A Muslim girl who loved Sanskrit
She is the district topper in non-Tamil category
MADURAI: A Muslim girl who loved studying Sanskrit and scored 197 marks in it became the Madurai district overall topper in the Plus Two examinations in non-Tamil category.
Femina Shireen Shajahan, student of Mahatma Montessori Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Alagarkoil near here, scored 1,179 marks with centum in accountancy, 199 in commerce, 198 in business maths and 197 in economics. “The girl is right now in Dubai where her father is working. She deserves these marks as she is a studious girl,” said G. Venkataraman, school Principal. She stayed in the hostel and their family hails from Pattukottai. The girl’s father had spoken to the school coordinators and was happy with Femina’s result, he informed.
In Madurai district, the second rank in non-Tamil category (opting for a language other than Tamil) was bagged by T. Dhivya Lakshmi of TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School while the third slot went to R. Nishitha of V. M. J. Higher Secondary School here.
Madurai educational district: The first three ranks in Madurai educational district went to C. Siddharth Narayanan (1,178 marks) of TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School, P. Lakshmi Prashanthi (1,177 marks) of S.B.O.A. Matriculation Higher Secondary School and J.A.B. Arjun of TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
Melur educational district:
S. Parthasarathy of C.E.O.A. Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Madurai was the topper in Melur educational district with 1,179 marks. The second place was bagged by V.P. Lavanya of the same school with 1,172 marks while the third rank went to P. Suganya of Sri S.V. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Melur.
Usilampatti educational district: The first rank in Usilampatti educational district was secured by S. Petthal of P.K.N. Girls Higher Secondary School, Thirumangalam, with 1,149 marks.
K. Vigneshkumar of Parasakthi Higher Secondary School in S.Kottaipatti bagged the second spot with 1,147 marks.
The third rank was bagged by P. Vennila of Keren Matriculation Higher Secondary School in K. Puliyankulam.
Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/15/stories/2010051566580200.htm
Courtesy
The Hindu.
Belgium edges closer to veil ban
Belgium is on the path to becoming the first country in Europe to ban full-face veils worn by some Muslim women.
On a warm, sunny morning the Rue de Brabant just north of the centre of Brussels is busy with shoppers.
This city, known as the capital of Europe, is a multicultural melting pot and this part of town reflects that well.
It is particularly popular with the sizeable Moroccan and Turkish communities which, in turn, make up the bulk of Belgium’s half-a-million or so Muslim residents.
But now, with the Belgian parliament due to debate legislation proposing a ban, some are asking how far multiculturalism should go.
The new law, which enjoys cross party support, would outlaw clothing that obscures your identity – and that would include full face Islamic veils like the niqab or burka.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Green Party supports the measure.
Some have backed the legislation on the grounds of security, others that full face veils are a symbol of the oppression of women.
‘Freedom to choose’
But Green MP Stefaan van Hecke tells me there is a more fundamental argument, to do with culture.
“If you want good communication between all communities, and there are a lot in Brussels, it’s important that we see each other when we speak to each other. I think it’s very important to social contact.”
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  The niqab is a personal choice… Everyone should be able to express themselves  Selma, Niqab wearer
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Not far from the parliament, in a small park, I meet Selma.
She is 22 and three years ago she converted to Islam. Now she wears a full-face niqab.
She is covered from head to foot, with just a small slit for her eyes. Even her hands are gloved.
If the new law is approved she could be fined or even arrested for dressing like this. And Selma says that is a threat to her rights.
“You have to realise that the niqab is a personal choice, at least in my particular case,” she says.
“Everyone should be free to express themselves the way they want, according to their conviction and religion, without having to abide by a law. But I’d be disappointed if in Europe we would not be free to do what we want.”
But in Belgium women like Selma are rare – she is one of perhaps only 30 women who wear full-face veils.
For the vast majority of Belgian Muslims, niqabs or burkas play no part in their tradition.
And on the streets of Brussels, opinion was divided as to whether this kind of law was actually needed. Some people we spoke to said they found women in full-face veils offensive or threatening. Others felt a law was the wrong way to go about things.
Culture clash
In fact laws like this one are already in place in a number of Belgian cities. This new legislation would apply to the whole country.
Other European nations – the French, Danes and Dutch for example – have considered similar laws, but Belgium would be the first European state to bring in such a ban.
