{UAH} Labour's Naz Shah sends Galloway packing in Bradford: Attention Robukui and Rajab Ali
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2:33 PM |
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Comrade Robukui and Rajab Ali,
Miss Naz Shah has sent the nomadic George Galloway packing, wether
temporarily or permanently, it is difficult to tell. Hers s is a good
story. Muslims need good representatives, but unfortunately have never
got it because the patriachal and corrupt nature of Pakistani society
and inteference by muslim leaders. Hopefully Ms Naz, with her
background of challenging patriachy, will be a good representative for
Bradford West
George Okello
Against all odds, Naz Shah is poised to give a voice to the women of
Bradford West
Naz Shah – who is running against George Galloway – offers a chance
for Bradford's voters to overturn the patriarchal structures embedded
in the area.
by Aisha Gill Published 4 May, 2015 - 17:46
Tweet Widget
A Labour-supporting area of Bradford. Photo: GettyNaz Shah, who is
running for Labour against Respect's George Galloway in Bradford West,
is used to succeeding against the odds. It runs in the family: her
mother Zoora was abandoned by her husband for a 16-year-old neighbour
while she was pregnant with the couple's third child, and brought her
young family up in grinding poverty.
Zoora Shah eventually secured a stable home through a relationship
with a man who became abusive and posed a severe danger to her family.
After he threatened her second daughter, Zoora snapped and killed him.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a punishment which failed to
take into account her circumstances. It demonstrates how easily South
Asian women are marginalised by the state, lacking access to the basic
rights and advocacy due to British citizens, both through the failure
of state systems and isolation imposed from within their own cultural
traditions.
That is why Naz Shah's candidacy is so important to Bradford West. If
the region's South Asian women are to gain the power and independence
to which they are entitled, they must be encouraged to voice their
experiences. The only way to escape the continuum of violence and
oppression is to challenge the patriarchal biraderi (clan) politics on
which Galloway has been capitalising in his efforts to discredit Naz
Shah.
Earlier this month, Galloway verbally attacked Shah, accusing her of
lying about enduring a forced marriage at the age of 15. Shah produced
documentation to refute the claim, proving she was indeed 15 at the
time the forced marriage took place. Because the British government
would not recognise a marriage under the age of 16, a second marriage
certificate was drawn up to maintain validity in Britain when Shah was
16 and a half. Attacks on Shah's character fail to recognise that
whether 15 or 16, Shah did not provide full consent to the marriage,
meaning she was in effect forced. Mud-slinging, smear campaigns and
use of bullying tactics on social media all illustrate the unsavoury
nature of electoral processes in this constituency, which remains
dominated by patriarchal clan-based biraderi politics.
Research by the Political Studies Association on the success of
Respect in the 2012 Bradford by-election highlighted that while
Respect claimed to be undermining biraderi politics, it was in fact
"not averse to receiving bloc votes. Its success was, in fact, due to
the skillful manner in which it simultaneously circumvented and
harnessed the traditional South Asian community structures."
Despite George Galloway's success in courting female Muslim voters in
Bradford in the 2012 election, he has failed to grasp the context and
complexities of forced marriage, and has proven insensitive to Shah's
own history of abuse. His spokesman claimed the marriage could not be
forced because "her mother attended the marriage in 1990 as well as
other family members and many witnesses did also, signing and giving
fingerprints, so if it was forced presumably her mother and the others
were part of that coercion?" Shah was not intimidated, saying: "We do
not need a one-man Messiah to tell us how to come and fix up Bradford.
We as a community have our own solutions."
With one of the highest concentrations of Muslim populations in
Britain living in Bradford West (51.3 per cent), its newly elected MP
must acknowledge and address the socioeconomic disadvantages immigrant
communities face. Fifty-seven percent of Pakistani and 46 per cent
Bangladeshi households in the UK live in poverty, compared to 16 per
cent of white British households. In Bradford, the Muslim community is
particularly disadvantaged: according to the 2001 Census, more than
half (50.7 per cent) of all Muslim adults possessed no educational or
vocational qualifications, and nearly a third (30.3 per cent) had
either never worked or were long-term unemployed.
The 2001 inquiry into the urban riots also highlighted the low level
of qualifications in the local Muslim community and concluded that the
educational opportunities in Bradford had been far from equal. Data
released by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2015 reveal that Muslims
are overrepresented in unemployment figures, with nearly half of the
British Muslim population residing in the bottom 10 per cent local
authority districts for deprivation.
According to Shah: "There is still so much more to do in order to
break down the barriers which still face people from ethnic
backgrounds in Bradford and across our country." As well as pledging
to improve support services for women and address the deficit of
specialist units dealing with violence against women in the city, Shah
says she is running for office because, "if I've learnt anything, I
have learnt that through compassion we can change the world."
In many ways, the stories of Naz and Zoora Shah are reflected in the
experiences of Muslim women in Britain, especially in terms of
domestic violence and castigation of the victim rather than the
perpetrator. I hope that the people of Bradford, including the women,
will challenge the patriarchal structures deeply embedded in Bradford
West and come out in droves to vote on 7 May.
Are the Ashcroft polls wrong?
Tags:general election 2015
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
Miss Naz Shah has sent the nomadic George Galloway packing, wether
temporarily or permanently, it is difficult to tell. Hers s is a good
story. Muslims need good representatives, but unfortunately have never
got it because the patriachal and corrupt nature of Pakistani society
and inteference by muslim leaders. Hopefully Ms Naz, with her
background of challenging patriachy, will be a good representative for
Bradford West
George Okello
Against all odds, Naz Shah is poised to give a voice to the women of
Bradford West
Naz Shah – who is running against George Galloway – offers a chance
for Bradford's voters to overturn the patriarchal structures embedded
in the area.
by Aisha Gill Published 4 May, 2015 - 17:46
Tweet Widget
A Labour-supporting area of Bradford. Photo: GettyNaz Shah, who is
running for Labour against Respect's George Galloway in Bradford West,
is used to succeeding against the odds. It runs in the family: her
mother Zoora was abandoned by her husband for a 16-year-old neighbour
while she was pregnant with the couple's third child, and brought her
young family up in grinding poverty.
Zoora Shah eventually secured a stable home through a relationship
with a man who became abusive and posed a severe danger to her family.
After he threatened her second daughter, Zoora snapped and killed him.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a punishment which failed to
take into account her circumstances. It demonstrates how easily South
Asian women are marginalised by the state, lacking access to the basic
rights and advocacy due to British citizens, both through the failure
of state systems and isolation imposed from within their own cultural
traditions.
That is why Naz Shah's candidacy is so important to Bradford West. If
the region's South Asian women are to gain the power and independence
to which they are entitled, they must be encouraged to voice their
experiences. The only way to escape the continuum of violence and
oppression is to challenge the patriarchal biraderi (clan) politics on
which Galloway has been capitalising in his efforts to discredit Naz
Shah.
Earlier this month, Galloway verbally attacked Shah, accusing her of
lying about enduring a forced marriage at the age of 15. Shah produced
documentation to refute the claim, proving she was indeed 15 at the
time the forced marriage took place. Because the British government
would not recognise a marriage under the age of 16, a second marriage
certificate was drawn up to maintain validity in Britain when Shah was
16 and a half. Attacks on Shah's character fail to recognise that
whether 15 or 16, Shah did not provide full consent to the marriage,
meaning she was in effect forced. Mud-slinging, smear campaigns and
use of bullying tactics on social media all illustrate the unsavoury
nature of electoral processes in this constituency, which remains
dominated by patriarchal clan-based biraderi politics.
Research by the Political Studies Association on the success of
Respect in the 2012 Bradford by-election highlighted that while
Respect claimed to be undermining biraderi politics, it was in fact
"not averse to receiving bloc votes. Its success was, in fact, due to
the skillful manner in which it simultaneously circumvented and
harnessed the traditional South Asian community structures."
Despite George Galloway's success in courting female Muslim voters in
Bradford in the 2012 election, he has failed to grasp the context and
complexities of forced marriage, and has proven insensitive to Shah's
own history of abuse. His spokesman claimed the marriage could not be
forced because "her mother attended the marriage in 1990 as well as
other family members and many witnesses did also, signing and giving
fingerprints, so if it was forced presumably her mother and the others
were part of that coercion?" Shah was not intimidated, saying: "We do
not need a one-man Messiah to tell us how to come and fix up Bradford.
We as a community have our own solutions."
With one of the highest concentrations of Muslim populations in
Britain living in Bradford West (51.3 per cent), its newly elected MP
must acknowledge and address the socioeconomic disadvantages immigrant
communities face. Fifty-seven percent of Pakistani and 46 per cent
Bangladeshi households in the UK live in poverty, compared to 16 per
cent of white British households. In Bradford, the Muslim community is
particularly disadvantaged: according to the 2001 Census, more than
half (50.7 per cent) of all Muslim adults possessed no educational or
vocational qualifications, and nearly a third (30.3 per cent) had
either never worked or were long-term unemployed.
The 2001 inquiry into the urban riots also highlighted the low level
of qualifications in the local Muslim community and concluded that the
educational opportunities in Bradford had been far from equal. Data
released by the Muslim Council of Britain in 2015 reveal that Muslims
are overrepresented in unemployment figures, with nearly half of the
British Muslim population residing in the bottom 10 per cent local
authority districts for deprivation.
According to Shah: "There is still so much more to do in order to
break down the barriers which still face people from ethnic
backgrounds in Bradford and across our country." As well as pledging
to improve support services for women and address the deficit of
specialist units dealing with violence against women in the city, Shah
says she is running for office because, "if I've learnt anything, I
have learnt that through compassion we can change the world."
In many ways, the stories of Naz and Zoora Shah are reflected in the
experiences of Muslim women in Britain, especially in terms of
domestic violence and castigation of the victim rather than the
perpetrator. I hope that the people of Bradford, including the women,
will challenge the patriarchal structures deeply embedded in Bradford
West and come out in droves to vote on 7 May.
Are the Ashcroft polls wrong?
Tags:general election 2015
--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
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