Tag: Abu Azmi

Categories
Big story

“I was misquoted by the newspaper”: Abu Azmi

“The question of asking for punishment for rape victims does not arise,” SP leader says, blaming ‘misquote’ in Mid Day.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The furore over Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Maharashtra head Abu Azmi simply refuses to die down. A few days after the party and most notably, his son Farhan (contesting the Lok Sabha seat from Mumbai North Central) and daughter-in-law Ayesha Takia, were left embarrassed by Azmi’s controversial statements on women having consensual sex before marriage and that rape victims should be punished, the leader today tried to clear the air over the issue in a press conference in Mumbai.

“I didn’t say what I was quoted as saying in the Mid Day newspaper,” Azmi said, referring to the story that first appeared in the city tabloid. “The question of me or anyone else asking for punishment for rape victims does not arise…I regret [how my statement was twisted]. If a rape victim were to be punished [along with the rapist], it would be an act for the lowest of the low,” he said.

Explaining what he had actually said, Azmi added, “If the reporter (from Mid Day) chose to twist my words and print them, it is unfortunate. In fact, I was asked a question by another reporter, about Islam punishing sex before marriage for both men and women. To this, I had replied that yes, Islam did punish it and hence, it would be wrong to ask for severe punishment for a rapist in every such allegation. I said that if a woman has consensual sex and then resorts to blackmail and alleges rape, it may lead to a man being hanged.” He then added, “I did say that Islam punishes all rapists with death. But I also explained that such cases should be treated with caution, so that all parties receive justice. I had been speaking to the Mid Day reporter over the phone, and I did not know that the conversation was being recorded. What I had said off the record was also published as is, which is a wrong practice.”

Azmi further said that because of the news, his supporters and admirers had been “very hurt”. At the conference, he also read out the entire transcript of the conversation he had had with the Mid Day reporter, stressing that not once had he mentioned anything about punishing a rape victim.

What are your thoughts on Abu Azmi’s statements and his rebuttal? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Picture courtesy www.dnaindia.com)

Categories
Enough said

Choose whom you honour

Humra Quraishi wonders why we’re not talking more about the young man who stood by the Delhi gang rape victim. We’re choosing, instead, to focus on rubbish statements by politicians.

For three consecutive weeks, I have been writing on rapes and its offshoots, but there’s little else in focus even now. Pushed aside for the moment are corruption scams and scandals, together with those men who were crying themselves hoarse over black money that others have stashed away. Anna Hazare has been quiet for a long time, and so have his key associates.

In the midst of this, those who are opening their mouths are speaking plain rubbish. The Samajwadi Party’s Mumbai man Abu Azmi wants the young generation to not have boyfriends and girlfriends, and he thinks couples should not step out at night. I wish Abu Azmi would try imposing his ideas on his son and actress daughter-in-law Ayesha Takia. Jumping into the fray are others, so-called leaders from various regions, proclaiming that women should don overcoats and be fully covered at all times! No more jeans and short tops! As per these men, women should be coy, dressed in saris, tending to their homes, submitting to their husbands’ never-ending demands, and doing little else.

What is noteworthy is that politicians of the capital city seem to have matured. Maybe they have been around for far too long to be reckless in their statements. Or because they have sensed the mood of the masses and cannot afford to add to the growing unrest. Whatever the reason, politicians here have not much contributed to these rubbish thoughts by their counterparts elsewhere. There was no overreaction even to Shashi Tharoor’s suggestion – that if the parents okayed it, the rape victim’s name be made official for an anti-rape law to be named after her – and it was recognised to be an earnest statement, not a malicious one.

This one gang rape has opened the clichéd Pandora’s Box. Women are not just hitting  out, they are also trying to connect. But we cannot lose sight of the young man, the victim’s friend, who not just stood by her, trying to save her from the rapists, but even now has the courage to refute the police’s theories, after fearlessly declaring that the cops were not there in time to rescue the girl.

It isn’t easy to go against the establishment, especially the police and the very machinery at their command. But this young man has done exactly that, at a time when he has suffered tremendously after battling the rapists and getting injured in the process, then losing his steady friend.

If any attention is to be paid to anyone’s statements, it should be this young man’s. If anybody is to be honoured, it should be him.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journaliast. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy telegraph.co.uk)

 

Categories
Event

Slum dwellers’ struggle reaches Day 8

Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao struggle continues, Anna Hazare support brings media to Azad Maidan in large numbers for first time.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Medha Patkar-led agitation of Mumbai’s slum dwellers and those affected by scams in the Slum Rehabilitaion Authority continued yesterday, with a major shot in the arm: activist Anna Hazare landed at Azad Maidan to pledge his support to the protest and the relay fasts being undertaken therein.

With Anna’s presence at Azad Maidan at 2 pm, media personnel descended at the venue in large numbers, probably for the first time since the agitation began.

As per a press note issued by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), “The continuing struggle of Mumbai’s slum dwellers entered a new phase today…Shri Anna Hazare visited Azad Maidan and expressed his support to the struggle for right to shelter. In a democratic republic with the Constitution written in the name of the people, no Government has any right to evict people in a brutal manner and make them homeless, he said, calling a halt to the atrocities.”

Earlier, Mankhurd MLA and Samajwadi Party honcho Abu Azmi visited Azad Maidan to express solidarity with the protesters; he was initially heckled and questioned about his absence from the start of the Andolan. Eventually, he agreed to support the protest and join the delegation that meets the Chief Minister at Mantralaya today.

“The GBGB Andolan received the minutes with decision by the CM and the Mantralaya, yesterday night. We, from Azad Maidan, sent a reply demanding certain clarifications and suggestions,” Patkar said. The Andolankars have, however, forwarded a set of demands, some of which are: the Government must provide a written assurance of no further evictions till enquiry reports into the first group of SRA projects are out, a GBGB representative should be part of the enquiry process, and that slums must be declared within a month and provided with all basic amenities, among others.

(Picture courtesy pardaphash.com. Image is a file pic) 

 

Exit mobile version