO, so I decided to promote my events, and whatever money I got would go to my NGO so I could help the maximum people with the blessings of the Almighty. I do not want to work to mint money, want to work to make my stand.

“My breakthrough came when an old client called and invited me to his office. He is Rajendra Khandelwal, MD, Dhanwantary. During my meeting, he kept saying, “Very nice, very nice,” I asked him, “Who are you speaking about and he answered, “The event you held, the Teachers Excellence Award, I am going to support you,” and to my amazement, he handed over a cheque. At that moment, I knew I was doing the right thing.  He asked me, “Why did you choose this topic, I replied, I am alive because of my teachers. Uncle Junaid who taught me how to hold a pencil and I want to do something in his memory. Without teachers’ investment, I would not be where I am today.”

“I do not work with an experienced group of people because there are a lot of young people looking for work, always take new people and give them scope, If they say, we cannot speak, I tell them you will learn to speak, If they are graphic designers, content writers, etc, I take them on board.

‘While we are a modern family, where I used to wear sleeveless and backless clothes, and my father even took us to Trincas to get us on the dance floor, I got to wearing hijab permanently unexpectedly. On my birthday in 2013 or 2014, my Baari Maa gifted me a hijab. I wore it to my office that day and since then, I have been wearing it. I changed as a person totally after that. While earlier, I was highly strung and emotional, I started to calm down after wearing the hijab believing it was my symbol of strength. My family was cool about my hijab.

“My dream is to meet 10,000 people with their inspiring stories and lift them on all my platforms. I highlight lives through events or writing about them. During the lockdown, I started to write in 2020. While my target is global, I also want to cover the map of West Bengal. I believe everyone can do anything but they just need a spark inside with a belief they can conquer the world, and they end up doing great things.  Sometimes, to create that spark, that road is blocked so I just need to push these people and bring that change within them.”

Rita Farhat Mukand is an independent writer and author

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Rita Farhat Mukund / August 24th, 2024

Rukhshi Kadiri Elias weaves Taajira as network of women who empower each other

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Rukhshi Kadiri Elias (Third from left) with her team of Taajira

“Empower the men to empower the economically empowered women,” jokes Rukhshi Kadiri Elias, an articulate lady with her mellow voice igniting the conversation. She is the founder of Taajira – (The Businesswoman), a massive network of entrepreneurial women creating a revolution, not only in Kolkata but in other places bringing two different kinds of women together, to work together and empower each other.

Warm eyes, glowing skin with her royal demeanour, and her energy kindles hearts, which is probably why she was able to garner a massive community of thousands of women that all started in 2019.

Born and brought up in a caring home, Rukhshi helped her father with his business, looked after his office in his absence attended to his phone calls, and set up his appointments. At that time she was in the college. During her school and college days, she always stood up for friends. 

Good at maintaining humans relationships, she remains in touch with her schoolmates at the Loreto School in Bowbazar and today 35 of her childhood friends are joined in by a WhatsApp Group.

Since 1974, the friends have encouraged each other, and met each other’s emotional needs, and financial difficulties, where some were going through midlife crises. Rukhshi made a special effort to initiate these get-togethers. 

At the Taajira exhibition Titliyaan

Speaking to Awaz-The Voice, she recounts one of Taajira’s inspiring stories, “One incident shook me. One day, a girl reached out to us on Facebook. She was a victim of domestic violence and in a state of shambles. As I shared this with some of the administrators in our group “Taajira-The Businesswoman”, having now reached over 32,000 members, I was hesitant to approve her post publically. Some of the legal advocates said she needed immediate legal help. While that was right, I said that she presently needed strong emotional support, because she would have to pay a lawyer if she went the legal way.

“We decided to reach out to her and we reached her home and counseling made the husband realize his mistake. I finally approved her Facebook post and I was stunned to find a rush of support for this girl from hundreds of other women with similar stories. This was a big eye-opener to me that domestic violence is a huge unspoken issue in many homes. Most of the women do not know their legal rights and continue to live in abusive situations for years, incapacitating their ability to even work.

“After this incident, Anuradha Kapoor who founded Swayam, a feminist organisation dedicated to advancing women’s rights did an online talk on Taajira’s Facebook group which was a great success. The happy end of this girl’s story is through Taajira, she got into a flourishing resin art business and her husband changed realizing his failings, and supports her now, and she is a transformed woman – what a miracle!”

