by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Marketing Basics, Markets, Media, News, Online Marketing, Social Media, Technology
Kolkata : With less than one-third of India’s internet users being females, the country’s girls and women risk becoming further marginalised in society and at home if they remain digitally illiterate in the backdrop of the country making a public push towards a more digitalised economy, a Unicef report says.
“There is a digital gender gap as well. Globally, 12 per cent more men than women used the internet in 2017. In India, less than one third of internet users are female.
“… Recently, India has made a public push towards a more digitali sed economy, including reducing dependency on physical cash. If girls and women remain digitally illiterate, they risk becoming further marginalised in society and at home,” says the 2017 edition of Unicef’s annual flagship publication “the State of the World’s Children Report” launched here on Thursday.
Themed “Children in a digital world”, the latest report provides country-level examples to give a sense of the kinds of barriers girls and women confront.
In India, where only 29 per cent of all internet users are female, girls in rural areas often face restrictions on their use of ICTs solely because of their gender, it says.
Citing examples, the report quotes a village governing body in rural Rajasthan as stating that “girls were not to use mobile phones or social media”.
“Another village in Uttar Pradesh banned unmarried girls from using mobile phones along with a ban on wearing certain kinds of clothing, such as jeans and T-shirts.”
Pointing out that digital connection and literacy offer advantages in a knowledge-based society, improving children’s lives and their fut ure earning potential, the report says: “At the same time, connectivity doesn’t always equalise opportunity.”
“Digital divides can mirror broader societal divides — between rich and poor, cities and rural areas, between those with or without an education — and between women and men.
“India is one place in which the digital divide highlights society’s deep chasms,” says the report, calling for addressing the disparity at the highest levels for universal, safe access to be realised.
It says the digital gender divide is caused by a number of factors — “social norms, education levels, lack of technical literacy and lack of confidence among them — but is often rooted in parents’ concern for the safety of their daughters.
“Many fear that allowing girls to use the internet will lead to liaisons with men, bringing shame on the family. For most girls, if they are allowed to use the internet, their every move is monitored by their parents or brothers.
“In a society that is still largely patriarchal, for girls, traits like deference and obedience are often valued over intelligence and curiosity. In some households, technology is not seen as necessary or beneficial for girls and women,” the report says.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : A bill on making Triple Talaq a punishable offence and another one to give constitutional status to the backward classes panel is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha next week, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said on Thursday.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, provides for three-year imprisonment and fine for men who orally divorce their wives and also gives such Muslim women the right to seek maintenance.
The Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill pertains to conferring constitutional status on the National Commission for Backward Classes.
The bill, passed by the Lok Sabha in April, was sent to the Rajya Sabha which passed the bill with amendments. Hence, the government will now reintroduce the bill.
“In case of a constitution amendment bill, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha cannot differ. So the bill has to be reintroduced,” the Minister said.
Government sources said some minor changes were made to the bill.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Events, Muslim World, Social Round-up
Abu Dhabi : A conference on women empowerment to promote international peace and security was held in the United Arab Emirates’ capital on Monday.
The conference titled “Women, Security and Peace Summit: The Gender Dimensions of International Peace and Security: Keys to Prosperity and Peace” was organised by the General Women’s Union (GWU) in co-operation with TRENDS Research and Advisory in Abu Dhabi, Women in International Security in Washington and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The summit discussed the key topic of women’s empowerment for peace and security, the gender dimensions of regional security challenges and the necessity of decreasing the gender gap.
It highlighted the UAE’s leading role in reducing the gender gap to achieve leading positions in international competitiveness reports along with its commitment to the recommendations of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda under UN Resolution 1325.
Noura Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the GWU, stressed that the summit will aim to accelerate the integration of the working schedule of women in areas of security and peace.
—IANS/WAM
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
For representational purpose only
New Delhi : A bill seeking to criminalise instant triple talaq among Muslims and providing for a three-year jail term was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, which the government said was aimed at protecting the dignity and security of women in the community.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 got the cabinet nod at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had spoken about the issue even during the campaign of the just-ended Gujarat Assembly elections.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refused to give details of the Bill at a media briefing on the ground that Parliament was in session. He merely said many state governments, to whom the draft of the bill was sent, had supported the Bill.
According to the draft Bill sent out to states earlier this month, it was proposed that triple talaq be made a cognisable and non-bailable offence that would attract a jail term of three years. The draft law was prepared in the backdrop of the August 22 verdict of the Supreme Court striking down the practice of “instant” triple talaq as illegal.
However, it is understood that the Bill provides for a three-year imprisonment and fine to a Muslim man if he resorts to the practice of instant divorce, which a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had held as “unconstitutional and arbitrary”. The court had also held that triple talaq was not integral to Islam.