Headscarves
And that has the vice-president of the Muslim Executive of Belgium, Isabelle Praile, worried about the precedent the country might be setting. “It’s an attack on democracy,” she says. “I find it a form of suppression against which I am opposed. If women really are being forced to wear the full veil then by forbidding them to go out in public you will end up locking them up even more in their houses.” This is a clash of cultures and values, each side claiming they are protecting the rights of others. But it will be a debate watched carefully by other European countries, weighing up whether they could follow Belgium’s lead. Reference Link Courtesy |
Her 'duty' is helping Muslim women heal after abuse
NEW YORK (CNN) — Toward the end of her marriage, Rabia Iqbal said she feared for her life.
Robina Niaz said the Quran “condemns” abuse of women. “If we witness injustice, we’re required to speak up.”
Iqbal was born in New York to parents who had immigrated to the United States from the tribal areas of Pakistan. She had a strict Muslim upbringing and when she was 16, her parents arranged her marriage to a 38-year-old man. She claims her husband turned violent during their 10 years of marriage.
When she finally left him, she did not know where to turn. Going home wasn’t an option, she said.
“My parents … made clear that they would disown me,” Iqbal said. “My father even said … ‘You’re lucky you live in America because if you lived back home, you would have been dead by now.’ ”
She was hiding out in her office at work when a friend put her in touch with Robina Niaz, whose organization, Turning Point for Women and Families, helps female Muslim abuse victims.
“It was such a relief … to speak about things that … I thought no one would understand,” said Iqbal, who has received counseling from Niaz for more than two years and calls Niaz her “savior.”
“Robina understood the cultural nuances … the religious issues,” Iqbal said. 
Watch Iqbal tell her story »
A devout Muslim, Niaz stresses that there is no evidence that domestic violence is more common among Muslim families.
“Abuse happens everywhere,” said Niaz. “It cuts across barriers of race, religion, culture.”
But, she said, Muslims are often reluctant to confront the issue.
“There’s a lot of denial,” she said. “It makes it much harder for the victims of abuse to speak out.”
When Niaz launched her organization in 2004, it was the first resource of its kind in New York City. Today, her one-woman campaign has expanded into a multifaceted endeavor that is raising awareness about family violence and providing direct services to women in need.
Niaz said she firmly believes that domestic violence goes against Islamic teachings, and considers it her religious duty to try to stop abuse from happening.
“Quran condemns abusive behavior of women,” she said, noting that the prophet Mohammed was never known to have abused women. “Allah says, ‘Stand up against injustice and bear witness, even if it’s against your own kin. So if I see injustice being done to women and children, I have to speak up. It’s my duty.”
Niaz’s mission began after a difficult period in her own life. Born and raised in Pakistan, she had earned a master’s degree in psychology and had a successful career in international affairs and marketing when she moved to the United States to marry in 1990.
“It was a disastrous marriage,” she said.
As Niaz struggled to navigate the American legal system during her divorce, she said she appreciated how lucky she was to speak English and have an education. She realized that many immigrant women without those advantages might be more likely to stay in marriages because they didn’t know how to make the system work for them.
“If this is how difficult it is for me, then what must other immigrant women go through?” she remembered thinking.
After volunteering with South Asian victims of domestic violence, Niaz, who speaks five languages, got a job using those skills to advocate for immigrant women affected by family violence.
Rabia Iqbal, right, has received counseling from Niaz for two years.
But Niaz’s focus changed on September 11, 2001. “I was no longer a Pakistani-American … I looked at myself as a Muslim.”
Niaz said the backlash many Muslims experienced after the terror attacks made abuse victims more afraid to seek help; they feared being shunned for bringing negative attention to their community. Watch Niaz explain the effects of 9/11 on abused Muslim women »
“Women who were caught in abusive marriages were trapped even more,” recalled Niaz.
In 2004, Niaz used her savings to start Turning Point for Women and Families. Today, her work focuses on three main areas: providing direct services to abused women, raising awareness through outreach, and educating young women — an effort she hopes will empower future generations to speak out against abuse.
Crisis intervention services are a critical element of Niaz’s efforts. Through weekly counseling sessions, she and her team provide emotional support to the women while helping them with practical issues, such as finding homeless shelters, matrimonial lawyers, filing police reports or assisting with immigration issues.
Niaz has helped more than 200 Muslim women. While most of Turning Point’s clients are immigrants, the group helps women from every background.
While Niaz has support from many people in New York’s Muslim community, she acknowledges that not everyone appreciates her efforts. She keeps her office address confidential and takes precautions to ensure her safety.
“There have been threats … but that comes with this work,” she said. “I know that God is protecting me because I’m doing the right thing.”
Reference Link
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/09/24/cnnheroes.robina.niaz/index.html
Courtesy
CNN
Indian school helping the brightest Muslims
In a congested part of Patna, capital of India’s Bihar state, stands a striking yellow building – a 100-year-old mansion that has clearly seen better days.