I asked her who her greatest inspiration to start Taajira was, she replied, “Way back then in my college days, Noor Jahan Shakil, President, of All Bengal Muslim Women’s Association used to take me along with her on her outreaches to the slums of Kolkata which jolted me out of my comfort zone. I suddenly realized there was a big world out there where millions were still suffering and living in deplorable unhygienic conditions. She had two centers – one for vocational training, tailoring, and fashion designing, actively involved with Muslim women, bringing them out of the four walls of their homes into the world, and teaching them about hygiene and health. I still connect with them helping them to create events.

“Noor Jahan Shakil is an amazing lady, now way beyond 90 years, still very agile and interested in what we are doing, coming forth with suggestions and it was her life that inspired me to think beyond the limitations of my home.”

Rukhshi Kadiri Elias

The story of the inception of Taajira was set in 2019 when Rukhshi Kadiri Elias found herself being added to many WhatsApp groups all seeking some sort of sense of identity apart from their homes. It was at that point that Rukhshi said, “Instead of adding me to different WhatsApp groups, let us get together on one platform, let’s set up a Facebook group.” The group aimed to help women set up businesses that networked together because the seller is also the consumer, so in some way, they all needed each other. The biggest challenge of this group was getting women, who were not tech-savvy to learn to use social media and basic skills.

Their first meetings started in Rukhshi’s home, later, went on to be hosted in their newly formed restaurant, and later, also others offered their halls.

There was a conglomeration of all kinds of women from different strata of society with different needs, from restaurant owners to maids.

There are two groups in Taajira, one group is an elite group who made brand names for themselves through Taajira, and the other group is the economically deprived.

The Elite group helps the economically weaker women with startups, not with money but with goods to the other group to help launch their businesses and out of the profits of the retail rates, they pay back the elite group only at the wholesale rates so that they make a large marginal profit.

There are also intense training programs at the Tajara Elite Club where makeup artists, teams, stylists, bridal packages, ladies who make their organic herbal products, sari drapers, henna designers, masseurs, seamstresses, and even taught driving, grooming, polishing, and other crafts.

At their monthly meet, they pair up, and here the weaker women are imparted skills. During the pandemic, garments were sold online, but they now have their showrooms and stores, so the elite group needed salesgirls, managers, accountants, chefs, and other staff.

She said,”50% of our staff from our restaurant Shaikh’s is from Taajira. While we started as a group to financially empower women, even men were getting jobs. Husbands, sons, and brothers as chauffeurs, chefs, cooks, and other such help so the entire family gets help.”

She said, “We have a legal panel with lawyers and advocates, another panel for counselling for those who need emotional help, doctors who help women with their illnesses, lady police officers who help women with their paperwork, food licenses, and advice.

We have a marvelous doctor who runs The Soul Clinic, Dr. Shabtab Elahi who unlocks the healing power of yoga, with her set of yoga trainers, and focuses on weight loss.

Rukhshi Kadiri Elias with Taajira members

Taajira members from the Wellness Center hold nutritious tea parties with healthy snacks. The focus on hygiene, health, mental well-being, and financial stability is a big boost to Taajira’s growth because we are not just a workforce but a caring community and like a large family with a very personal touch.” 

Mysteriously, as Taajira was established in 2019, it seemed a divinely appointed timing as they helped hundreds of families during COVID-panic-driven days in 2020 and beyond to tide through this rough season and come across safely. She says that Taajira was the only online portal open those days for help to the public. Food was the biggest need during COVID-19, and home-cooked food was delivered directly to homes. Since there was no bread in the markets, the ladies in Taajira started baking bread, making thalis (meals) supplying the ones trapped at home and without food.

In one instance, a member of Taajira from the UAE send an SOS message to Taajira to reach out to her septuagenarian parents stranded without food. The Taajira chef delivered food for free until a maid could look after them. Incredibly, the Taajira team delivered not only food, but also medicines, and other assistance to families, and college students were given money and food. In this great season of caring, Taajira grew to be a more community-focused and family-hearted organization.

Taajira’s recent big venture was Titliyan, an annual big exhibition, held once a year, with 111 stalls in the year 2022 and 175 stalls in 2023 and close to 10,000 people visited it.

Rukhshi said with a note of pride that many exhibition curators are now getting their ideas drawn from Taajira members getting 90% of their income through their wares in these exhibitions. She said, “I am, after this appointment on my way to an exhibition in Khidirpur.” 

Rukhshi’s journey to create Taajira also required her supportive family, husband, and two sons, who incidentally are great sportsmen, swimmers, footballers, and hockey players, and her wonderful daughter-in-law. She proudly shares the addition of her grandson to the home, now six months old whom she is very involved in taking care of while her daughter-in-law, who is a counsellor in Loreto, goes to school.

