Tuesday 30 March 2010

Fe-Male Without A Male Guardian

A woman in a certain land, that believes very strongly in segregating men and women, is to be lashed three hundred times and jailed for eighteen months for filing complaints against court officials and appearing in court without a male guardian.

Miss ‘S’ was convicted last month in a court after petitioning the officials and the monarch, over what she alleged was years of abuse by local judicial officials.

On January 25, she was convicted after a month-long trial before two judges, one of whom was a plaintiff in the case and the original target of Miss S’s harassment allegations. The NGOs have asked the higher authorities to quash the verdict.

Life for women is very harsh in such countries where they must wait for their husbands, brothers or fathers to return from work and then drive them to the shopping malls. There the women cannot drive around like they do in Pakistan or other countries that insist on calling themselves Islamic. Police states insist that driving invites sin, going out on foot encourages more sin and looking at strange men does even more of the same. Every action of a citizen has an unequal and opposite reaction. But that is their law and their country—may God have mercy on their religious scholars and rulers.

Three hundred lashes and eighteen months in prison for a woman is very disproportionate punishment. When I read such distrurbing news, I thank God for allowing me to breathe a bit more freely in my own country.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its very sad to see this news. Also very sad that some countries still treat women as objects and not human beings. Also having one of the judges as a plaintiff where i come from is known as a conflict of interest.

Human nature is what it is, and "the forbidden fruit" will always taste better. But what separates good from evil is resisting the temptation. I don't see any good that comes from laws like this, it treats the people like children and tells the people that their governing body has no faith or trust in them to make the right decisions on their own. With that much being said, i believe that ruling with an iron fist (governing by fear) only makes the people more discontent.

At the core of any good relationship there is one fundamental building block, TRUST. Whether its trust between people , or trust between a governing body and its own people. If there is no trust, there is no way a healthy relationship is possible.

You cannot hold people down for eternity. Eventually the people will come together in an attempt to find a more fair way of life. Even though they wont say it out loud, underneath their breath they will wait until the time is right to say and maybe even worse "do" something about it.

May the heavens have mercy on this poor womans soul. This is a crime that is not fit for a beast, let alone a woman.

Tahir Gul Hasan said...

Thanks for letting us know how you feel, Anonymous! You're right, governments must be afraid of the people and not the other way around.

meena said...

TGH as interesting and as enlightning your Blog is...Equally interesting are the comments of your Anonymous friend..! Women in General..irrespective of their religion or country, have had to fight for mere freedom of expressing themselves. leave aside the freedom of walking around freely...Or parading themselves as put by these so called Moral police.How can one expect Justice from men whose minds have been Drummed with Arrogance and Misplaced Superiority. Even men who are morally aware of such follies cannot speak out of fear !
The only effective Solution must come by in the way of small but effective uprising with the help of supportive menfolk !!

JSpirit said...

Very informative post, Tahir, loved it. I love your approach of balance... liking moderation and Islam. Moderation is the answer to most of the world's problems.

Some modesty, some protection... it is all for the best interest of women. But what when the protectors turn the abusers and tormentors??

Great post anyway!

Jhilmil

Tahir Gul Hasan said...

Meena jee, this man is different; I'm sure you can tell the difference! But even I am accused of being harsh on women sometimes BY women themselves! This is your first appearance on my blog, so welcome and 'taliyaaN'!
Thanks for being on the same page, jee. Up or down, I'm for all kinds of risings.
:)

Tahir Gul Hasan said...

Jhilmil jee, apart from the fact that I love your loving my 'balanced approach', by God, you've understood the whole matter!
Although I can't bake as well as you do, nothing I do is ever half-baked, least of all, speaking the truth. Thanks!
:)

Anonymous said...

Its a shame !! bad decisions followed by bad press like this encourages Islamophobia.

Good Write up. As usual.

Tahir Gul Hasan said...

Thanks Anony-mosa!

aukhabutt said...

too much zulm o sitam be hapenin on good ladys in soodia . .tahir saab now more ladys be lickin your blogg . .kyon fer . .?

Tahir Gul Hasan said...

Aukha, that's LIKE, not LICK! Anyway, my job is to highlight issues that need attention, the rest is upto the silly governments.