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January 4, 2008

India: Fanatical Muslims Attack Woman Tennis Star - Again....

Muslim tennis player Sania Mirza (pictured) was born in Mumbai (Bombay) in western India on November 15, 1986. In the 21 years that she has been alive, she has perhaps attracted more controversy than any other tennis player, and most of the controversy has been stirred up by fundamentalist Muslim fanatics. She is currently ranked 29th in the singles and 18th in doubles categories. Being famous and attractive, she has recently turned her not unattractive physique and persona to modeling and advertising.

She recently featured in a video advertisement that was shot at the Mecca Masjid Mosque in Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh state. This mosque (pictured below lef) hit the headlines on May 18, 2007 when it was subjected to a bomb attack, which killed 9 people. More people were killed in subsequent riots.

Sania's recent advertising shot has been condemned by the Muslim scholars of the Darul Uloom, an Islamic seminary in Deoband, 90 miles northeast of New Delhi. This seminary, the largest in the world after Cairo's Al-Azhar University, promotes the extremist Sunni ideology known as Deobandi. The Taliban's leaders were schooled in Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan, particularly the Haqqania. Deobandi teachings regard women as inferior to men, and promote the notion that girls should not be educated after the age of eight.

Naturally Sania Mirza, who is a national heroine in India, who appeals to the young, is regarded by the scholars of the Darul Uloom (house of knowledge) as just another "inferior" woman to harass.

According to the Hindustan Times, Maulana Anzar Shah Kashmiri told the Press Trust of India that Sania's appearance had "hurt" the sentiments of the Muslim community. He said: "Shooting of any kind and photography in a mosque is un-Islamic and can not be permitted...Being a Muslim, Sania should have avoided it. It is the sacred duty of every Muslim to follow the rules of Shariat (Islamic laws)."

Maulana Abdul Latif Quasmi said that Sania should avoid controversies as they could affect her game. That her performance has been affected seems to be true, but the attacks against her by fanatical clerics are not of her making.

The shoot took place in the 17th century mosque on December 10. The Andhra Pradesh Minority Welfare Department (APMWD) has filed a police complaint, alleging that she and the camera crew entered the Mecca Masjid without permission.

On October 25, 2005, we reported that Sania was being forced to have extra security at a WTA tennis match at Kolkata (Calcutta) because Muslim clerics had issued a "fatwa" condemning the short skirts and sleeveless blouses that she wears on the court.

The following month, Sania became embroiled in another controversy, when she was said to have made comments in support of extramarital sex on a TV chat show. The host of the show, Vir Sanghvi, strenuously denied that she had made the comments, but a simple issue like the truth rarely gets between a Muslim fanatic and his desire to run riot. We have already seen that with the Danish cartoons, when three unpublished images were falsely presented to middle-eastern Muslim clerics by the late Danish cleric Abu Laban and his violent Lebanese sidekick Ahmed Akkari. One of the "extra cartoons" which was said by Laban to portray Mohammed was an image of a French contestant in a pig-squealing competition, who was wearing a pig mask.

In November 2005, Muslim rioters burned images of Sania, and protests were held across India. The untrue comments that Sania had supported extra-marital sex were also used by Hindu fanatics to run riot. These burned paper effigies of her in Hyderabad and other cities.

On November 21, 2005, we reported that a senior cleric at the Darul Uloom seminary made a verbal attack on Sania Mirza, again exploiting the false claims that Sania supported extra marital sex. Earlier, the protests had led the young tennis star to publicly state: "I would like to clearly say on record that I could not possibly justify premarital sex, as it is a very big sin in Islam and one which I believe will not be forgiven by Allah."

A. Ikram, one of the Deobandi ulemas at Darul Uloom said: "Instead of frequently changing her statements, she should change her way of dressing. She should restrict her liberal views to herself," implying that Sania had actually made the comments on TV and had back-tracked.

At the end of January 2006, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board ruled that a woman can wear any clothes, as long as her profession required such attire. Maulana Nizamuddin, the secretary general of this board, ruled: "The Muslim girls who participate in sports competitions do not fall under the fatwa."

The president of the AIMPLB, Shaista Amber said: "As advocates and doctors follow their own dress code, Sania Mirza, being a sportperson, is following the dress code meant for her." She said that as Sania was an international tennis star earning a name for India internationally, the "emphasis should, therefore, be on her achievements and not on her on-court dress."

Sania is also being attacked for being unpatriotic by more fanatical Indian "patriots". She recently represented India at the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Australia, but apparently she was shown on camera putting her feet up, next to the Indian national flag.

As a result, lawyer Raj Kumar Dubey has filed a lawsuit against her in Bhopal. He cited the nation's sports minister in the suit. Dubey said: "Sania got so much involved in watching the match that she forgot where her feet were, and what is the value of the tricolour in the heart of Indians. She should, therefore, be penalized."

It is a shame that some lawyers cannot be penalized for their bigotry and stupidity. When I hear of such incidents, I am reminded of Samuel Johnson's famous comment: "Patriotism is a scoundrel's last refuge."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 4, 2008 3:04 AM

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