All family members proudly pat each other’s backs for their accomplishments. Their recent achievement was their famous restaurant, Shaikh’s, a 42-seater lavish but affordable restaurant launched three years back by her sons, with its cutting-edge culinary excellence seated in the Park Circus area in Beckbagan, near Quest Mall, famed for its aromatic rich Indian, Middle Eastern flavors drawing flocks of people.

As a graduate of Fine Arts and a diploma holder in fashion design, she honed her skills to help the processing of Taajira smoothly. Rukhshi says that the journey to making Taajira a reality has only been possible with the assistance and dedication of her panel of moderators, such as Zainab Saigal, Shumaila Khalid, Ifra Nadeem, Sujata Latif, and Sumaiya Munir applauding the strength of networking together. She said, “We have a strength of 33000 women, now, so we need at least six women to herd them!”

An encouraging moment arrived when the globally connected Calcutta University asked Taajira to suggest a few names of their women to train guide and support them technically. These ladies were picked up and it was a good venture of collaboration to bring profit to both. 

Shaikh’s restaurant

On another occasion, a lady who makes chocolates got a huge order from the American Consulate to supply them with 500 boxes of chocolates during Christmas, another lady got a massive order for jute bags and a lady who makes momos and other delicious nutritious snacks now gets regular orders from The American Consulate, business avenues that transformed their incomes and lives.

Recounting one amusing incident, Rukhshi said, “One day, I received a call from a lady announcing that she wanted to work on an online business, but she was not tech savvy. The lady also mentioned that due to her arthritis and other problems, she was unable to work outdoors but needed the money to maintain herself and pay for her medicines. After giving her some ideas, I asked her, “Ma’am, how old are you?” and she replied brightly, “I’m only 73!” I visited her and got her in touch with an Anglo-Indian seamstress who used to stitch nighties, so the lady was able to get into an online trading business and sell nighties to meet her financial needs.”

While membership to Tajeera is free, there is a fee to join the talk shows. She mentioned that there are women who broke away from Tajeera and started their businesses for their reasons, but this was never the aim of Taajira whose power lay in massive networking to support thousands to lakhs together. She said, “Everything is changing fast. Eating habits changed where people now are more into fast foods, apparels changed from saris to most women now in jeans and kurtis, society is transforming quickly.”

She said, “In a strange twist of fates, the men who once mocked the efforts of Tajeera exclaiming it was a taboo for their women to work outside the home are now accepting women working outdoors, and even standing alongside and helping them, and some are even staying at home and looking after the children while their wives are out selling their wares at grand exhibitions,, isn’t it incredible! Things have changed so much in just a few years. Each day, we are moving towards a brighter light and now society is changing so much that when women don’t work, people ask, “How come you’re not working?”

She said emphatically, “Taajira has two ideologies – to help the poor and to economically empower women and we are starting to network a revolution!”

The day is too short for her and she said, “I still have not arrived, we are still on the way, one target is related to another and then it opens another dimension.” 

Rita Farhat Mukand is an independent writer.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Rita Farhat Mukund / February 24th, 2024

UPSC Success Story: Meet IAS Officer Who Secured The Highest Marks In Interview Round

Amazing Feats, Education - Gold Medallists, Toppers, Merits, Achievers (wef. June 12th, 2023), Leaders, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Her hard work paid off and she eventually clinched success on her third attempt. She cleared both her Prelims and Mains and went on to top the interview round as well.

UPSC Success Story: Meet IAS Officer Who Secured The Highest Marks In Interview Round
IAS Zainab Sayeed

New Delhi: 

Do you happen to know who holds the prestigious title for achieving the highest marks in the interview round of the UPSC exam over the last decade? If you’re guessing it’s Tina Dabi, Srushti Deshmukh, Kanishka Kataria, or Shruti Sharma, you might be surprised.

It’s none other than Zainab Sayeed who stands as the record-holder for securing the highest marks in the UPSC interview round. This remarkable individual from Kolkata attained an outstanding score of 220 out of 275 marks in the interview segment. Her remarkable achievement took place in 2014 when she successfully navigated the UPSC Civil Services Exam, amassing 731 marks in the main examination.

Zainab clinched the All-India Rank (AIR-107) and to this day remains unparalleled in terms of interview performance. However, Zainab’s journey with UPSC wasn’t without its challenges. She encountered setbacks in her initial two attempts, failing to clear even the Prelims in her first endeavours.

Despite these early setbacks, Zainab refused to be deterred and remained steadfast in her belief in herself. Her relentless dedication and perseverance eventually paid dividends, culminating in her triumphant success on her third attempt. She not only cleared both her Prelims and Mains but also emerged as the top performer in the interview round.

