Cleric slams draft Haj policy, says equality should start with man bearing child

Agencies
October 12, 2017

Mumbai, Oct 12: Why can't a man and woman be 'pregnant' for four-and-a-half months each to achieve gender equality?

This question has been posed by a Muslim cleric in Maharashtra while berating a draft Haj policy prepared by a committee appointed by the Centre that has recommended allowing women above 45 to undertake the pilgrimage without a 'Mehram' in a group of at least four.

The term Mehram refers to a male, a woman cannot marry in her life (i.e. father, brother or son etc).

The proposed Haj Policy 2018-22, prepared by the panel headed by former secretary Afzal Amanullah, has also suggested abolishing subsidy for Haj pilgrims.

"The suggestion to allow women to go without a Mehram is against Islam. This government, rather than trying to understand Islam and bringing relief to people, is increasing the problems of Muslims," said Gulzar Azmi, secretary of Jamiat Ulema, Maharashtra unit.

The proposed change regarding women will fail as the government of Saudi Arabia will not issue visa to such women, he claimed.

"If this government wishes to bring equality between men and women, they should start with child-bearing. Why cannot the man and woman be pregnant for four-and-half months each? Why are they only targeting Hajis (those who undertake Haj)," said the cleric from Jamiat Ulema, a leading Muslim religious body.

Reacting to Azmi's remarks, Susieben Shah, former chairperson of the Maharashtra State Womens' Commission, said the government should remove the age barrier for women who want to go on Haj without a male relative altogether.

"His insensitive comments only trivialise the issue. Why only the women above 45 can perform Haj without a mehram? All women should be able to pay obeisance (at Mecca) because it is their right," she said.

Indian women are secular and believe in equal laws for all, she said.

"His comments are highly condemnable and show his primitive mindset and attitude to women. We merit equality," Shah said.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Jammu, Apr 7: Old habits will just no longer do, a Jammu and Kashmir administration employee found to his dismay on Tuesday when he was sent to a quarantine centre for blowing his nose and spitting on the road.

The man, who works as an accountant in the civil secretariat here, had gone to meet a relative in Paloura on the outskirts of the city when he was nabbed, officials said.

The neighbours panicked when they saw him blowing his nose and immediately called the police, which rushed to the spot with a medical team and a magistrate, they said.

He was immediately taken to a quarantine facility set up at the IIT hostel in the Janipur area and his samples taken for a coronavirus test.

Given the high levels of anxiety over the spread of COVID-19, news of his being taken by police started circulating widely. There were also some WhatsApp messages that he was trying to deliberately spread the infection and was arrested by police.

However, police officials said they had not arrested him and merely put him in a quarantine centre. It was not clear how long he would be in the centre.

The employee told police officials he had an itch in his nose and nothing more.

"Be responsible citizens and stop spreading rumours or fake news," an official said, requesting people to be more responsible.

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News Network
January 7,2020

New Delhi, Jan 7: The Delhi Police has filed an FIR against JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh and 19 others for allegedly attacking security guards and vandalising the server room of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on January 4.

The police registered the FIR on January 5.

In the complaint filed by the JNU administration, the University alleged that the accused were involved in physical violence and pushed the women guards, verbally abused them and threatened them of dire consequences if they opened the lock of university's communication and information (CIS) office.

"They illegally trespassed the University property with the criminal intention to damage the public property. They damaged servers and made it dysfunctional. They also damaged fiber optic power supplies and broke the biometric systems inside the room," the University officials alleged.

This incident allegedly occurred a day before Aishe Ghosh, other JNU students and teachers were attacked by a masked mob inside the campus.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: The fourteen Italians, who have tested positive for coronavirus, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre.

The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients.All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre here on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college.

Officials on Tuesday said the foreigners have been sent to a private hospital in Gurgaon and a centre in the national capital while the Indians have been transferred to the Safdarjung Hospital.

Fourteen Italians and an Indian (driver), who were in the same group as the affected Italian couple, tested positive for the virus as per information provided by the Health Ministry.

The Italian tourists and three Indians were admitted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force centre in Chhawla on Tuesday.

The Centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane from China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.

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