Here Are the Muslim Feminist Voices, Mr. Rushdie!

Aamir,

Your whole arguments were hollow to begin with, designed to extract applauses from other monkeys of your kinds, the ones you think are real muslims; but they shattered when you asserted 100% divorce rates in America.

You seem to be a product of 100% inbreeding.

Ref wholly-precious-you #: 88

[harimau:

“I was giving thanks that I am not a woman trapped in …Pakistan…”

…here’s adding to the thanks that you’re no where near pak…female or otherwise….]

Sigh.... here I am ranting and raving against the Islamist rapists and you put me in their company! Don`t you have no sense of justice?

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Fawzia..

I read your reply on WSJ.. sadly, it was so misplaced and wrong! ... Sorry to say you are wrong about that as you are about Mr Rushdie.

-YLH

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All right, Old-Faithful-who-has-been-spouting-here-for-a-long-time

Here is your reply on the Board, ``An Open Letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee``

{Reply #: 362

scout

harimau #360, ``Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and engage in a public debate about why the statues should be destroyed.``

April 1st, noontime, be there.

In all seriousness, they shouldn`t have been destroyed, but what can we do? The Taleban is lawless.

``Exactly what is the point? That it is okay for Muslims to destroy the cultural heritage of another religion?``

No it`s not ok, but can we get over it now? I`m sure Buddhists from all over the world didn`t come and pray next to them.

By the way, Buddhism has more to do with soul/nirvana, the teachings of Buddha, than worshiping stone statues.

Someone brought up a good point about the destruction of a wonderful city called Sarajevo.

Ever think about that and why it happened?

Whole cities are destroyed (Baghdad, Sarajevo, Hiroshima), thousands of people are massacred (Bosnians, Jews), and you throw a fit over two statues?

I`m not justifying their destruction, but I think you need to be more honest with urself and look at the bigger picture.}

So, did you have debate there with the Curator in charge of Gandharan Art?

ShankarJi,

Since you have thrown down the gauntlet:

1. The First Amendment as applies to us covers free speech. The parameters of what constitute free speech tend to focus on the expression of ideas; i.e. flag burning (as an example of the Constitutional protections), paintings by Chris Ofini (the Nigerian artist who used cow dung in his paintings of the Virgin Mary), A. Serrano (the artist who painted a cross in a bottle of urine), music (Ice T(``Cop Killer``, NWA, Klu Klux Klan marches and Rush Limbaugh.

2. There is a difference between free speech and obscene speech. If Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin or Margeret Cho get onstage and curse their subversive brilliant brains out, it is free speech that contains obscenity that their audiences have been previously warned of. Therefore a big fan of Gallager knows what he/she is getting into when downloading a Lenny Bruce routine; subversive comedy laced with a lot ``f`` words, and a subsequent desire to throw all those Gallagher records in the trashbin.

3. If on the other hand, Margeret Cho, one of my fav. grrrll comediennes got onstage and said, ``You know that 15 headed interactor/Aamir/Fatimah/etc. on Chowk? He writes like his brain is even tinier than his reproductive organ. I bet it is. In fact, I know for sure that he`s trich ridden pig meat.`` , we could say that is slander. Not acceptable, and highly offensive, right? Even if we all laughed uproarously and bought her albums specifically because she said that about 12 head, she is talking about a specific person, and not a cartoon character, although all evidence proves otherwise. Thats why you rarely hear such comments; and thats why the National Enquirer has learned to leave Tom and Nicole alone...

4. Real Life/ Cyber Space. In real life, sexual harrassment is a crime and hopefully any offender is punished accordingly. The modus operandi seems to be classic harrassers pull what they think they can get away with. Therefore, if person A thinks he can get away with assault, person A will commit assault because he knows no-one will catch or persecute him. Cyberspace is slightly different in that it tends to be anonymous and interactors are ``protected`` by that anonymity. This also means that harrassers view cyberspace as the motherland. People can acquire countless nicks, write incredibly crude comments and blow their wad. They get off scot free, so to speak. I contend that there is an understanding that cyberspace interaction needs be regulated in terms of providing safe spaces. If you, Harimau, Ali and Rsax got into a post match in which you challenged each other`s heterosexuality (although, why it always goes to that is beyond me; why not who cooks the best aloo parathas or bungee jumps off the the Himalayas the most?)which you all seem to do and ENJOY it, then, more power to you, bro. On the other hand, if you Shankar used the word ``toba`` and I called you a godless eunuch piece of waste who should be liquified and sprayed over Iraq as a form of toxic bowel gas, I`d be out of line, right? Having said that, there is a vast difference between what you guys term, er, interaction, and what many of the female Chowkies feel comfortable with participating. I am not interested in accumulating nicks or lowering self to the level of 12 Head; I`m pretty happy with who I am.