According to Zainab’s account, the interview lasted for approximately 25 minutes and revolved around a diverse array of topics, including current affairs, international affairs, foreign direct investments, and discussions on the European Union.

It’s noteworthy that Zainab hails from Kolkata and completed her graduation in English literature from St. Xavier’s College. Subsequently, she pursued her MA in mass communication at Jamia University, Delhi, graduating in 2011.

Following her post-graduate studies, Zainab made the decision to embark on the rigorous journey of UPSC exam preparation. Despite facing disappointments in 2012 and 2013, she persisted and ultimately tasted success in 2014.

source: http://www.zeenews.india.com / Zee News / Home> India> UPSC Success Story / by Zee Media Bureau, edited by Mahi Mishra / February 13th, 2024

Muslim Women Study Circle: Reclaiming Agency of Muslim Women in India

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL:

Muslim Women Study Circle’s Team Kolkata offering namaz at Botanical Garden, Kolkata

A Kolkata-based collective Muslim Women Study Circle is working towards reclaiming the agency of Muslim women at a time when Islamophobia has been reared into the country’s social and political fabric. 

New Delhi: 

In April 2019, a collective of Muslim women predominantly belonging to Metiabruz, a suburb in Kolkata, came together to understand the Quran, Hadith, and contemporary news events. As the year progressed,  the group actively participated in the protests against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act. This prompted the realization of a need for a more extensive network of Muslim women from across India, which marked the beginning of the Muslim Women Study Circle (MWSC). 

The formation of the MWSC comes at a time of unprecedented rise of islamophobia in India with Indian Muslim women, a regular target of the Hindu right wing. For instance, in 2021, Hindu right-wing men scraped the internet for pictures of prominent Indian Muslim women and uploaded them to an app called Sulli Deals, hosted on GitHub, listing them on “sale” with the intent to humiliate them. A year later they held a similar “auction” with pictures of Muslim women posted on another app called Bulli Bai. Same year, the high court in India’s Karnataka state ruled that the hijab is not “essential” to Islam. Amidst this, digital platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Reddit have accelerated the spread of anti-Muslim hate.

However, as COVID-19 spread in India, MWSC transitioned to the online platform, broadening its reach and significantly enhancing engagement. This transition facilitated the systematic recording, archiving, and dissemination of their sessions through various social media platforms. 

MWSC operates as a porous organisation. Volunteers from across the country, including Islamic reverts participate in discussions that are conducted mainly in English, Urdu, and Hindi. Sessions with experts are conducted by the core team or MWSC Chat group, comprising around seven people. Beyond that, MWSC dedicates time to its Muslim Women Mental Health Support Group. These sessions provide a safe space to delve into issues pertinent to Muslim women, addressing challenges and solutions.

In day-to-day functioning, the organisation remains active on multiple fronts. WhatsApp chat groups buzz with conversations spanning the Muslim Women Book Club readings, subjects such as domestic violence, secularism, caste, creative writing politics, citizenship, legal rights, academic scholarships, etc., and the creation of materials for social media platforms. 

“We explored ideas at the intersection of politics and spirituality, which were never previously discussed before, and were often overlooked in the context of Muslim women. Moving to an online platform helped us connect with other Muslim women specialising in different fields, such as academics, journalists, mental health professionals, religious scholars, etc. While sharing their knowledge, they also got to amplify their voices. Once we got that momentum, it just kept going,” said Sania Mariam, a MWSC founder and a research scholar of Political Science and Governance at IIT Bombay’s Monash Research Academy.  

Bringing Muslim Women to Mosques

Women praying together at Ishat-e-Islam Mosque, New Delhi as a part of the Masjid Project

Despite the global historical prevalence of Muslim women praying in mosques, such spaces are noticeably lacking in India. MWSC’s ‘Muslim Women Masjid Project’, inspired by Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi (The Prophet’s Mosque), not only served as a palace of prayer for both men and women but also sheltered the homeless and the hungry.

The project started by making a catalog of existing women-friendly mosques. Along with open- discussions on  “Women in masjids” online, MWSC started with Quranic dars on the importance of women in prayer spaces. They found that a huge number of women longed for offering namaz in Eidgah, instead of being at home waiting for the men to come back. 

Aisha Masooma, a volunteer with MWSC from Guwahati said, “It is common to find women’s prayer areas confined to small rooms or basements of the mosques. When I was volunteering for the Assam chapter of this project, I was astonished to find women who had never been acquainted with the idea of visiting a mosque. So many Muslim women told me that the very idea of attending a mosque is an alien concept to them.” 