Inside it, in a small dark room, a young bearded cleric is reading out sermons from the Muslim holy scriptures to a group of boys seated cross-legged on the floor.
They are in their late teens, some are wearing skull caps and they all listen to him with rapt attention.
At first glance, this could be any of the region’s hundreds of Islamic seminaries or madrassas, where young Muslims receive religious instruction.
But this is no ordinary seminary.
After prayers, the boys head out to a classroom, pen and notebook in hand, where they listen with equal attention to a lecture on advanced mathematics.
This is the unusual setting for Rahmani 30 – a training institute which prepares talented but underprivileged young Muslims for entry into India’s best engineering colleges – the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).
Only the top 2% make it through the stiff entrance exam.
Getting ahead
India’s large Muslim minority is consistently placed at the bottom of social and economic rankings.
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 I wanted to make something of my life, become someone Irfan Alam, student
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Part of this has to do with education – most Muslims end up studying in madrassas, which means they have little chance of being employed in the private sector or government.
So the significance of Rahmani’s initiative is not lost on anyone.
It is the brainchild of a senior Bihar police officer, Abhyanand, who takes time off from his day job to teach the boys physics.
Rahmani was inspired by a similar school – the Super 30, where Abhyanand used to work and which is also aimed at poor children but not Muslims exclusively.
“In our country, any difficult examination is very fearful because a huge number of students take part but only a few get in,” Abhyanand says.
The advantage at Rahmani, he says, is the kind of students they get – mostly from poor backgrounds and determined to get ahead in life.
“They come from a rural background and that is their strength. They become competitive because, for them, it is a win or lose situation.
“If they don’t make it they don’t stand anywhere [socially and economically].”
Great chance
Irfan Alam, 15, the son of a barber who is preparing for the IIT exam due to be held in 2011, says it is a great opportunity.
“I wanted to make something of my life, become someone,” he says smiling shyly.
The school’s philosophy is inspired by the ideas of a madrassa
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“It’s the perfect platform. The teachers are amazing and the best part is that it’s completely free.”
It is a chance that few others where Irfan comes from will ever get.
His village is a good four hours drive north of Patna, with lush green wheat-fields, narrow dirt tracks and few proper buildings.
Most people here work as farm labour and a large number of the men are barbers by trade.
I meet Irfan’s father, Mohammad Shafiq, outside his modest, two-room hut made of mud and straw.
Now recuperating after an eye operation, he tells me how his son displayed flashes of brilliance as a child and soon outgrew his village school.
So he decided to send him away.
“Nobody studies here. Most of the teenagers waste their time or start drinking heavily.
“I can’t read and write myself and it was always my dream that my son should be educated and not become a barber like his father and grandfather.”
Back at Rahmani the classes are done but the studying continues late into the night.
Irfan sits with three of his friends inside his little dorm room, poring over textbooks and brainstorming.
In another room, one of the teachers uses a webcam to conduct a tutorial with students in another part of Bihar.
Cultural debate
It’s a fascinating mix of the traditional and the modern.
“The basic philosophy of a madrassa is that the boys live, eat and study together. There is no distinction between rich and poor – everybody is equal,” says Maulana Wali Rahmani, an influential cleric who heads this institute.
“There’s also a culture of open debate. It’s something I experienced myself while growing up in a madrassa. So we thought, why not channel these strengths in a whole new direction and see what we can achieve.”
To find out how spectacularly they have succeeded, you need to travel 1,000km (625 miles), to the national capital, Delhi.
It is a completely different world in the tree-lined, sprawling IIT campus.
Young men and women stroll into their classrooms, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, back-packs slung over their shoulders.
These are India’s brightest brains, many of whom will go on to work in the country’s top software companies or head to Silicon Valley.
Among them is a shy, earnest young man – Shadman Anwar, part of Rahmani’s inaugural batch of students last year, all 10 of whom made it through to the IITs.
“It’s been a dream come true, being here with all the other students. And I don’t feel as if I’m any different,” he says.
His is the kind of confidence that has helped raise expectations at Rahmani, whose administrators now want to establish 10 similar schools over the next couple of years.
India’s Muslim community is often said to have under-achieved, plagued by poverty, low education standards and a conservative outlook.
Now in one of India’s poorest states, a small initiative is trying to break the mould.
Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8550548.stm
Courtesy
CNN
C-DAC courses
KOCHI, India: The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the Ministry of Information Technology, is organising diploma courses in IT Project Management, Software Quality Assurance and MS.NET Programming for candidates belonging to the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Parsi and Buddhist communities.
For details, call 0484-2369972.
Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/10/stories/2010031060770200.htm
Courtesy
The Hindu
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