Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A parting insult to Aqsa Parvez

A parting insult to Aqsa Parvez

Tarek Fatah, National Post

Almost all Islamic organizations, except for the Muslim Canadian Congress, rhymed the mantra: It's just another case of domestic violence. It happens in all faiths and communities.

Over the years, I have come to expect nothing of value from Islamist clerics who are inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. However, in the case of Aqsa Parvez, it is not just the mosques and Islamic centres where the Islamist apologists are heard.

There are millions of Muslim women around the world who feel imprisoned in the hijab and trapped in the niqab. Aqsa Parvez to them was a hero; one young Torontonian woman told me: "Aqsa Parvez was a martyr for Muslim women's rights."

For years, the Toronto Star has placed most liberal or secular Muslims on their "no-fly-list." Muslim women such as authors Raheel Raza and Farzana Hassan, who occasionally wrote for that paper, have now been effectively silenced. Although both have written about the Aqsa Parvez case, the Star did not approach them for comment or for any Muslim women who felt the case was a true example of an honour killing.

No comments: