Rays of hope from Hyderabad – story of two Muslim women

Submitted by admin4 on 5 May 2011 - 4:05pm

Articles
Indian Muslim
Women
By Nigar Ataulla,
The stereotypical image of Muslim women depicts them as frail and fragile, trapp
ed within the four walls of their homes. But Kaneez Fathima and Rafat Seema powe
rfully fracture such images. They are not only standing firmly on their feet as
professional working women, but also fighting boldly for justice for the oppress
ed sections of society.
Last month, I met Kaneez Fathima and Dr Rafat Seema, two young women from Hydera
bad, at a workshop in Bangalore on Muslim women. Kaneez is a librarian by profes
sion and a firebrand civil liberties activist, while Rafat is general secretary
of the newly-formed Nisa Research and Resource Centre for Women, with which Kane
ez, too, is associated.
Rarely, I must remark, does one encounter Muslims doing constructive grassroots
activism, and that is what makes Kaneez and Rafat so different and, of course, s
o special. The two friends set up their Centre four years ago, and it is now a r
egistered NGO. The Centre has been actively involved in struggles for justice fo
r Muslim youth victimized by the Hyderabad police, including by being illegally
detained, tortured severely and implicated in fabricated cases, in the wake of t
he Makkah Masjid bomb blast in 2007.
“These youth spent months in jail, but after being released from prison, they were
jobless and socially boycotted. Nisa helped some of them by providing financial
support to establish small businesses,” says Kaneez. Nisa also extended legal and
medical aid to the families of 21 youth who were implicated in false cases. “When
the youth were picked up by the police, the women at home, be it mothers, wives
or sisters were afraid to even speak. I, along with other women activists went
to their homes, persuaded them to come out and speak to the media. We held publi
c hearings where the women related their traumas,” Kaneez explains.
Their Centre, Rafat helpfully adds, has facilitated several women, children and
youngsters across the state of Andhra Pradesh in accessing government schemes. I
t has engaged in documentation work, highlighting their issues and problems. It
has also initiated programmes to address violence against women through talks, w
orkshops, seminars with youngsters in Hyderabad, especially in the Old City, whe
re poverty and illiteracy are principal reasons for discrimination against women
.
Nisa is also involved in a campaign for child rights, through which it highlight
s the voices and problems of children. “We conduct sensitization programmes for th
e youth on communal harmony, peace, social justice, civil rights and equity by w
orking with students,” adds Kaneez.
Another area in which Nisa has been involved is provision of relief. During the
spell of communal violence in Hyderabad and Secunderabad last year, the Centre d
istributed ration kits to the poorest of the poor as well as financial aid to po
or women, Muslims and non-Muslims.
Currently, Nisa is focusing its efforts among the under-privileged groups who re
quire help, apart from functioning as a research and resource centre engaged in
research studies, consultancy, advocacy and policy intervention on women- relate
d issues with the support of NGOs, funding agencies and the corporate sector.
On March 8, this year, to mark International Women’s Day, Rafat and Kaneez launche
d the quarterly, bilingual (English and Urdu) ‘Nisa Research Magazine’. “The objective
of this magazine is to examine women’s problems and create debate based on partic
ular issues, and to draw the attention of women writers and research scholars to
such questions. The need of a research magazine on women’s issues in Urdu was fel
t badly from quite some time, so we have tried to fill this gap. The women on th
e editorial board are all from the research field and are working on women’s issue
s. We expect that the magazine will help develop women’s abilities and promote awa
reness and new skills,” says Kaneez.
“Initially, as a civil liberties rights activist, when I started off, I was all al
one. People questioned me, saying, ‘What can you do, you are just a mamooli (ordin
ary) girl’. I did not lose heart and went ahead with my mission and slowly more wo
men joined me. Everybody is ordinary, but it’s your work that ultimately matters.
Pick up courage and go into activism if you really want to see justice in these
harrowing times that we live in,” Kaneez advises.
(Kaneez and Rafat can be reached at clmci@hotmail.com and nisa.rrc@gmail.com)
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