Religious Fundamentalism Is Wrong???

Via the BBC: “Officials in Pakistan are travelling to a remote north-western region to find out if four women, who apparently sang and watched as two men danced, have been murdered in an honour killing”. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur share their take on religious fundamentalism and judging a culture (11 June 2012).

The BBC reported this story some days ago: ‘Officials in Pakistanare travelling to a remote north-western region to find out if four women, who apparently sang and watched as two men danced, have been murdered in an honour killing. Video footage of the men and women, who gathered as part of a wedding celebration, has been widely seen. Villagers say the women were later killed. Local officials deny this. The men in the video appeared in court on Wednesday charged with creating conditions for tribal violence. Local officials not only failed to produce the women in the court on Wednesday [, 6 June] but were also unable to produce any proof they were still alive, as directed by the court earlier’.[1]  The events took place in the remote area of Kohistan (or the Land of the Mountains).

And as it turns out, the culprit is not necessarily the “culture” of the area, but more likely the influence of a man, namely Maulvi Abdul Haleem. This religious leader, able to issue fatwas among other things, is a well-known enemy of women’s rights.

People, men as well as women, seldom act as a result of their own volition. A certain degree of persuasion and manipulation always helps. Last May, for instance, Abdul Haleem issued this decree, as he told a diligent journalist taking notes: “I issued a decree during Friday sermon [on 4 May 2012] that getting education for degrees by women is repugnant to Islamic injunctions because if a woman gets degree, she may use it for job, an act which Islam doesn’t allow in absence of mehram [close relatives]”.[2]  Rather than simply blaming “religion” or “culture”, these facets of human civilization are easily manipulated by power-hungry leaders of men, such as Maulvi Abdul Haleem, who unscrupulously further their own cause by exploiting the weak. The fact that Mister Abdul Haleem uses the sobriquet maulvi, denoting a high rank of seniority as a scholar of Islam, discloses his envious grip on power of his fellow-men in Kohistan. In a proud voice, the Maulvi even stated that “That’s why girls are not going to schools in Kohistan and girl schools are used as cattle pen”, [3] obviously referring to his own decrees and judgements.

 In order to give an idea of the terrible power wielded by the frustrated maulvi, here is a clip of two Pakistani Girls who have the good fortune not to be living in Kohistan and formed a band called The Cheapmunks.

 And here is a clip of Zeb & Haniya performing their surprise  hit song “Chup”.

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[1] “Pakistan probes ‘honour killings’ of four women” BBC News (06 June 2012). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18341379.

[2] “Ex MNA from Kohistan Threatens Working Women” Dawn (05 May 2012). http://www.aboardthedemocracytrain.com/ex-mna-from-kohistan-threatens-working-women.

[3] “Ex MNA from Kohistan Threatens Working Women”.

Pussy Riot: Feminism against Putin

From Moscow, FT’s Charles Clover reported last month that “[t]wo members of an all-girl punk band have been jailed and may face stiff prison sentences for a prank-like performance inside Moscow’s main Orthodox cathedral last month. The harsh treatment of the musicians seemed to signal a rising intolerance for dissent in the wake of Sunday’s presidential elections which won Vladimir Putin a third term as Russian president. It is also a test of sorts for radical feminism – a fringe ideology in macho Russia, yet one which seems to be catching on amid three months of protests against the Kremlin”.[1]

The all-girl punk band mentioned above is the “feminist punk-rock collective” called Pussy Riot. They stage ‘politically provocative impromptu performances in Moscow, on subjects such as the status of women in Russia, and most recently against the election campaign of Prime Minister Putin for president of Russia. Their usual costume is skimpy dresses and tights, even in bitterly cold weather, with their faces masked by brightly colored balaclavas, both while performing and giving interviews, for which they always use pseudonyms. The collective is made up of about 10 performers, and about 15 people who handle the technical work of shooting and editing their videos, which are posted to the Internet. The group cites American punk rock band Bikini Kill and the Riot Grrrl movement of 1990s as an inspiration. “What we have in common is impudence, politically loaded lyrics, the importance of feminist discourse and a non-standard female image,” Pussy Riot said’, as related by the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia.[2]