Women the organisation visited different mosques to inquire about spaces for women to pray. “We made a list of such mosques and talked to the Imams. In Kolkata, for example, we had a one-on-one conversation with Imams, and they appreciated the ideas. Even if there was no separate place for women to pray, they allowed women to come, designating them an area in the mosque and promised to make a separate space for women in the future,” said Mariam. 

A Petition Challenging the Hijab-Ban

In 2022, with the Hijab ban issue in Karnataka and court proceedings, MWSC recognized that among the arguments and counter-arguments by different parties, the most critical voice of the discourse was silenced, that of young Muslim women who chose to pursue their education as well as their faith. 

They believed that the Hijab-row in Karnataka was essentially infantilising, and dismissing Muslim women, forcing them to choose between non-existing binaries such as education or hijab, Indianness or Muslimness, especially at a time when Muslim women are one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. 

Therefore, in July 2022, MWSC challenged the Karnataka High Court’s decision to ban Hijabs in educational institutes in the Supreme Court. Prominent lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan pro-bono represented the organisation. 

While the petition challenged the idea that the two, Hijab and education are antagonistic in principle, it was also meant to create awareness that oppositional forces exist to the country’s increasing saffronisation. As a result, MWSC aimed to create an active role for Muslim women in the public sphere, and demand to creation of more such spaces.  “There is a lot of skepticism related to Muslim women owning their agency from the existing political scenario. People always think, about who’s funding them, and which political arm they belong to. There is skepticism from within the community,” said Mariam. 

She said that as Muslim women trying to create a forum like MWSC,  they are often boxed into distinct categories such as secular Muslims, feminist Muslims, and religious Muslims. “It is difficult for them to imagine that there are Muslim women who want to be committed to their Deen [religion] while achieving a lot in this world,” she told Two Circles. 

Backlash and Targeting From Hindu Right-Wing

In India, Muslims have been experiencing discrimination across various spheres, such as employment, education, housing, law, and justice among others. This pattern of discrimination has notably marginalised Muslim women, materialising in their isolation, for instance, a recent study revealed that Muslim women in India are half as likely to get callbacks for entry-level jobs as compared to Hindu women. Another study underscores the compounded disadvantage faced by Muslim women, positioning them as one of the least empowered segments of society. This disadvantage stems from their dual status as women and as members of the minority community in India. 

During the Sulli deals incident, certain members of MWSC were subjected to an “online auction” due to their outspoken political views on social media. The organization has consistently encountered online trolling, with a notable example being a video addressing Hindu nationalism that attracted numerous offensive comments. The backlash has emanated from both inside and outside the Muslim community. 

Ghazala Jamil, assistant professor at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University said, “Muslim Women’s organisations like the MWSC can be seen as a corner in the larger public sphere or a satellite public sphere, which can give Muslim women a chance to express their views without feeling they have to maintain silence about or hide their Muslim identity.”

Across the subcontinent, a dynamic wave of Muslim women’s rights networks is actively challenging essentialist perceptions of Muslim womanhood. Situated within the burgeoning Islamic feminist movement, these organisations articulate the multiple identities of Muslim women, cultivating a unique Islamic feminist consciousness as opposed to the idea of ‘universal sisterhood.’ 

“Instead of criticising these spaces as regressive or causing division, we should recognise them as opportunities for learning within the larger movement for gender equality. Organisations specifically for Muslim women provide a valuable place for them to express themselves without feeling overshadowed by dominant perspectives of Hindu or liberal feminists,” Jamil added. 

The founders do not intend to convert the organisation into an NGO but rather see it as a diversified environment where Muslim women may freely express themselves and share their perspectives. “We just wanted to be a collective where women can come, speak, and put their views forward. They develop their agency, they get inspired. We aim to be better Muslims, better Muslim women, more confident Muslim women,” said Mariam.

Tasneem Khan is a student of History at Delhi’s St. Stephens College. 

Nuzhat Khan is an independent reporter based in Delhi. 

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Indian Muslim / by Tasneem Khan and Nuzhat Khan / January 11th, 2024

FII Interviews: Poet And Essayist Moumita Alam Talks About Identity Politics And Cultural Elitism

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , ,

WEST BENGAL:

In a conversation with FII, Moumita Alam discusses how she began writing poetry, and what it is like being a Muslim woman in a Hindu majoritarian state and how the voices of certain minorities have been silenced throughout Indian history.

