Fundamentalism

His interpretation of Islam excludes the slightest deviation from orthodoxy. Its penal code imposes corporal punishment reminiscent of the Middle Ages. They separate women from the public space and when they have access to them, they must completely cover the shape of their body, from head to toe. They ban music and all other entertainment. This is the description of the Taliban society we knew in the 1990s, but it could be the Islamic State (ISIS), Saudi Arabia (before the latest social reforms) and even the Revolutionary Iran at the start. Radical Islamists have a lot in common, but they are not the same.

These similarities have led some observers to equate the ideology of the Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban themselves call themselves, with Saudi Wahhabism. Undoubtedly, the money that the Desert Kingdom sent to Pakistan to finance the United States’ war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s radicalized the students of the madrasas and fostered the extremist advance in the region, where prevailed a movement. local known as deobandi, appeared in the 19th century and of Sufi origin. But the Taliban are not Wahhabis, and their morals for society have more to do with their Pashtun origins than with Islam.

Bashir Ahmad, professor of Islamic studies, explains that “there are many differences between Taliban ideology and Wahhabism”, which equates to the ideology of the Islamic State, with which the new rulers of Kabul compete. “The Taliban follow the jurisprudence we call Hanafi, and [los grupos wahabíes] they don’t attend any of the schools [del islam suní] Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki or Hanbali; they have their own ideas, ”he said in a conversation from Kabul.

It is, explains Zahid Hussain, a Pakistani expert on the Taliban phenomenon, “a movement built on Islamic fundamentalism and strict adherence to the conservative Pashtun culture”. This seemingly academic distinction may be key to the Taliban’s ability to be flexible as leaders. Perhaps the most visible and easily understood example is the burqa, a common garment in Pashtun society, but unprecedented in the rest of the Islamic world.

In their first government, the Taliban imposed the burqa Afghans, especially in cities outside their stronghold, where their customs were more challenged. In the countryside, the existing segregation was sufficient, and the nomads kuchi They never used this coat with only a slit at eye level. Now they are talking about the compulsory nature of the Hello, No burqa.

Being a cultural imperative rather than a religious one allows for flexibility. Only 40 to 50% of the Afghan population is Pashtun; the other half, although made up of ethnic minorities who are also Muslim and generally conservative, do not adhere to the same codes. It remains to be seen what the rules will be and whether the veil will allow women to work and participate in public life, as is the case in Iran (under a Shiite Islamist regime), or whether the objective is to lock them away. houses. Houses.

The comparison with Iran has also emerged these days following the leak that the leader of the Taliban will become the country’s highest authority, comparable to a head of state, with the final say in religious, political matters. and military. . The figure refers to Iran’s Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, the Taliban are Sunnis and in Sunni tradition the idea of ​​following a guide (the concept of taqleed) It’s controversial. While the Deobandis accept it, the Salafis reject it.

Regarding the appointment of Hibatullah Akhunzadah as supreme leader, Ahmad explains that “this is the standard of the Taliban”. “There is a big difference between the Iranian government and the Taliban government. Maybe from the outside it seems [un cargo] like that of the Iranian government, but there is no relation ”, underlines this professor of the Salam University of Kabul, without going into the precise details of the difference. “You will understand it better in the next few days,” he replies when asked for an example.

Another important difference from the Wahhabis – or Salafists as they prefer to be called – is the concept of jihad, or holy war. While for the latter it is a must (as seen in Al Qaeda or ISIS), for the Deobandis it is a less strict concept. In fact, while the Taliban once housed al Qaeda, they have never been linked to operations outside their country. Therefore, the United States did not include them on its list of terrorist organizations (although it did include one of its factions, the Haqqani Network) and does not believe that they are now a direct threat to their interests.

Significantly, the theological seminary of Dar ul Ulum in the Indian city of Deoband, from which the deobandi movement was born and took its name, has always supported the aspirations of the Taliban, but condemns Islamist terrorism (it even issued a fatwa on this subject). In 2008).

Also the Salafists are more intolerant than the Deobandis towards non-Muslims (suitcase) and even Muslims who do not follow their line, as evidenced by the treatment that the Islamic State reserved for minorities (Yazidis, Christians or Shiites) when they imposed themselves in northern Iraq and southern Iraq. Syria. When asked whether the ideology of the Taliban is closer to the Iranian theocracy or the Saudi regime, Ahmad responds neither. “They have their own idea of ​​government,” he concludes.

Although this seems contradictory given the doctrinal differences inherent in the two branches of Islam, other analysts are convinced that the Taliban today have a better political relationship with Tehran than with Riyadh.

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Fundamentalism is the belief in ancient and traditional forms of religion or the belief that anything written in a holy book is true. This was particularly evident in the 20th century, which seeks to reclaim and publicly institutionalize aspects of the past that modern life has obscured.

The 21st century has witnessed a phenomenal rise in fundamentalism and fanaticism and a rise in global terrorism. Fundamentalists view secular states as their main enemy because their goals don’t tend to align with each other.

Socialist society believes in education, democracy, reforms, modernization, liberalization and economic reforms. Fundamentalists see all of these goals as obstacles to their goal of preserving the spiritual dimension of life.

The ideology of fundamentalism has not only gripped poor and underdeveloped countries, but has also hijacked developed, liberal and democratic nations. Many factors such as imperialism, poverty, lack of good governance, corruption, political instability and poor economic conditions have contributed to the rise of fundamentalism.

