31 March 2006

Wednesday March 22, 2006A first for womenBy MARINA MAHATHIRSometimes history is made without us even realising it. There we stood, my two sisters Hanis, Nori and I, to make a case for why justice for Muslim women in this country needs to be of paramount concern to everyone. With trembling hands, we read from letters which women (and one man) had written asking for help, for information, to protest....

17 March 2006

Friday March 10, 2006No cheer for Muslim womenMUSINGS by MARINA MAHATHIRIN 1948, one of humankind’s most despicable ideas, apartheid, was made into law in South Africa where racial discrimination was institutionalised. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of “white-only” jobs. Although there were 19 million...

01 March 2006

Wednesday February 22, 2006Khatami speaksBy MARINA MAHATHIRIn the 1970s when Ayatollah Khomeini came into power in Iran, the world was presented with a vision of Islam that was dour and uncompromising. The Ayatollah never smiled, at least not in the media, his dull robes gave the impression that Islam disapproved of colour. Iranian women suddenly covered themselves in black from head to foot, and...