Moumita Alam is a teacher based in West Bengal whose political poetry, over the past few years, has gained incredible popularity in South Asia due to its powerful messages and themes. As a Muslim woman, through her poems, essays and opinion pieces, she attempts to bring out the atrocities faced by the women of her community alongside critiquing the larger issue of rising Islamophobia in India. Her first and only book, The Musings of the Dark was published in 2020.

In a conversation with FII, Moumita Alam discusses how she began writing poetry, what it is like being a Muslim woman in a Hindu majoritarian state and how the voices of certain minorities have been silenced throughout Indian history, particularly in West Bengal ever since the 1947 partition. 

FII: You have, over the past few years, used your poetry to both raise awareness about and protest against the Islamophobia propagated by the ring wing in our country. Would you like to shed some light on what your writing journey has been like? 

Moumita: I began my poetic journey after 2019. In 2019, on the 5th of August, the abrogation of Article 370 happened. I had a friend who lived in Kashmir, so I lost connection with him. He was an aspiring advocate who would regularly speak with me. I, as a teacher and a single mother, would share my life journey with him in return. But in 2019, when I could no longer talk to him, a sense of guilt began haunting me — how could a land become a prison where the people couldn’t even make a phone call to the ones in the outside world?

At some point in time, I thought of writing a letter to him, but receiving a letter from here could land him in trouble. He was much younger than me but was my only friend who would listen to my feelings, my happiness, my sorrows. So, I began writing.

I am against the use of the term “migrant labourers,” because India is our own country, so how can its citizens be called migrants? — to come on the grounds and walk for miles and miles to reach their homes.

Moumita Alam

That same year, in December 2019, the Anti-CAA-NRC movement started and we suddenly became aware of our religious identities. Everyone around me would ask me, “Are you legal? Are you a Bangladeshi?” But, believe me, I was born and raised in West Bengal. I have never even seen or visited Bangladesh. Every Muslim I know — whether practising or non-practising — was being asked this question. So, after my Kashmiri friend, I lost my other friends too because their questions would hurt me. I wrote about those feelings too. 

FII Interviews: Poet And Essayist Moumita Alam Talks About Identity Politics And Cultural Elitism | Feminism in India
Source: Moumita Alam’s FB

And then again in March 2020, we saw how the unplanned lockdown forced the workers of the unorganised sector — I am against the use of the term “migrant labourers,” because India is our own country, so how can its citizens be called migrants? — to come on the grounds and walk for miles and miles to reach their homes. I could not sleep for days because I live in a village and many of my relatives and fellow villagers used to work in Kerala and Delhi as labourers. So, I also started to write poems about their plights and sufferings. 

One of my friends asked me to send my poems for publication, which had never crossed my mind because I stay far away from Delhi and its so-called “English literary circle.” But I still emailed a publisher who agreed to publish and then, my first and only book, The Musings of the Dark came out in August 2020. 

FII: Since your poems usually focus on the theme of gendered Islamophobia or the issues that Muslim women face in our country, what is it like being a Muslim woman in a country governed by the right-wing? 

Moumita: In 2021, I got to know that a few right-wing fanatics had created an app to sell Muslim women and had named it ‘Bulli Bai.’ I was so disturbed after reading the news about this because this is such a heinous thing to do — how can anyone do this in a democratic country like India?

So, I wrote this poem, “I am a Muslim woman and I am not for sale.” This poem was translated into many languages — in Telugu, Assamese, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, and others — and was also published on various platforms. 

If you follow the news, you would know that in 2022, hijab was banned in schools across the country. Even if I don’t wear hijab, you can’t ban other women who do from getting an education. As women, we are a minority in many ways — first, as Muslims in this country and then, because of our gender. We have to bargain our choices and sometimes, we have to compromise in front of our families by saying, “I will work hard, I will wear a hijab, please let me go to the doors of education.”

When a man is interpreting religious scriptures for you, he will — whether consciously or unconsciously — view religion through a patriarchal lens. They might not allow us to gain an understanding of the equal rights that Islam gives to Muslim women.  

Moumita Alam

After becoming independent, I, as a Muslim woman, can decide for myself whether or not I wish to wear a hijab. But, you can’t put a blanket ban on hijab like that.

While I do write poems on the rising Islamophobia in our country, I also write about the oppression we Muslim women face within our own communities. Look, our society is based on patriarchal notions which means that even a lot of religious preachers are men. When a man is interpreting religious scriptures for you, he will — whether consciously or unconsciously — view religion through a patriarchal lens. They might not allow us to gain an understanding of the equal rights that Islam gives to Muslim women.  

FII: Have you ever faced censorship for having political themes and highlighting the various injustices particularly on the basis of religion, in your work?

