Awaz-e-Khwateen

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen  "It's a women's right. And they deserve to have it," Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said.  He was talking at an occasion, coordinated by the Lady Advocates of the Supreme Court on Sunday, to pay tribute to the nine recently appointed judges. Chief Justice Ramana shows the stark reality “In High Courts, women judges constitute 11.5%. Here in the Supreme Court, we currently have 4 women Justices out of the sitting 33. That makes it just 12%. Of the 1.7 million advocates, only 15% are women. Only 2% of the elected representatives in the State Bar Councils are women.... There is no woman member in the Bar Council of India. This needs urgent correction,” Chief Justice Ramana said. Just 11 ladies Supreme Court appointed in 71 years, 3 of them delegated in 2021,  Only 11 of the 256 judges (4.2%) who have served/ are serving at the apex court were/are women. 4 out of the 33 judges (12%) currently serving are women   CJI mobilizes sup

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen  As I entered the small room in the area popularly known as Afghan Colony near Lajpat Nagar, I saw Khatera Hashemi, it took me a moment to register her face. I flashed a warm smile in her direction in a bid to comfort her, forgetting the fact that she probably cannot see me. She sat on a sofa, with a handkerchief bundled in her hands she kept wiping her dry eyes. As the team settled down the gravity of the situation hit us, Khatera Hashemi sat on the sofa with incipient nervousness in her voice. After taking a moment to brace herself, she started talking about the horror that would unnerve any human. Khatera Hashemi served as a police officer in Ghazni, a city in Central Afghanistan. She was attacked on June 7, 2020 allegedly by the Taliban. Her narration of the attack sent the whole room silent. “I was stabbed 8 times and suffered trauma to my head, which left me unconscious for 4 days. I was stabbed in the eyes with a knife by my attackers ”. Khatera

  Awaz e Khwateen  Economic hardships could have broken the back of Shahzada, but she rose to the occasion and created a business model for herself and countless women in her small hamlet of Mitrigam in J&K’s Pulwama.  Shahzada is a Dairy Farmer who began her tryst with the industry way back in 2015. Speaking to Awaz-e-Khwateen, Shahzada said that her family belonged to the lower economic strata of the society and had no steady source of income. Despite her hardships, she forayed into the sector when she bought two milch cows back in 2015.   “It was difficult at first. I was paid very less and the margins were very less but then I joined the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission’s UMEED programme”, said Shahzada. The UMEED programme, initiated by the Government, has enabled the setting up of a Dairy Farmers Producer Organization in the area. Shahzada, who is a member of the local FPO, helped build an ecosystem that helped local women to become self-sustainable and financi

रत्ना शुक्ला आनंद, आवाज़ ए ख़्वातीन महिलाओं में तनाव कर रहा है दिल को कमजोर   आम धारणा है कि हार्ट अटैक पुरुषों को होते हैं,  महिलाओं को या तो होते ही नहीं या बहुत कम होते हैं लेकिन क्या आपको पता है कि इस धारणा की वजह से कई महिलाएं अनजाने ही दिल की बीमारियों का शिकार हो रही हैं, और सही वक्त पर इलाज नहीं मिलने के कारण ये उनमे मृत्यु का कारण भी बन रहा है। महिलाएँ दिल की बीमारी के लक्षण समझ नहीं पातीं और अपने दिल का ख्याल भी कम रखती हैं. इंडियन काउंसिल ऑफ मेडिकल रिसर्च के अध्ययन के मुताबिक 5.8 फीसदी भारतीय महिलाओं में धमनियों से संबंधित दिल की बीमारी होती है। इनमे से करीब दो तिहाई महिलाओं की अचानक मृत्यु दिल की बीमारी से होती है। महिलाओं को देर से मिलता है इलाज  चाहे शहरी महिलाएँ हों या ग्रामीण दुनिया के हर कोने में महिलाओं की दिल की बीमारी आमतौर पर समय पर पता नहीं चल पाती इसकी सबसे बड़ी वजह है सेहत के प्रति उपेक्षा। न केवल उनका परिवार ब्लकि बल्कि स्वयं महिलाएँ भी अपनी सेहत को लेकर लापरवाही पूर्ण रवैया अपनाती हैं ऐसे में अक्सर इलाज मिलने में देर हो जाती है। जाने माने हृदय रोग विशेषज्ञ और रा

