KUALA LUMPUR: Religious authorities in Malaysia have launched an investigation into a new book about Muslim women who refuse to wear a hijab.
The official probe, which has caused outrage among women’s rights groups, was sparked after author Maryam Lee held a launch event last Saturday for her book “Unveiling Choice.”
Human rights activist Lee’s bookstore forum on de-hijabbing, held in Selangor, included a panel session during which three women spoke about their experiences relating to the removal of the headscarf.
Officials from the Malaysian state’s Islamic affairs department later obtained copies of the book, in which Lee tells of her personal journey to shed the hijab, and an inquiry has since been launched.
Malaysian religious affairs minister, Dr. Mujahid Yusof Rawa, said the matter was being taken “seriously” but he expected authorities in Selangor to carry out a “fair” investigation.
The incident has prompted a national public debate on the issue of control over the women’s attire.
Lee told Arab News that she decided to write about de-hijabbing in Malaysia because the topic has been marginalized. “Muslim-majority Malaysia does not believe that there are Muslim women silently suffering from various forms of gender-based violence and coercion. The hijab is one of them,” she said.
The 27-year-old writer said that wearing the headscarf can be a traumatizing experience for many Muslim women. “Society doesn’t believe this is happening, which is why there is a need for women to start speaking the truth,” added Lee.
Sixty percent of the multi-cultural Malaysian population are Muslims. However, the country’s Islamic affairs are governed by a centralized bureaucratic system under the scope of the Malaysian Islamic Department.
Lee said: “Whenever women in this country de-hijab, they get harassed constantly. They are seen as crazy, needing guidance and correction. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.”
Prior to the 1980s, it was a rare sight for Muslim women in Malaysia to don the hijab, although some opted for a loose shawl covering some of the head. However, as more Malaysian students opted to study in the Middle East they were inspired by revolution and today many Muslims in the country see wearing the hijab as an integral part of the religion.
“This is probably the first time that the government has taken action over women telling their stories of de-hijabbing,” said Lee. “We have not broken any laws, and if we had they would have known what to investigate us for.”
Rawa said: “The ministry has communicated with the Selangor State Islamic Department (JAIS), as this matter is beyond our jurisdiction because the forum was held in Selangor.”
Lee said that on Tuesday JAIS had visited the store which had hosted her forum to gain copies of the book and talk to shop representatives.
Opinion on social media was divided.
@ladymissazira said: “Whether you like it or not, there is need for discussion around tudung/hijab as long as there are familial, social and safety consequences toward not wearing it.”
@zhukl said: “I first wore hijab at age eight when I was forced to stand outside the classroom in my new school because I was wearing a pinafore uniform. I cried when I returned home and asked (for my parents) to get me a modest garment and hijab.”
@HilalAsyraf said: “I suggest halting any investigation and restriction, however Dr. Mujahid Rawa should participate in the forum as a panel and debate with them. They should no longer play the ‘victim card’ as if they are oppressed by patriarchy and the government.”
Malaysian religious chiefs probe new book on shedding hijab
Malaysian religious chiefs probe new book on shedding hijab
UK court hears horrific details of Southport girls’ murders as killer removed from dock
- After Judge Julian Goose refused to adjourn the sentencing, Rudakubana shouted “don’t continue,” prompting the judge to have him removed
- Someone shouted “coward” as he left
LONDON: A British teenager who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event was obsessed with violence and genocide, prosecutors said on Thursday after the killer was removed for repeatedly interrupting his sentencing.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, killed the three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed summer vacation event last July, with two of them suffering “horrific injuries which ... are difficult to explain as anything other than sadistic in nature,” prosecutor Deanna Heer said.
Rudakubana was removed from the dock at Liverpool Crown Court shortly after the start of his sentencing after shouting from the dock that he was unwell and suffering chest pains.
After Judge Julian Goose refused to adjourn the sentencing, Rudakubana shouted “don’t continue,” prompting the judge to have him removed. Someone shouted “coward” as he left.
On Monday, Rudakubana admitted carrying out the killings, in the northern English town of Southport, an atrocity that was followed by days of nationwide rioting.
He murdered Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, with two of the girls suffering at least 85 and 122 sharp force injuries, Heer said.
The prosecutor described a scene of horror, with the court shown video footage of screaming young girls fleeing the building. One bloodied girl was seen collapsing outside, provoking gasps and sobs from the public gallery.
He has also pleaded guilty to 10 charges of attempted murder relating to the attack, as well as to producing the deadly poison ricin and possessing an Al-Qaeda training manual.
Before Rudakubana’s outburst, Heer had said he was not inspired by any political or religious ideology.
“His only purpose was to kill and he targeted the youngest, most vulnerable in order to spread the greatest level of fear and outrage, which he succeeded in doing.” she said.
“Whilst under arrest at the police station after the incident, Axel Rudakubana was heard to say ‘It’s a good thing those children are dead ... I’m so glad ... so happy’.”
Heer said images and documents found on a computer at his home showed “he had a long-standing obsession with violence, killing and genocide.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said there were “grave questions” for the state to answer as to why the murders took place.
The government has announced a public inquiry into the case after it said Rudakubana had been referred three times to Prevent, a counter-radicalization scheme, but no action had been taken.
Starmer has said the attack could show that Britain faces a new type of terrorism threat waged by “loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms” committing extreme violence.