The Wiki entry goes on to explain: ‘On February 21, 2012, as a part of the growing protest movement against Vladimir Putin, Pussy Riot performed a punk rock song in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. In the song, the group prayed to the “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin” to “chase Putin out.” On March 3, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, two alleged members of Pussy Riot, were arrested by Russian authorities and accused of “hooliganism”, for which they face up to 7 years in prison. Both arrested women deny being members of the group and started a hunger strike in protest against being held in jail away from their young children until their case comes to trial in April. On March 16, another woman, Irina Loktina, who had earlier acted as a witness in this case, was similarly arrested and charged. According to Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, all women are charged with “hooliganism” according to article 213/2 of the Russian Criminal Code, without any evidence for incriminating such charges, which makes both pre-trial arrest and the charges illegal. This action may cost the women up to seven years in prison, if convicted. All three are recognized as political prisoners by the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (SPP). Amnesty International named them prisoners of conscience due to “the severity of the response of the Russian authorities”. However, opinions in Russia about this act and its social acceptability differ significantly. ­Speaking at a liturgy in Moscow’s Deposition of the Robe Cathedral on March 21, 2012, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill I of Moscow condemned Pussy Riot’s actions at Christ the Savior Cathedral as “blasphemous” saying that the “Devil has laughed at all of us. We have no future if we allow mocking in front of great shrines, and if some see such mocking as some sort of valour, as an expression of political protest, as an acceptable action or a harmless joke,” the Patriarch said. Meanwhile, several thousands of Orthodox and Catholic believers, the believers of other religions and even atheists signed a petition to Patriarch Kirill, begging the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to stand up for the girls. inger Alla Pugachyova appealed on the women’s behalf, stating that they should be ordered to perform community service rather than be imprisoned’.[3]

On 19 April 2012, the news agency Reuters reports that ‘Russian police detained at least 13 people who demonstrated outside a courthouse on Thursday against the arrest of three members of a women’s punk rock group that performed a protest song in Moscow’s main cathedral, witnesses said. The court was to decide whether to extend the detention of the three women over the performance, in which the group known as Pussy Riot sang a song against president-elect Vladimir Putin in short dresses and coloured masks in Christ the Saviour Cathedral. About 60 of the group’s supporters chanted “Freedom! Freedom!” outside the beige brick Moscow courthouse and some released green, pink and yellow balloons with Pussy Riot’s trademark masks drawn on them. Scuffles broke out when a Russian Orthodox bystander threw an egg at the husband of one of the three detainees. A Reuters reporter saw police drag at least 13 people off into police vans, two of them for throwing a smoke bomb. The three women could face seven years in jail on hooliganism charges but deny taking part in the protest in February. No date has been set for trial and the court was expected to extend their pre-trial detention. Anger over their arrest has fuelled criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose status has improved vastly since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and which has played an increasingly active role in politics since then’.[4]

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[1] Charles Clover, “Russia jails female punk band members” FT (08 March 2012). http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/0112976c-6938-11e1-9618-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1sWY1y9yQ.

[2] “Pussy Riot” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Riot.

[3] “Pussy Riot” Wikipedia.

[4] “Pussy Riot hearing sparks protest in Moscow” Reuters (19 April 2012). http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89eaa2ec-8a39-11e1-93c9-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=published_links/rss/world/feed//product#axzz1sWY1y9yQ.

DSK Go Away!!

Angry students chanted “DSK, go away” and “Shame on you” outside the Cambridge University Union Society on Friday, as former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn gave a speech inside. There were scuffles as a few protesters tried to scale a metal barrier outside the building. Police said two people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting police and disruptive behavior (9 March 2012).

 

The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men

In The Bro Code, filmmaker Thomas Keith takes aim at the forces in male culture that condition boys and men to dehumanize and disrespect women. Keith breaks down a range of contemporary media forms that are saturated with sexism — movies and music videos that glamorize misogyny; pornography that trades in the brutalization of women; comedy routines that make fun of sexual assault; and a slate of men’s magazines and cable TV shows whose sole purpose is to revel in reactionary myths of American manhood. The message he uncovers in virtually every corner of our entertainment culture is clear: It’s not only normal — but cool — for boys and men to control and humiliate women. By showing how there’s nothing natural or inevitable about this mentality, and by setting it against the terrible reality of men’s violence against women in the real world, The Bro Code challenges young people to step up and fight back against the idea that being a real man means disrespecting women. Featuring interviews with Michael Kimmel, Robert Jensen, Shira Tarrant, J.W. Wiley, Douglas Rushkoff, Eric Anderson, and Neal King (4 Jan 2012).