Moumita: Thankfully, we still have some platforms that provide a space to people like me where we can raise our voices. I am thankful to the Editor of LiveWire, who recently resigned. She was an immense pillar of support for me because she never censored my work — she either accepted it or denied it from being published, but never censored it. Even the Editor of Outlook is brilliant that way.

FII Interviews: Poet And Essayist Moumita Alam Talks About Identity Politics And Cultural Elitism | Feminism in India
Source: Moumita Alam’s FB

Sometimes, however, my poems get rejected by other platforms because they say my work is too political, but I think we are living in a time during which one can’t be apolitical. If you are, then you are indirectly standing with people who are unleashing injustice towards minorities. 

FII: As a poet who writes in both English and Bengali, you have often talked about how the voices of certain minorities have been neglected even within Bengali literature and poetry — an example of which can be the Marichjhapi massacre in 1979. Is there anything that you would like to discuss about the domination of certain elite classes and castes in Bengal? 

Moumita: You might have noticed that for the non-Bengalis, West Bengal is equal to Kolkata — all of Bengal is just Kolkata for most people who aren’t from Bengal. This suggests a very Kolkata-centric attitude that most people have about Bengal. The literary world is, of course, not an exception — it’s so Kolkata-centric that people like me who are living in the margins find it almost impossible to reach the centre that is Kolkata. 

Also, the Bengali literary world has been dominated by upper-class, upper-caste people for a very long time. So, they write about only those issues that they know about and that suit their narrative. Things are changing, some voices are getting spaces. However, we still have a long way to go. »

FII: When we usually talk about the India-Pakistan partition, the discussion inevitably gets centred around the division of what is present-day Punjab with little being said about how the refugees of Bengal, particularly the oppressed even among the displaced, were impacted. As someone who has written articles on this theme for both English and Bengali publications, can you tell us a little about your understanding of the same? 

Moumita: Yes, I agree with you that the pains and sufferings of the Bengali refugees haven’t found expression in the so-called mainstream literature, particularly English literature. When I’m talking about “Bengali,” I mean both Hindus and Muslims. The plights of the oppressed class like the Namasudra community who were forced to migrate to West Bengal from the then East Pakistan is missing from the literary narrative. Equally, even the traumas and voices of the Muslims who stayed back while the other members migrated to East Pakistan are missing from the literary imagination.

Source: Moumita Alam’s FB

Most importantly, after partition, no political establishment tried to heal the wounds of the refugees. We all understand how the various European governments attempted to heal the wounds of the holocaust survivors after the second world war, but the same did not happen in India, even though the partition is often compared to the Holocaust.

Instead, every political party tried to gain political mileage from the religious fault lines. If I am not mistaken, nothing much has yet been written about internal migration. How many partition museums do we have?

FII: Every time your poems about the Babri Masjid demolition or about Kashmir get published, there are a lot of derogatory things that are often said by right-wing people— such as a lot of Kashmiri Pandits who end up claiming that their own stories need to be heard over yours. Since you have been doing what you believe in for so many years, is there any advice that you’d like to give to the young girls of our country about how they can voice their thoughts fearlessly even when they are intimidated? 

Moumita: We are living in a critical juncture of time. As witnesses of this time, we can’t let the fascists win. How are they winning? They are winning through their narrative — a narrative of hatred towards minorities, towards women. We have to tell our own stories, we have to counter their narrative by our narrative. 

So, here is my message for all women:

I wish you,

Oh women,

A savage fury

To throw all the

Dos and don’ts

Under a ravaging bus.

And begin from the beginning

All-new, all equal.»

FII: You write and publish your creative works and political thoughts as a freelancer, which means there is very little for you to gain from it as a poet. If anything, your poems and articles have mostly just led people to threaten you. What is it that motivates you to continue writing even when things don’t entirely work in your favour? 

Moumita: Silence is not an option. The hatred that engulfed my friends still haunts me. I am a villager and I know how common people are suffering every day. The silence of the intellectual people saddens me. I want to jolt them, wake them up from their hibernation. 

I am a villager and I know how common people are suffering every day. The silence of the intellectual people saddens me. I want to jolt them, wake them up from their hibernation. 

Moumita Alam

You know, potatoes are the only profitable crop in my village. This year, the poor farmers incurred a heavy loss and couldn’t repay the loans they had to take from private microfinance companies at heavy interest rates. I asked a very old farmer how they plan to survive after this loss? And he replied, “Next year we will get some profit.” I was just amazed at his belief and relentlessness. I believe we can bring a change. We have to hope because we don’t have any other option.