Russia working ‘constantly’ to return Kursk residents: official
- Hundreds were unable to evacuate and are now living in Ukrainian-controlled territory — cut off from communication with Russia
- Some relatives this week posted photos of their missing relatives on Russian social media platform VKontakte
MOSCOW: An official in Russia’s Kursk border region partly occupied by Ukraine told AFP that authorities were working “constantly” to secure the return of Russian civilians caught behind the front lines — after facing rare public criticism.
Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Kursk region last August, seizing dozens of towns and villages in a shock setback for Moscow.
Hundreds were unable to evacuate and are now living in Ukrainian-controlled territory — cut off from communication with Russia.
In rare displays of public criticism amid Russia’s crackdown on dissent, some of their relatives have taken to speaking out against the authorities over the lack of information and failure to secure their return.
“Federal agencies and structures, and also the government of the Kursk region, are carrying out constant work in order to achieve concrete results in searching for and returning residents of Kursk region, with whom relatives have lost contact,” Kursk’s acting information minister, Mikhail Shumakov, said in a letter, dated Tuesday, sent to AFP.
He was replying to a request to comment on accusations from a Kursk woman, Lyubov Prilutskaya, who is campaigning to raise attention of the issue through posts on social media and interviews.
Her parents, who lived in a border village captured by Ukraine, have been missing since August.
Some relatives this week posted photos of their missing relatives on Russian social media platform VKontakte, saying around 3,000 civilians remain in Kyiv-controlled areas of the front-line Sudzha district.
They urged “the leadership of the two countries and international organizations to help save the lives of our family members.”
Kursk authorities in their letter acknowledged a list of 517 missing people published by rights ombudswoman Tatiana Moskalkova was “not comprehensive.”
A Ukrainian military spokesman for Kursk said this month that around 2,000 civilians remained in Kyiv-held territory.
Dozens of local residents forced to leave their homes by Ukraine’s offensive held protests in the main city of Kursk on Saturday and Tuesday, complaining about poor conditions for evacuees and demanding direct dialogue with authorities.
Saudi Arabia set to finance bridge construction in eastern Sri Lanka
- Saudi Fund for Development previously financed Kinniya Bridge, Sri Lanka’s longest
- Kingdom has helped finance various projects and granted development loans to the country
COLOMBO: Saudi Arabia is to finance a bridge construction project in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Trincomalee, the Kingdom’s envoy in Colombo said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Saudi Fund for Development have signed a revised agreement for a $10.5 million infrastructure project in the coastal town of Kinniya that will connect it to the Kurinchakerny peninsula.
The ministry announced on Wednesday: “(Some) $10.5 million has been allocated for the construction of Kurinchakerny Bridge, facilitating the transport and business needs of approximately 100,000 residents.”
The funds were repurposed from an earlier project between the Sri Lankan government and the SFD, the Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Kahtani said.
The Kingdom previously funded the reconstruction of the Peradeniya-Badulla-Chenkaladi road in Sri Lanka, which connected the country’s eastern, middle and southern provinces. The massive project, which helped improve road safety and mobility in the island nation, was completed in 2021.
“The balance left from the project has been given for the construction of the project on a request made by the Sri Lankan government,” Al-Kahtani told Arab News.
“Through the revised agreement, it is expected to transfer funds that remained in the aforesaid project … and to mobilize the same towards construction of the Kurinchakerny Bridge (in Kinniya). It is envisaged to provide solutions to many transport difficulties.”
Saudi Arabia has helped finance over a dozen projects in Sri Lanka, covering education, water, energy, health and infrastructure. The SFD has also granted at least 15 development loans to the island nation, worth more than $425 million in total.
In Trincomalee, the new bridge will be the second financed by the Kingdom after the Kinniya Bridge. At 396 meters it is the longest bridge in Sri Lanka and was opened in 2009.
A.L. Ashraff, a Kinniya-based journalist, said that the Kinniya Bridge had “triggered the region’s economic and cultural development.”
The Kurinchakerny Bridge, he said, was a “fantastic gift for the thousands of people in Kinniya, which would make their daily life easier.”
5 treated after stabbing in south London, 1 man arrested
- Metropolitan Police said that a man was arrested following the stabbing in Croydon
- Authorities didn’t provide a motive for the stabbing
LONDON: Five people have been treated following a stabbing Thursday morning in south London, according to London’s Ambulance Service.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that a man was arrested following the stabbing in Croydon, which British media reports said happened near an Asda supermarket. Authorities didn’t provide a motive for the stabbing.
The ambulance service said that one person was taken to a major trauma center in London and four other people were hospitalized.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer, members of our Tactical Response Unit and London’s Air Ambulance,” the service said.
The violence came on the same day that a teenager faced sentencing for fatally stabbing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed summer dance class in the northwestern English town of Southport.
Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools
- The threats, which came in the form of emails, were identical in their text
- Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions
BUDAPEST: Police in Hungary said Thursday they were investigating bomb threats that were sent to more than 240 schools across the country, resulting in classes being canceled at some schools.
The threats, which came in the form of emails, were identical in their text and likely sent by a single sender, police said in a statement. Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions. No explosives or explosive devices were found in the buildings inspected so far, police added.
Gergely Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said that “education in most schools in the country proceeds smoothly,” and that school administrators could decide for themselves whether to send students home.
He said Orbán on Thursday had consulted repeatedly with the interior minister and the minister in charge of Hungary’s secret services.
The emails were sent from numerous email providers “including foreign ones,” Gulyás said. Hungarian secret services were in consultation with their counterparts in neighboring Slovakia, where similar bomb threats were made last year, Gulyás said.
On Wednesday, numerous schools in around a dozen cities in Bulgaria also received bomb threats, according to Bulgarian public broadcaster BNT.