Lately, the concept of fundamentalism has taken a bad turn with the rise of activism, violence and terrorism. Religious awareness not only among the elderly but also among the young is increasing nowadays. It is the by-product of modern life, which has become synonymous with stress, pressures, competitiveness and uncertainty.

This overt religiosity has led to the growth, spread and strengthening of fundamentalism. However, among the most distinctive features of the current situation are the leaps that are taking place in globalization, linked to a process of capitalist accumulation that is accelerating in a world dominated by the capitalist-imperialist system. This has led to significant and often dramatic changes in the lives of large numbers of people, often undermining traditional relationships and customs.

All over the developing world people are being driven from the farmlands where they lived and tried to survive in oppressive conditions, but they can’t even do it now. They are thrown into the urban areas that surround the heart of cities.

Almost half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, including massive and growing slums. Uprooted from their traditional conditions and the traditional forms in which they have been exploited and oppressed, they are thrown into a very precarious and unstable existence, unable to integrate in any way into the economic and social fabric. and the functioning of society.

In many countries, the majority of people living in urban areas work in the informal economy. To a large extent, because of this, many people are turning to religious fundamentalism to try to give them a foothold in the midst of all this dislocation and upheaval.

In developing countries, these massive changes and upheavals are occurring against a backdrop of domination and exploitation by foreign imperialists, who are associated with the local ruling classes. These classes are economically and politically dependent and subordinate to imperialism and are seen as corrupt agents of a foreign power, who also promote the decadent culture of the West.

This, in the short term, can strengthen the hands of fundamentalist religious forces and leaders who oppose the corruption and Western decadence of the local ruling classes and imperialists to whom they are indebted, in terms of return and enforcement with revenge, relationships, customs, ideas and traditional values ​​which themselves are rooted in the past embody extreme forms of exploitation and oppression.

Many fundamentalist organizations have been created, and it should be clearly noted, they are limited to Islamic fundamentalism.

Fundamentalism is viral in many religions, including some liberal religions. Fundamentalism in the United States has its roots in the Niagara Bible Conference linked to Christian fundamentalism. Jewish fundamentalism has been used to characterize militant religious Zionism. Likewise, Hindu fundamentalism is noticeable in Hindutva, Ayodhya verdict, Gujrat riots, etc.

The origin of Islamic fundamentalism dates back to the 7th century. The Shia and Sunni religious conflict has also created a rift and worsened Islamic fundamentalism. Boko Haram of Al-Shabaab, Ansar-al-Sharia, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, etc., are Islamic fundamentalist organizations endangering peace and harmony, giving rise to terrorist activities.

The rise of fundamentalism is leading not only to the loss of life and property, but also to the displacement of millions of people from their homelands. The growing terrorist attacks and the migration crisis in Europe are due to the growing fundamentalism in Central and West Asia. Peace, harmony and prosperity have been dominated by fear, apprehension and hatred.

A democratic government that enjoys greater popular participation must be the backbone of good governance. People need to be educated to improve their employability. This leads to an improvement in the standard of living. People need more religious freedom.

There is a need to intensify international cooperation and collaboration in order to stem the rise of fundamentalism. The United Nations has an important role to play in improving the deterioration of the global environment.

Featured Image via pxfuel

TO EAT LUNCH

On a warm winter day with a clear blue sky, I often hear fish eagles calling over my house. I rush outside with a pair of binoculars and scan the sky and the fish eagles reveal themselves to be two distant spots gliding gracefully over the thermals. Weather permitting, this happens two or three times a week and apparently we have three breeding pairs living quite close to us. Last week we had three flying over the house and for once it was not just dots in the sky but was flying low enough to be photographed.

When we moved into our house eight years ago, we decided to get rid of all the grass and formal flower beds and plant fynbos and mostly native plants in addition to olive trees and bushes. lavender in the front. I mistakenly thought that it would save me from having to mow the lawn in the summer and remove the clippings and be more water efficient as well. This was long before the threat of a zero day in Cape Town.

From a water perspective, it might be, but cutting the fynbos produces a lot more bags of yard waste than mowing the lawn ever would. Our torch aloe was originally a single plant and now it takes up a lot of space despite a few regular cuts.

But it deserves its sustenance because it attracts souimangas all year round and especially when the orange flowers are in bloom. Recently there were two Malachite Souimangas sipping the nectar from the flowers as I quietly sat outside with my morning coffee.

While we don’t have the variety of garden birds we had in Johannesburg, we do have a Slender-tailed Whydah that comes to court in the spring and a robin that sits every night just before sunset. and who chirps happily.

Plus the usual pinch of mice, white-eyed birds, sparrows, red bishops, weavers and Cape canaries. As the sun sets, squads of Egyptian geese fly over their nocturnal nesting grounds in formation and at the dam we have a decent collection of waterfowl including gray herons, stingers and hamerkops.

I also recently discovered dwarf chameleons in the garden and one night when I came out with a torch I counted four on the stems of the restio. Add to that bundle some gekkos, mice, the strange Cape Cobra, and the occasional sighting of a parrot-billed turtle (probably an escaped pet) and, judging by the number of bees, I have a reasonable belief that we are running an environmentally friendly garden.

So what about the nature hike you ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, I was so depressed about the state of the world last week that I had to try to balance my sadness with a personal blessings account and sit in the garden and watch the eagles. fishermen helped me a lot.

The news from Kabul and the most appalling images of people trying to leave Afghanistan was particularly distressing. On news footage, there was an obviously European woman sitting cross-legged on the ground with thousands of others outside the airport and holding up her European passport.