5. If there is a Chowkie and is female, and feels comfortable parlaying on those terms, good for her. But it seems the only female nicked interactor doing such is our resident transvestite 12 head, who uses any opportunity as ``Fatimah/Deepika/Faiza`` to insinuate himself into female conversations. What does that tell you? Whether male Chowkies like it or not, there are very few female interactors who feel safe in writing. This is a direct result of the free for all sandbox you keep referring to. Why get into an insult match? Why even write anything remotely more revealing than ``that was a nice poem...the weather here is lovely`` when to do so results in a sniveling half-wit calling us names? What if my mother logged onto Chowk? What if my 17 year old cousin logged on? Why should they be insulted because that coward 12 head has serious psychological problems? If 12 Head writes to a female interactor,`` I saw your website. You are pretty. I know where you live.``, would you be concerned? Why not? Can we take those chances?

6. AOL and other internet providers maintain structures that minimize online sexual harrassment. Obviously harrassment is problem; Chowk is no exception. I believe almost everyone has lived up to our responsibilities on Chowk. Almost every interactor posts messages that are erudite, interesting and relevant. Have you noticed that 12 Head posts articles that detail the physical and sexual abuse of females in India? While all of us consider any abuse sobering, 12 head gets off on it.He enjoys it. What if I started posting articles in which Hindu and Muslim ignorant men where beamed up by Martians who plunged steel poles laced with acid in every orifice of these men and then sprinkled chillies and acid on them and forced them to dance to Wang Chung, while their famillies watched helplessly? Are you having fun yet?

7. Gandhiji and co. aside, I am not interested in being a saint. I just want to have a meaningful conversation with the people I have grown to respect at Chowk. Zahra left because she doesn`t put up with sh/t. No-one should have to. I doubt that 12 head has harrassed any of the Chowk editors or writers as he has the regular female interactors; I think we deserve some consideration. This IS about self esteem; this is about not accepting misogynist garbage thrown at us whenever 12 head is threatened for being so inadequate as a human being.

8. As for this ``PC`` thing; do you guys know where youi`d be if we hadn`t fought for your butts on our college campuses? But thats another post...

regards

Cover Story from the current issue of TIME MAGAZINE needs a second look on the condition of women in muslim countries at:

http://navigation.helper.realnames.com/framer/1/113/default.asp?realname=Time+Magazine&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etime%2Ecom&frameid=1&providerid=113&uid=30002688

Ras

Saminashah

``A. Serrano (the artist who painted a cross in a bottle of urine),``

Clarification:Andres Serrano is a photographer who gained notoriety for his ``Piss in Christ`` -- picture of a small cross with Christ suspended in a vial of urine.

And on the same note of recycled body wastes, Re the hydra--just tell him/it to piss off.

... ``who are the brain police``, and other nonsense .....

dr professor maulana al-haj hobbyty , says `` Islam is Devine revelation, whereas Islamic knowledge is the human endeavor to seek to understand Revelation. Devine Revelation remains a constant (by definition) whereas human understanding of Devine Revelation is continuously evolving, as our presuppositions and the knowledge of our times, is evoling``

......this is the kind of self-serving sophistry and gibberish that confuses the crap out of ordinary folks and allows the pretentious mullahs, ulema and self-proclaimed theologians to shove spurious, and supposedly divine, dogma down our throats .......so, divine revelation is a constant and every fool that comes along is free to interpret it as long as it does not contradict the divine revelation which only god and gabriel understood ! ....beat me with a stick and call me brenda !

...... how do you know what is the truth and what is man`s silly attempt trying to understand divine follies ??..... no wonder maulana fazlur rehman has a thirteen year old wife - according to his interpretation of god`s will he is doing the right thing .....pakistan`s hadood laws cannot be repealed and people continue to indulge in ``light beatings`` of na-farman wives because, according to one interpretation, the punishment was prescribed by the a misogynist god ...... good muslims remain deprived of the pleasure of good wine because, according to some foolish interpretation, god in his infinite, but jaundiced, wisdom chose to proscribe liquour ......kuwaiti women are more than happy to share a husband with three other wenches and gladly give up the right to vote because they can read and understand arabic .......people continue to believe in the tooth fairy, virgin births, elephant-nosed gods and seventy houris after death because ..........because they read it themselves; or some clown with a beard or pony-tail said so; or maybe they heard it at a convention of witches and hobgoblins in benaras or al-azhar or bob jones university .........

....... the human endeavor to understand divine revelation is like trying to understand frank zappa :

What will you do if we let you go home,

And the plastic`s all melted,

And so is the chrome?

WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE?

What will you do when the label comes off,

And the plastic`s all melted,

And the chrome is too soft?

WAAAAHHHHHH!

I think I`m gonna die . . .

I think I`m gonna die . . .

I think I`m gonna die . . .

Going to die!

WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE?

What will you do if the people you knew

Were the plastic that melted,

And the chromium too?

WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE?

harimau #163,

sheesh! are you for real? you went and searched through thousands of past interacts to find a sentence in which i joked around about debating an issue at MoMa? and you thought i was serious?

and you kept this in your mind after all this time?

that`s pretty scary dude. it`s kind of funny too.

you need to get a life and some neurons to recognize a joke when you see it.

raveena #147,

jo bhi.... i don`t want to fight with you so i`m ending this rite here. adios.

i have to agree with some of the interactors here.

Salman Rushdie shouldn`t be put on the stand all the time with regards to Islam and Muslims. the guy`s a controversial writer who loves making controversial statements. why make it a personal issue...

why don`t we just accept the fact that he`s a brilliant writer and we may not agree with him on every ``Islamic`` viewpoint of his?

harimau: Exactly, those IDIOTS wanna go to afghanistan and rebuild the statues! Like Buddha would give a damn about his statues. He`d probably get mad about why the money wasnt given to the refugees... Or he might just shrug the whole thing off and keep strolling.

Samina: CURSE the harrasser, it`ll help...

PS: Ill do it for you if your too modest...

Indira Gandhi P.M. of India for more than16 years total,is not remembered for passing for initiating one single. Do the enlightened West,only want to see women in power position just for the sake of equality or do some benefit for the women?I hope not.

In Pakistan Benazir Bhutoo has been the worse condoner of repressive practiceses due to her own feudal rural Sindh culture where ,Asif Zardari ism is the rule than exception.

In Bangladesh ,the most recently LIBERATED country with great promise for Muslim women through out the muslim world ,was GREAT EXPECTATIONS for ALL.Due to secular composition of Bangladesh like India ,there was less of puritinical form of restrictions placed on women,BUT ARE THEY?

I have met few Bangladeshi women young graduates,they are smart ,young .bright ,but nothing More than from Pakistan itself .So whatever achievement of women progress is irrespective of THESE WOMEN P.M.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=32898761



It’s Dushshamay for Bangla women



JHIMLI MUKHERJEE PANDEY / NUZHAT AZIZ

TIMES NEWS NETWORK



OLKATA: Bangladesh is the only country in the world to have two women Prime Ministers in succession. But that has not helped improve the lot of its women.

“Not a single noteworthy legislation has been passed to help make life easier for women. Acid attacks, rape and sexual harassment are on the rise but I have never heard either Prime Minister speak up in any of their public meetings!” exclaims Yasmine Kabir, Bangladeshi filmmaker and women’s rights activist.

Kabir is in town as a delegate to the fortnight-long campaign styled “Voices against Violence, a South Asia Media Campaign on Violence against Women”, hosted by Sanlaap, a city-based NGO.

“If you earn the ire of a man in Bangladesh, prepare to pay with your face. Most of the time acid is poured on women to teach them a lesson, their face being the target. Rape by policemen is rampant and the administration does everything to hush it up or even kill the victim!” Kabir says.

She has recently completed filming Dushshamay, based on the real life story of a girl who was allegedly raped in a lock up by the police. The screening of the film is part of the campaign.

“You open the newspaper and the first thing that catches your eyes is news about some acid victim. These are even more frequent than rape or molestation,” Kabir said

NGOs fighting for the rights of Bangladeshi women are constantly highlighting these cases and drawing media attention towards them, she adds.

“The free press is perhaps the best thing that has happened to Bangladesh,” Kabir says. But she fears the recent attacks on Bangladeshi journalists could signal an exercise to gag the press.

And hence the name of her film Dushshamay, a clarion call to the rest of the world to realise that Bangladesh is passing through a dangerous time.

“The number of garment factories is increasing everyday and more and more women are coming here to work. They are from the weaker sections and their employers take advantage of them all the time,” Kabir says, adding that the administration is aware of this but does nothing to empower such women.

Kabir says sexual harassment of upper middle-class working women is no different from that in other countries of the subcontinent, “but since in Bangladesh one comes across very few working women, I believe they are easier targets!”

The representation of women in Bangladesh’s Jatiya Sansad (parliament) is nominal, complains Kabir.

“All of us who fight for women’s causes in our country are now demanding a larger number of reserved seats for women. We also demand a cell on the lines of the National Commission for Women of India,” she declares.



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