From Here and There

The Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali said “the Union Government’s subsidy for Hajj pilgrims is not correct and appropriate, according to the tenets of Islam”. He wondered why a Hajj pilgrim should avail of it. According to Nawab Abdul Ali, the Hajj pilgrimage is one of the obligatory duties of a Muslim who can afford it. “ Let not the community sacrifice values, principles and rules of Islam for petty financial benefits. If the Government really wants to help the Muslims, let the equal subsidy amount be used for the community’s constructive and meaningful welfare measures,” observed the Prince. Reacting to newspaper reports that the Union Government has decided to allow the Hajj pilgrims to carry $10,000 as basic travel quota, in addition to 2000 Saudi Riyals, Nawab Abdul Ali said the move means an annual outflow of foreign exchange to the tune of 1000 million dollars for one lakh pilgrims visiting the holy mosques at Makkah and Madinah.


“This is not at all required if a Muslim is really interested to perform the obligatory duty of Hajj,” he commented. “ If the pilgrims were so rich, why take the government’s Hajj subsidy, Prince Ali wondered, adding, “first of all taking subsidy and performing Hajj is not correct and appropriate according to the tenets of Islam. Hajj pilgrimage is one of the obligatory duties to a Muslim, who can afford it. Hajj is not a luxury trip or picnic.”

(The Hindu, Dec 2, 2005)

Nearly 20 years ago, Hollywood first shocked the world by its first serious treatment of the crime of rape and the myth that a flimsily dressed, possibly flirtatious woman was just ‘asking for it.’ Last month, much of Britain, one of the western world’s most sexually liberated countries was shown still to blame women for falling victim to rape if she wore a short skirt, batted her eyelashes or had a tad too much drink.


In shocking statistics gathered by Amnesty International, rape and sexual assault in the UK, is seen to have become a laughably low-risk crime for men because one third of Britons believe a woman is partially or completely to blame for being raped if she has behaved in a flirtatious manner. The new research published last month also found that more than one quarter of British people blame rape victims if they were provocatively dressed or had too much to drink.Shocked women’s groups and rape victim support agencies said that the new findings underlined the depths of a “sexist blame culture” that was out of step with 21st century Britain’s image as a liberated country where women will not be judged more harshly than the men who sexually violate them. Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International, UK, said the research which is part of its ‘Stop Violence Against Women’ campaign had uncovered disturbing attitudes. According to statistics, a UK woman reporting a rape in 2003 could only expect a tiny 5.3 per cent chance of getting her rapist convicted.

(The Times of India)