Obviously, she is legitimately claiming to be on a flight out of Afghanistan, but the queue was not moving and the US and UK servicemen who had been drafted to deal with the evacuation were obviously doing their best to face total chaos but appeared to be fighting a losing battle.

Other TV footage showed desperate families with young children awaiting news on whether they would be allowed to leave the country. Many were translators who had worked for the US and British military over the years and were now prime targets for the Taliban.

A veteran warzone television reporter, visibly moved by what he witnessed, said he hoped the children were too young to understand what was going on.

Sadly, I rather doubt that this could be true and the memories of sitting outside in the heat for days with limited access to the toilet, no food or water, let alone hope of escaping will give these children are nightmares for life. What we saw on our TV screens last week is a vision of hell on earth.

While those who had already been to Kabul airport had no choice but to sit down and hope for good news, others were still trying to get to the airport as the Taliban “security” hit them with canes, pieces of pipe or rifle butts.

Those who have decided the trip is far too risky are apparently hiding in basements as Taliban “security” searches house-to-house for evidence of Western decay. Things like the books, records, diplomas and payslips of the imperialist enemy seem to particularly upset them.

Meanwhile, some of the experts say the Taliban are now media savvy and claim the Afghans have absolutely nothing to fear. Soon life will return to normal and the only difference will be a new flag and a country under new management. Women will be invited to participate in public life (subject to Sharia, of course) and girls will be able to attend school up to university level. Whether this includes the university, no one has made it clear.

Unsurprisingly, most people are extremely skeptical of these claims and just one look at the humorless faces of the group of bearded Neanderthals gathered around the presidential office last week should dispel any notion that things would get better this time around. -this.

Any Taliban claiming to put FUN back into “fundamentalism” is highly suspect, mainly because the weapon with which the Taliban fighters are armed knows no other life than violence. Are they really going to sit idly by while western educated Afghans land all the good jobs?

According to the press, the Taliban army numbered about 75,000 men and all these fighters will want to be rewarded for having served the caliphate. I guess the majority don’t have a lot of skills outside of terrorism and beheading infidels, so their place in a prosperous new Afghanistan will likely be limited to making sure women don’t go out without a man to accompany them. and throw gays out of tall buildings.

The future of many countries (including ours) is difficult to predict as circumstances may change. For example, one fine day we might have a flawless administration without deploying executives, but right now that doesn’t suit the ANC.

However, the future of Afghanistan based on what we see today is very easy to predict. It will be a launching pad for international terrorism, human rights will be violated, cruelty will be the order of the day and all kinds of shady deals will be made with other nations hostile to the West.

Far from putting FUN back into fundamentalism, it will be more a question of putting MENTAL back. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and sit in the garden. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___

***

The official pro-vaccine message was noticeably beefed up last week, with News24 and Primedia dedicating a huge amount of space and time to the topic. On Cape Talk, three consecutive shows did not talk about anything else and the new official label of what was once called an “anti-vaxxer” is now a “science denier”.

Those familiar with history will recall that Galileo was a denier of science when he told the powerful Catholic Church that the sun does not revolve around planet earth, but it is the other way around. Fortunately, there was no social media at the time, but the culture of cancellation had already emerged and Galileo was placed under house arrest to prevent him from spreading his poisonous heresy.

News24’s task was to track unvaccinated people who had recently died from COVID, with bonus points being offered to any reporter who could find someone who needed to be vaccinated within days of their death. Not that it would have helped them much.

As you might expect, there has been a lot of talk of 18-34 year olds getting together in large groups for the COVID vaccine… .. something they would be prohibited from doing under different circumstances like a religious gathering.

Obviously, it stands to reason that there would be massive adoption of the vaccine by the 18-34 age cohort. The poor fellows were deprived of each other’s company for a year and a half, they had to take classes at school and university on Zoom, they couldn’t travel anywhere and they couldn’t was able to party and play the beast with two backs. If I was 18, I would also lead the line with the promise of a return to normal… whatever that might mean.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the powerful stream of humanism that animated the teachings of 19th-century social reformer Sree Narayana Guru was a panacea for the world torn by communal and racial strife.

Inaugurating the Renaissance leader’s birth anniversary celebrations by videoconference from Kannur, Mr. Vijayan took the opportunity to condemn the rise of religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan.

He said Afghanistan was an example of what would happen to a nation consumed by religious fundamentalism. “Fundamentalism is a destructive fire that destroys civilizations and nations,” he said.

Only humanism could extinguish such destructive conflagrations. The Guru’s teachings rooted in compassion, universal peace, human rights and tolerance have provided answers to the woes of the world.

Mr. Vijayan recalled the plight of the oppressed people of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. He said communal hatred often appears in India.

“There has never been a time in history when religious fundamentalism has limited the rights of human beings on such a global scale,” he said.

The Guru had emphasized the essential unity of humans regardless of race, culture, caste, creed, religion, gender or skin color. “One caste, one religion, one God for humans” was Sree Narayana Guru’s belief system.

The LDF government had honored the reformer’s credo with progressive action. He had defeated the powerful caste forces in the feudal society of Kerala in the 19th century by spreading reason, education, enlightenment and pacifist thought.

Mr. Vijayan said the reformer recognized caste as a convenient instrument for social and financial oppression. He fought it with an emphasis on Renaissance values. He gathered a social conscience against child marriage, polygamy, animal sacrifice and other social evils of his time.