The Bill, while making instant divorce a cognisable and non-bailable offence, also seeks to give the affected women right to seek maintenance. It is expected to be introduced during the Winter Session of Parliament that commenced on Friday.
Declining to go into the details of the measure, Prasad said it was designed to shield the helpless victims of triple talaq and to give them dignity and security.
“Cabinet has taken historic decisions today which will have a long term impact in the growth of the country… because Parliament session is on, I cannot give details of the Bill,” he said.
“We approved The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which is to protect victims of Triple Talaq,” he added.
The Cabinet clearance was criticised by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board as a direct attack on the religious freedom of the Muslim community, while women activists sought collective support of political parties in converting the Bill into law.
Opposing the bill, AIMPLB member Maulana Khalid Rashid said: “As far as the compensation for the rehabilitation of the women is concerned, they are already being given by the Muslim community. So, the triple talaq bill, we consider as a direct interference in the religious matters of the largest community. It is an attack on religious freedom…”
“Women are not being tortured in the name of triple talaq. Muslim women have said they do not want change in the personal law including the law of triple talaq. If certain people are misusing certain laws it doesn’t mean that you will completely finish that law. It is part of our ‘sharia’. The government should at least have consulted Muslim organisations before making any such law,” he said.
Activist Zakir Soman said the Muslim Personal Law Board and the Muslim community are not taking proper care of triple talaq victims, and such women should be given justice as per law.
“If the community and the Personal Law Board was doing enough why would be the women (triple talaq victims) be coming to women’s organisation?,” asked Soman.
“The community is indulging in argument but that doesn’t mean we will give up our constitutional and legal entitlement. We are all citizens in a democracy and living in the 21st century. We are entitled, educated and empowered, and we want justice as per the law of the land…So, this kind of Personal Law Board argument for any kind of reform is not accepted,” the activist said.
According to Soman, they have written letters to Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury for their collective support in converting the triple talaq Bill into when it is tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament for discussion.
“Through the letter, we requested the leaders to come together in order to solve the issue. It is not the matter of BJP, Congress or any other political parties. It is the responsibility of political parties, its representatives and all the women of this country,” she said.
Another women activist Hina Zaheer said: “According to the Quran, there is no provision for instant talaq… So, it should not be the matter of ego for the Muslim Personal Law Board. The board should have solved it by themselves. They haven’t solved it, that is why lot of politics is being done over the issue.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)
Mumbai : The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on Friday urged all opposition leaders, including Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi, to extend their support for the proposed Muslim family law.
In a letter to Gandhi and other major Opposition parties, the BMMA founders – Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz – said that although the Supreme Court has struck down ‘Triple Talaq’ in its judgement last August, other issues like ‘nikah halala’, polygamy, age of marriage, custody of children, etc, remain unaddressed.
The BMMA has been actively raising these issues to end the legal discrimination and demanding justice and equality in family matters which are orthodox, patriarchical and male-dominated, they said.
The males have stonewalled all attempts towards reforms in the Muslim Personal Law and Muslim women have been denied their Quranic rights as as well as their rights as equal Indian citizens.
“Among all Muslim countries in the world, such as Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and even Bangladesh and Pakistan in our neighbourhood have codified personal laws governing marriage and family matters. But Indian Muslim women have been denied protection of law,” said Soman and Niaz.
They pointed out a 2015 research study where 92.1 percent of all Muslim women sought a total ban on oral/unilateral divorce and 91.7 percent opposed polygamy, while 83.3 percent felt that codification of Muslim family law would help Muslim women get justice.
In its grassroots work in different parts of India, the BMMA has found that just as Hindus, Christians and Parsis have their own personal laws and Muslims must also have a similar personal law ensuring equality and dignity to their womenfolk.
The two activists said that this can be achieved either through amendments to the Shariat Application Act, 1937 and Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, or by enacting a completely new Muslim Personal Law with the desired reforms.
The BMMA has already prepared a draft on this based on Quranic tenets concerning age of marriage, mehr, talaq, polygamy, maintenance, custody of children, etc, which in consonance with the Constitution.
The draft suggests that the minimum marriage age for girls and boys be 18 and 21 respectively, consent of both sides without force or fraud for marriage, minimum ‘mehr’ to be equivalent to one full annual income of the groom to be paid at the time of solemnising ‘nikaah’.
Besides, the BMMA draft says talaq’should precede a mandatory arbitration over a 90-day period and polygamy should be declared as illegal, while ‘halala’ and ‘muta marriage’ should be made punishable offences.
On children, it seeks that both the mother and father be declared as natural guardians of the child, and custody of children be based on the best interests and decision of the child.
Similarly in property matters, the Quranic shares to be applied while making will or clearing debts for ensuring justice to the women.
—IANS