The interview has been paraphrased and condensed for clarity.

source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India / Home> Interview / by Upasana Dandano / June 09th, 2023

Muslim nursing graduates from West Bengal university get 100% job placement

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WEST BENGAL:

Aliah University is a state government-run autonomous university having three campuses in New Town in West Bengal. | Picture by arrangement

The inaugural batch of the nursing course in a university in West Bengal, designed especially for women, has achieved this success. 

West Bengal:

Almost the entire batch of this year’s graduates of the B.Sc Nursing course at Aliah University have got job placements. Fifty-three out of fifty-four graduating students, mostly Muslim women have been selected as nursing staff in various medical colleges and hospitals run by the government of West Bengal. 

This is the inaugural batch of the nursing course designed especially for women. It is for the first time that almost an entire batch of a program in Aliah University has gotten placement.  

Aliah University is a state government-run autonomous university having three campuses in New Town in West Bengal. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in different Engineering, Arts, Science, Management, and Nursing subjects. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated as a university in 2008. It is a minority institution and hence a majority of its students come from marginalized groups and communities like Muslims and lower castes.

Usha Mallick, the head of the department of nursing told TwoCircles.net, “This is an unprecedented success for the department of nursing because these are the first batch of graduates. We at Aliah University are extremely proud of our graduates who worked hard.” 

“This kind of placement will get us a great standing in the state as well as the country. This is great news also because all the girls in this department, like most students of Aliah university, come from extreme socio-economically backward families living in remote rural districts of West Bengal,” she added. 

Usha Malick is head of the department of nursing at the university. | Photo by author arrangement

“We are thankful to the Mamata Banerjee government for helping the university start the course, and to the National Medical College for providing practical training for nursing students,” she said while adding that Aliah is the only state university that runs a nursing course without its medical college and hospital facilities.

Educating kids from extremely backward districts like Murshidabad
The news brought cheers to several young women. Lutfa Khatoon is from Murshidabad, a densely Muslim populated area (67%) where the state of education is extremely poor. According to Census 2011, the literacy rate of the district is 66.60%, which is far below the national average of 74.04% and the state’s average of 77.08%. The district holds the bottommost position in the rank of literacy rates since the Census 1951.

“In Murshidabad education is not the priority in general, let alone education of girls. When I got admission to the course, people in my area said I am getting training to become a nursemaid. My placement has broken that impression,” Khatoon told TwoCircles.net. She is posted in Murshidabad medical college and hospital. 

Firoja, Lutfa’s batchmate, told TwoCircles.net that studying was not the only thing she invested hard work in. “These four years of the course people would come to my house in Murshidabad and taunt my parents that your daughter will be ruined because they gave me the freedom to move to Calcutta to study,” said Firoja who is posted at Anup Nagar primary hospital, Murshidabad.

She mentioned that she faced financial hardships but thanked the university for providing her scholarship. 

Aatika, Lutfa’s classmate told TwoCircles.net that people in the rural areas of West Bengal say that “sending girls to the city for education is like providing them with opportunities to be spoiled.” But her getting a nursing job has broken the patriarchal mindset and inspired many parents to send their daughters to study. 

“In my village, most people marry off their daughters after they pass the tenth class. I am very lucky that my family supported me. It is because of them that I got a very respectful job,” she added.

Oldest modern style educational institute in Asia
The university is one of the oldest educational institutes in Asia. Established by Warren Hastings, the British governor-general of East India Company in 1780. Calcutta Mohammedan College, as it was called by Hastings. Established in the form of a madrasa school, it is one of the oldest modern-style educational institutions in Asia and the first of its kind in India. It taught Natural Philosophy, Grammar, Logic, Arithmetic, Astronomy, Geometry, Arabic, Persian, Theology and Islamic Law, and Theory and Rhetoric. 

Good career placement not new for Aliah University
Dr Mohammad Reyaz, assistant professor of journalism at the university told TwoCircles.net that good career placements are not new to the university. 

“Earlier it used to be a Madrasa. Not many people know that it has been turned into a university which offers courses in Engineering, Electronics and Communication, Business Management and nursing among other subjects. So these kinds of placements do help break the stereotype which tries to reduce the image of this premier institution as a madrasa. Not only do the students of nursing and engineering departments get good placements but students of the Arabic department also get jobs in prestigious firms like Amazon,” said Dr Reyaz.

Sufi Parween is a fellow at SEEDS-TCN Mentorship Program. Shentweets at @sufiparween84

source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sufi Parween, TwoCircles.net / August 08th, 2022