Mr. Vijayan said the Guru was above castes and religion. His teachings were universal in nature. They have had a beneficial effect on all strata of society. Mr Vijayan said it was historically inaccurate to portray the reformer as the leader of a particular caste. The seer had used religious thought as a tool to emancipate the masses.

With the arrival in power of the Taliban, the question of religion takes a preponderant place. However, there is still hesitation among intellectuals and silence in political circles to discuss the issue of religion and fundamentalism. The philosophy of the Taliban, which is clearly inspired by Sharia law, is a threat not only to Afghanistan but to the whole world. Times will be hard for us especially as India borders two hostile states and friends of the Taliban. In a stuck situation, the only hope for the world comes from India.

Dr SN Balagangadhara’s thesis on religions and understanding of the phenomenon in India would be a major contribution to achieving peace in the country (and in the world too). Most of the debates about religions in the country seem to degenerate into a verbal exchange of words. History and its “facts” are inconvenient debate techniques and do little to help.

As Dr Balu says, there have never been religions in India but only traditions (sampradayas and paramparas in their broadest form). The conversion of traditions into religions was a colonial exercise. It wasn’t malicious intent on a broader level, but they were trying to make sense of an alien culture from the ruler’s point of view. They saw a variety of phenomena, practices and philosophies across the country and built the religions of “Hinduism”, “Buddhism”, “Jainism”, “Sikhism”, and so on. There have even been religious encounters also between a 2000-year-old Buddhism and a 200-year-old Hinduism!

The framework for all of these experiential constructs was their own internal European debates between Protestant, Catholic and Enlightenment thinkers. It’s a long story, but one of the basic driving forces in the creation of religions by the colonials was their own culture (rooted in religion) which believed that religion was a cultural universal. It was inconceivable to them that there could be cultures without religions.

Our Indian intellectuals have swallowed up the whole story that Dr Balu calls “colonial consciousness”. Only a few intellectuals have questioned whether religions in the classic definitional mold of a single book, a single temple, a single doctrine or a single messenger ever existed in India. Fertile intellectual minds seated in the best libraries in Europe have converted our traditions into religions with even “interreligious” encounters. Hinduism versus Buddhism was their heritage; Hinduism versus Sikhism today is a continuation of this heritage. These resembled those that occurred in the Middle East and the European world during medieval times.

Fundamentally, religions can never be a reason for peace. He divides the world into “believers” and “unbelievers”. Under the impact of secularism, the maximum that a religion can achieve are “tolerances and acceptances”. Traditions thrive on the multiplicity of practices, rituals, philosophies with the fundamental idea of ​​”indifference to differences”. The concept of truth is as robust as it is in religions, but traditions say, “I am true, but you are not false. Religion, on the other hand, is clear when it says, “I am true and you are false.

How has India treated religions? They have become traditions with a progressive indifference to other beliefs while pursuing their own path. As usual with traditional cultures, religions had cultural syncretism with dominant traditions and they also lost their focus on aggressive proselytizing. Muslims and Christians chanting the highest devotional songs to Indian deities without fear of losing their personal faith or being persecuted by the hard-core elements are just a few examples.

Hindus have also never been strong in implementing anti-conversion laws, because essentially the idea of ​​conversion with the rejection of all previous beliefs is meaningless in a traditional culture. One can very well be a Hindu even if one does not believe in God and goes to the temple “purely for its architecture”.

It is another matter that the words “Hindu”, Hinduism and “Hindutva” remain ill-defined in both our Constitution and our law books, even after so many decades. Using the words for convenience, indifference to differences is India’s solution to multiculturalism and not the ill-prepared and inappropriate idea of ​​secularism, a solution for the European Christian world at one point in its history. India’s distorted political secularism has become nothing more than an “appeasement” of “minorities” rather than encouraging inclusion.

Unfortunately, as our traditions become more and more religious, the capacity to absorb pluralism diminishes and fundamentalism emerges. So-called Hindutva and Hindu “fundamentalism” are the result of such attempts to define traditions as religions with even basic doctrines (like the so-called Hinduism claiming that all religions are equal). The problem in India has been to convert traditions into religions by a continuous effort of our intellectuals, academics and politicians.

This conversion takes us from tolerance to intolerance, from indifference to hatred, from acceptance to rejection. The Indian solution to the world is to make religions into traditions. We should go this route. It is not a question of “diluting” a religion as some might want to believe. It would be surprising if the Taliban could one day bring peace to anyone in the world.

– Dr Pingali Gopal, Warangal

II

About the new Chinese colony of Afghanistan, by K Krishna Saagar Rao. The second coming of the Taliban in Afghanistan is indicative of the strong regional and religious interests played by Pakistan and China, to perpetuate their own agenda politically and economically, to exploit the feelings and the resources of the region. The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is attributed to the direct role and support of the ISI at every step, by Pakistan. There would be Pakistanis involved in the whole operation, as well as jihadists; and trucks loaded with weapons were returned to Pakistan after the successful takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. There is a Taliban video circulating on social media, intimidating India, so as not to militarily disturb Pakistan; and to cede J&K to Pakistan because it was owned by Pakistan.

The spirit of the Islamist jihadists is so high in the aftermath of the Afghan crusade that they radiate confidence to be able to conquer any part of the world with ease. The well-trained US Afghan army did not fire a shot in defense and obediently surrendered. The fact remains that 99% of Afghans are in favor of the application of “Sharia” law in the country, which is perfectly suited to the Taliban with jihadist designs. Congress leaders like Natwar Sigh are already suggesting that today’s Taliban are a softened version of what the world saw twenty years ago in Afghanistan.

But the bloodthirsty state of mind and barbaric behavior of the Taliban has not undergone any change from the jihadists feverishly enforcing these rules in Afghanistan as before, with vengeance. The employees and students, who were assured of their jobs and the continuation of their studies, are now prevented by the Taliban, citing one reason or another. A boy, who was wearing white socks, was brutally beaten and slashed with a knife on his back and private parts because the color while was the sign of the Taliban flag !. These irrational and stupid reasons are attributed to endless torture.

There are secularists in India who want the government to negotiate with the Taliban, in order to normalize ties with this country, such as MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and other Muslim leaders belonging to the Samajwadi party. Such a state of mind is indicative of their true intentions of waiting for India to become another Afghanistan in the future. The United States endorsed the presence in Afghanistan saying that the Taliban posed no threat to the United States. But, India cannot afford to maintain such complacency, to be in a madman’s paradise, because the Taliban have already reached the Indian gates, only 450 km, which separate India from Afghanistan. .

– Venkata Narasimhan KR, Madurai

Until the #MeToo movement broke the internet in 2017, women have always been discriminated against, exploited and silenced by abusive people in their respective industries and communities. The collective voices of women who fearlessly fought for equality, inclusion and diversity paved the way for the revolutionary transformation we see today. While there is still a lot of work to be done, being a woman today means having the power and voice to lead, inspire and effect positive change in society.

The new Netflix reality show, My unorthodox life (2021), took the world by storm by immersing us in the glamorous life of the fashion mogul and former member of the ultra-Orthodox community of Monsey, Julia haart, who reveals his explosive past and shares his inspiring journey to make a name for himself in the competitive world of fashion at the age of 43.

Wear the pants

In the suburban town of Monsey, the heart of New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, lived a housewife named Talia Hendler. For over 40 years, she lived a life of devotion to her religion, her four children, her community and her students when she worked as a professor of Judaic studies. Although it seems ordinary from the outside, people who belong to this community are required to follow an extremely conservative and fundamentalist way of life. It involves being cut off from the rest of society and following a particular set of rules regarding how you dress, what you eat, how you treat the opposite sex, how you think, and the purpose you serve in the process. community.

“Men were to study Torah, and women were to raise large families and dress with extreme modesty. Access to the outside world, via television, Internet, radio and newspapers, was virtually prohibited.

The harshness of religion triggered distress in Talia’s life, often affecting her sanity and forcing her to question her beliefs. This discomfort increased exponentially to the point where she considered committing suicide. However, what kept her from committing suicide were her children and how the community would jeopardize her family’s chances of building a life of their own in the future. The last straw for Talia was when she saw her youngest daughter take the same path and become the person she refuses to become. She couldn’t let history repeat itself, so she mustered the courage to go against all odds and permanently left the Haredi community with one of her daughters in 2013.

The last straw for Talia was when she saw her youngest daughter take the same path and become the person she refuses to become.

Unlike most, who end up becoming addicted on the streets after leaving the community, Talia was an exception and living proof that it’s never too late to start over and forge your own path in her 40s. Along with her regained freedom, she decided to take on a new identity as Julia Haart, signifying the start of becoming the independent, fierce and successful woman she always wanted to be.

Her passion for fashion drove her to start her own shoe company, which aspired to create comfortable and fashionable high heels. In just three years, she made a name for herself in the fashion industry and was appointed Creative Director of Italian luxury brand La Perla. She has had the privilege of designing looks for models such as Naomi Campbell, Sasha Pivovarova and Kendall Jenner. Not to mention that she later married the CEO of La Perla and founder of Fastweb, Silvio Scaglia.

Her undeniable charm, keen eye for detail and courage have propelled her to greater heights and have earned her a huge role as CEO and co-owner of Elite World Group, a talented international media company that manages media. biggest names in fashion, media, entertainment, sports and music. While Haart made it seem like building an empire was a walk in the park, she had to overcome a number of challenges, culture shock, as well as learning to navigate the basics of survival in the world. real.

You win a little, you lose a little

For anyone who has been in a situation where they have been oppressed, mistreated, lost, desperate and afraid of what the future holds for them, Haart’s journey is truly inspirational and she is the epitome of a strong and independent woman of the 21st century. However, her withdrawal from her beliefs and community broke bridges and painted a negative image of her to her own family and friends. She is no longer on good terms with her parents and siblings, with the exception of one of her sisters and her ex-husband who have chosen to overcome their differences and continue to maintain a romantic relationship with her. . Additionally, the show recounts how she rekindled her difficult relationship with her older children who struggled to understand their mother’s decision to let go of the beliefs she instilled in them growing up.

Today, all of her children make their own way in the modern world alongside their mother. Batsheva is a Tik-Tok influencer who married at 19; Shlomo is an aspiring lawyer; Miriam is a coding genius who is also a proud member of the LGBTQ + community; Aron is a student and remains the most spiritual and conservative of the siblings.

What makes this reality TV show such a head-turning event, besides Haart’s impressive and unprecedented journey, is its educational aspect that introduces its viewers to a world so alien and isolated from the rest of society. . The show also conveys positive messages and is a reminder to be open-minded and empathetic to how different cultures, religions and individuals choose to live a certain lifestyle.

Haart is the definition of an empowered, selfless, bright, loving and resilient woman who continues to uplift and create positive change in society and improve the lives of those who have been in her place.

If Islam is seen as the reason why women experience violence in Islamic countries, why don’t we hold Hinduism responsible for violence against women in India? Hinduism calls women untouchable, slaves and devoid of all rights. She only considers the birth of a male child to be worthy. It prohibits women from being educated or being financially independent. He expects women to take care of the housework and please their husbands whenever he asks. He expects her to have as many children as her husband wants and to honor the community. He expects her to keep her head down and not fall in love. He expects women to be at her husband’s feet even though she rules the country. Through each rule, religion recommends only oppression against women. To this day, leaders like Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat use many stages to propagate the anti-female ideologies of Hinduism.

The rape and murder of an eight-year-old child shocked the international community. While the barbaric act was seen as committed by Hindu fundamentalists, child marriages that allow children to be raped are a culture. Thousands of girls are raped every day in the name of child marriage. Child marriage in India has a long history from the Vedic Age to the present day. Hindus believe that not marrying their daughters before a certain age will lead them to hell. He also believes that women will be misled if they do not have a husband after menarche.

The UNICEF report that one in three child marriages in the world takes place in India may serve as evidence. When it comes to children, there is no difference between sex and rape. An eight-year-old girl was raped by strangers. In Indian homes, girls are raped by their husbands. Because it’s their culture, because it’s their religious practice. Behind every violence against women in India, Hindu culture has a role to play.

Not just this year, not just under BJP rule, Hindu fundamentalism still oppresses women in India culturally. When the BJP came to power, it gave moral impetus to atrocities committed in the name of culture. Because it enjoys direct or indirect government support, the violence that was committed in the dark a few years ago is now being committed in broad daylight and with much noise.

Islamic countries do not follow democracy. But India is the biggest democracy in the world. If he guarantees that every individual is respected, has freedom and rights, then there should not have been atrocity. But in a stark contrast, India is ashamed on the international stage when it comes to treating women. If women are worse off in India than in war-ravaged Syria or Afghanistan, it is only because violence is cultural and women are given the responsibility of protecting this culture.

Women are led to believe that their Indianness is in their slavery. Community fundamentalism teaches the slavery of women and the domination of men. Women will only remain moral if their husbands mistreat them physically. Even in the 21st century, women as a society believe it is okay to endure any atrocity to protect the institution of the family.

Any woman who dares to break religious laws is not spared even by women. Hindu caste women are inclined to punish Dalit women who break religious rules through gang rape. They know that the domination of castes and men is the root of Hinduism. If every man and woman in the family operates under the SSR ideology, how can violence not happen? Culture is not something that operates in domination and slavery, not something that degenerates into violence. Rather, it is about promoting equality and fraternity. Indians should understand this.

(Translated from Tamil by Kavitha Muralidharan. The writer is a prominent Tamil journalist)

This is how Tara received the news. On a piece of paper scribbled with spiders: “Father is dead. Call Surjo. The message reached her in this way because she had not replied to the many messages left at the language center the day before.

The woman remained silent and gave him two more pieces of paper. They were as redundant as romance novels are today. “Urgent from New Jersey.” Call. “” We are trying to reach you. Neither does Baba.

She handed him the notes with the same serenity with which she transmitted messages when Tara missed her mother’s calls. Tara has never been special to recall. When she did, her mother had the same questions about money, sweaters, covering her ears while running, eating enough rice.

She rarely called her family from Dharamsala, except to tell them to transfer money or send her books by mail. The woman held Tara’s hands, closed her eyes and said a long prayer. Before Tara could say anything, she turned around and left.

Tara’s first instinct was to watch from her balcony. There was the sky, the pagodas of the Dalai Lama temple towering in the distance, the great deodar spreading its limbs out like men in public buses, the tea stand opposite the road, and even the Pahari cow with colorful beads around the neck that parked there daily.

The bikes chained to a metal railing were not there. It was after nine o’clock now, and they had made their way through other streets and alleys, their fates tied to their owners. The world, with its order and rhythm, was in order. Only his father, older than his world, was gone.

Children, Tara and Surjo laughed when they heard the servants use the word “expire” to designate deceased relatives. Medicines and packaged foods expire. Can a human being finish his goal, literally stop being useful? As a child, she had found this inappropriate use funny. It seemed cruel now.

But death democracy in English seemed unfair. A terrorist could have died in an encounter. A rogue elephant could be shot. And now his father was also just dead. In Indian languages, a common criminal and his father would influence verbs to conjugate differently.

She saw Noor’s braided head float on the road. Should she yell across the road and tell him what had happened? If Noor hadn’t come that morning, she would still have slept and would have completely missed it. None of this would have happened.

No, calling Noor would confirm the case. She looked her in the eyes and put her arms around her and that made her cry. Maybe there had been a mistake. Which father were the notes referring to?

It must be Laura’s father. Poor Laura. She would call and console her. But why would Surjo call him Baba? They only had one Baba. There must be some mistake, but she didn’t know what.

She put on her jacket, hung on a hook near the door last night, and started walking towards the language center. Her alley grocery store, where she bought her bottled water, had a phone. But it was too loud in there.

She should walk to the language center and use the phone there. It was ten minutes away. It would be calm and she could hear Surjo and then they would laugh in confusion. Then his father would rip Surjo’s phone off and say something smart.

The sun had not yet gained strength and Tara’s jacket was flapping around her knees as she walked. She paused to start buttoning it, but her fingers were stiff. Then she realized that it was her feet that were cold. She was wearing flip flops. She should walk fast and be done – what if she ran into Tashi in that mango-print pajama outfit, pom-pom flip flops and a sleek silk jacket?

Still, she made an effort to recognize everyone she usually smiled at on the way to the market. She passed the man at the momo counter in Lung Ta who motioned to his momo pot and seemed to ask him why she hadn’t had dinner with him last night. She nodded to the woman who tried to sell her a silver jewel set with turquoise stones every day. She smiled at the boy who sold cut fruit and at a group of students whom she always saw at the center but who she had never spoken to.

When the center of speech loomed right in front of her, she slowed down. Suddenly she wished she had walked so fast. She was hungry. She hadn’t had breakfast. Why didn’t Noor bring something more useful than oranges?

She turned around and went back to the fruit vendor and asked for a bowl of cut fruit. He gave her pineapple, banana, watermelon and some strawberries on top. She asked for more pineapple slices. It would take a while, she would have to wait for him to cut a new one. She would wait, she said. She buttoned her jacket correctly in the meantime. After she finished eating, she walked back to the center.

The language center looked minimal from the outside. Inside, it was garish. White tubes lit up every flaw. A new round of global grants had made possible, in addition to a library wing, a coffee counter in the lobby. Students usually crowded around this.

But the hall was empty today. The coffee machine was silent, not making its usual noises. It was Christmas vacation and a large number of foreign students had returned home. There were only the monks and her.

A young monk in a crimson robe was making a call, so she stood in line. He still seemed to be on the phone. Weren’t they supposed to give up on the world? Who did he call?

When he finally finished, she wiped the receiver with her sleeve and called Surjo. Laura picked up. She said she was sorry for her loss.

Tara felt like she had been on a roller coaster for the first time. There had been a chill when the ride had started, going straight first and then curving upward in a large semi-circular loop. Baba was next to her in the coupe.

It had always been like this: Baba and her, Ma and Surjo. They were the family teams even when they were playing carrom. She had held his arm through the sleeves of his shirt, her little girl’s nails digging into him. They had reached the top and she had had a glimpse of the whole amusement park – how small people looked!

“And you, Tara rani, you are at the top of the world”, Baba had said. “You and me on top of the world. She and Baba looked at each other, if only for a moment, and shouted. But when the ride passed the loop and began a downward spiral, she was taken by surprise by the feeling of hollow in her stomach. All of his entrails had been dug. She was the skin and the heartbeat. She didn’t know if it was thrill or fear.

“Ekhuni shesh hobe, Tara rani,” she heard her father’s voice say over the collective cries of children and adults. It would be over soon, all she had to do was hold on tight to the railing in front.

Extracted with permission from The Illuminated, Anindita Ghose, HarperCollins India.

Some nations and cultures experienced a phase of fundamentalism as they sought to reach a higher level of civilization. This has happened in predominantly Western cultures in all areas of this phase of the history of human civilization.

The problem is that after breaking free from the dark phase, the Western world has had its fluctuating positions towards fundamentalism, and this has also happened in the Arab and Islamic world.

I want to say emphatically in order to clear up any misunderstanding that Islamic fundamentalism has nothing to do with the religion of Islam, just as Jewish or Christian fundamentalism has nothing to do with Judaism or Christianity .

Fundamentalism is a political theory and partisan organizations use religion and exploit its holiness to achieve narrow partisan gains, a disease from which nations rarely recover unless they develop a keen awareness of its danger with the presence of elites and leaders able to confront it and map the way for the future.

The Taliban’s comeback on the Afghan scene is a huge political and historical event, not a passing event. Two decades after the intervention of the most powerful American empire in history with its military might and broad alliances, the movement is once again ready to tighten its grip on the Afghan state, and it is only a matter of time for him to take full control.

The return of the Taliban is very important and significant for those who continue to claim that the “brotherhood” is over or that surrealism is gone. It is also an affirmation that the task of freeing oneself from fundamentalist ideological groups and parties, as well as their ideologies and discourses, concepts and methods is a clear task and must have a global vision, long-term strategic plans and determination. to rid society of the clutches of backwardness, ignorance, extremism and hatred.

In May 2011, I wrote an article titled “The Rise of Fundamentalists and the Age of Fundamentalism”, in which the focus was on the rise of fundamentalism. What is happening today is the return of the Taliban and the return of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic political groups to countries and societies that were supposed to have rejected them but are now exposed to them. in new ways. This strongly underlines that we are still living in the phase of fundamentalism which differs from place to place, but we have not gotten rid of it.

One of the manifestations of the return of the phase of fundamentalism in the countries and societies, individuals and institutions of the Middle East is the bias of the Western liberal left to ally with all the fundamentalists in the region despite the failure of this alliance during what has come to be known as the “Arab Spring”.

What we are seeing today is that negotiations with the fundamentalist Iranian regime are in full swing in Vienna, the Houthi militia in Yemen are being treated with gloves without their terrorist designation, pressure is mounting on the legitimate Yemeni government and its allies to ease the confrontation with fundamentalist terrorist militias, there is leniency in the treatment of fundamentalist “Iranian militias” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. All of these are glaring indications of the revival of fundamentalism and the return of the fundamentalist era.

In 2013, I wrote a preface to the book “The Storm and the Turban” on Afghanistan and the Taliban, in which I stated: “The book raises many questions about the political and ideological future of the Taliban movement, and if he is able to develop to coexist with the logic of history and the balance of power in the world, or will his old failure soon return after all he has been through? So in the event of a return to power, will he be able to reverse the wheel of history? Can he ignore the major changes that have taken place over the years? These are the questions that meet in this period with many answers.

The sudden and rapid American withdrawal gave the Taliban a strong opportunity to return with force and speed to control the Afghan state, and America began to count China and its calculations of rising power that did not concern it in the same. measure before, and with the invocation that Afghanistan was one of the hottest wars of the Cold War, and which ended in the defeat of the Soviet Union and its disintegration. The American policymaker may find it easy to repeat the same scenario, but with a different enemy this time, and keep Afghanistan like a dagger to the side.

In a report by the British correspondent of “Sky News”, who filmed him as he escorted the Taliban forces, it was revealed that elements of the movement appeared to control a large and modern fleet of armored vehicles, equipment, missiles and weapons left behind by the retreating US military. It was a scene that reminds us of ISIS’s control over Mosul and its acquisition of large quantities of modern American weapons that were left there, to be taken by the terrorist organization and wreaked havoc in Iraq and in Syria over the following years.

Almost all events in Afghanistan point to the return of the Taliban, with the exception of some statements aimed at softening their image in the media at this phase of power transition in the country.

The same old rhetoric and savagery of the past is there and there is no indication of radical changes in terms of ideology or savage politics.

Afghanistan’s strategic depth lies in Pakistan, which in turn does not seem in a rush to express an explicit political position until the dust settles in Afghanistan and the new international power equation emerges.

The relationship of the Taliban and some of its allied forces in Afghanistan with the Iranian regime is well known. The nature of future developments in this relationship is subject to many variables, but they all serve to reinforce the “fundamentalist era” and the path of “drug trafficking” from Afghanistan to Lebanon.

NATO member Turkey has promised America to cover up its swift withdrawal from Afghanistan, and it is under explicit threats from the Taliban to leave the country with its forces and weapons, and it appears that it will not hesitate for long to withdraw from there once things are settled in the hands of the Taliban.

Qatar, the country with the strongest relations with the Taliban and the former Al-Qaeda formation, knowing that America can conduct peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban and has well-known tendencies in which he wishes to invest in the near future.

Some of the video footage that comes out of it is reminiscent of the biography of the first Taliban movement in its dealings with people, women and political parties, which suggests the return of Afghanistan to become a safe haven for all terrorists and fundamentalists around the world. . The Brotherhood group, which is classified as terrorist in several countries, has started to seriously consider moving many of its elements and bodies to Afghanistan.

Finally, it is prudent for Muslim countries to take all precautions against the return of the “fundamentalist era” to become effective, influential and gain support at the international level. Western left-wing rights organizations and media will move to attack these countries when they confront terrorists and fundamentalists.

– Al-Otaibi is a Saudi writer. This article originally appeared in the Al-Sharq Alawsat newspaper.

This week, an anonymously created open source website called S * lli Deals named for an insult against Muslims went live. It had the photographs, names and social networks of many Muslim women in India, and the obscene suggestion that these people could be bought off, as in any “Deal of the Day” promotion. It was an open invitation to harassment of all kinds.

Women have their photos stolen and abused all the time, especially online. I’ve written in this column in the past about discovering my own reposted images by shady accounts, among hundreds of others. But this latest cybercrime, the latest in a long line, should not be viewed solely in light of global societal misogyny, but should be specifically understood in the context of anti-Muslim hatred. Women have been targeted because of their religious background.

This too joins a long line of similar incidents of varying levels of brutality, ranging from prejudice to genocide. Anti-Muslim and anti-minority rhetoric in India is currently happening very openly and from very high platforms. It is part of the election campaign. Hate speech resonates at large gatherings, such as at the Hindu Mahasabha in Haryana a few days ago, where among other radicalized public speakers, a 17-year-old opened fire near Jamia Millia University during of an anti-CAA protest last year.

Those who openly incite violence against minorities enjoy impunity. Meanwhile, activists who work for equality and justice generally with political secularism, regardless of their personal feeling, as a fundamental value suffer and even die incarcerated (like Father Stan Swamy) or murdered (like Gauri Lankesh, or later, like Deputy Gandhi). The reprehensible term “love jihad” has been used for years to control and punish Hindu women (and now Sikh women too, as recent cases in Kashmir have shown). It is based on the idea of ​​woman as property, an asset which cannot be allowed to exercise free will.

Abusive businesses like S * lli Deals also operate under the concept of ownership, and by extension trade or trafficking, but with two additional levels: inviting the public to participate in oppression and explicit religious discrimination. No religion is exempt from fundamentalists. Regardless of its principles. No matter how meaningful or uplifting a private spiritual life may be, to deny that some will always use religion to create violence of all kinds is to help perpetuate that violence.

People like me who technically belong to the Hindu religious majority are often dismissed in the conversation with versions of the statement: “You don’t know the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism.” I actually do. I have spent most of my life in a Muslim country, 17 years to be precise, with anti-minority decrees enshrined in its constitution.

I have personally experienced the daily discrimination of belonging to a minority and erasing my culture on a systemic scale, and I have raised my voice loud and clear against this abuse there too. None of this made me anti-Muslim. It made me anti-intolerance. I know the dangers of religious fundamentalism on a population in general, period. It does not matter which strains are all equally violent and must be rejected, for the good of all, of all faiths.

SHARANYA MANIVANNAN

@RANYAMANIVANNAN

The columnist is a writer and illustrator