National Family Health Survey 2015-2016 estimates that of the 336 million menstruating women in India about 121 million (roughly 36 percent) women are using sanitary napkins, locally or commercially produced. WaterAid India, a non-profit organisation, estimated that of this 121 million girls and women dispose of about 21,780 million pads annually, which poses a major threat to the country’s waste management crisis. Enactus Jamia Millia Islamia an organisation primarily led by women had long grappled with the lack of menstrual hygiene around them, the hushed conversations in their households, this forced them to start a dialogue that broke the stigma around menstruation. As Saniya Roomi, the Vice-president of Enactus JMI recalls, "In my three years of working at Enactus, one constant aspect of being involved with the underprivileged community has been a hush around anything and everything related to the 'feminine'. There is so much stigma attached with the topics of per

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen Jagrati Awasthi secured All India Rank (AIR) 2 in Civil Services (CSE) Main examination 2020 results released by The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Friday evening (September 24). She has secured 1st rank across the country in the list of women candidates. Took a calculated risk Jagrati completed her B. Tech (electrical engineering) from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal. After her engineering she started working at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) but quit the job in July, 2019 to completely focus on her UPSC preparation. She says leaving the job was a massive risk but after a lot of introspection I took the leap and decided to follow my passion of becoming an IAS officer. She called BHEL a launching pad towards her career, during an interview with Awaz-e-Khwateen. Jagrati believes that working in the government sector pushed her even closer to her dream. She says that the job brought in a sense of independence

रत्ना शुक्ला आनंद, आवाज़ ए ख़्वातीन समाज में लगातार महिलाओं के खिलाफ हिंसा के मामले बढ़ते जा रहे हैं. आखिर वह कौन सी चीजें जिम्मेदार हैं जिनकी वजह से इस तरह की घटनाएं ज्यादा हो रही हैं. इस मसले पर मशहूर पत्रकार और एक्टिविस्ट शीबा असलम फहमी के साथ बातचीत की है रत्ना शुक्ला आनंद ने. पेश हैं मुख्य अंश. प्र.- कौन-सी ऐसी सामाजिक चीजें जिम्मेवार हैं जो ऐसी घटनाएं लगातार बढ़ती जा रही हैं? शीबा असलम फहमीः किसी भी तरह के अपराध के पीछे एक तरह का पावर ऑफ इक्वेशन होती है. हमेशा अपराधी अपने शिकार को कमजोर मानता है. उसको यकीन होता होता है कि वह पलटकर वार नहीं कर सकता. पावर ऑफ इक्वेशन की वजह से सड़कों पर मर्द ही मर्द को डांट रहे होते हैं या मार रहे होते हैं. जो डिसबैलेंस है उस डिसबैलेंस का फायदा उठाकर करके ही अत्याचारी अत्याचार करता है. इसका विश्लेषण करेंगे तो पता चलेगा पावर किस तरह से आता है. एक कहावत है कि आपको पावर तभी चाहिए जब आपको किसी के ऊपर अपनी मर्जी थोपनी होती है। वरना भला करने के लिए तो सिर्फ दयालुता ही काफी है. बुरा करने के लिए पावर की जरूरत होती है. इस पर बात होनी चाहिए और जेंडर के हवाले से भी

  Today (26 September 2021) is the National Daughter’s Day and, India is celebrating the day with Great essence and gusto. Doubtlessly, daughters must be celebrated every day, although a particular day dedicated to them gives us a bonus day to make them feel more precious and special altogether . Therefore, this day is observed to pay compliments and let daughters know, how special they are. This day is also about raising awareness for girl child and to encourage equality that girls should get equal rights and opportunities. People happily celebrate having daughters and daughter's day inevitably leads to some form of celebration in families with daughters. Archies Limited invented National Daughter’s Day. The Company had constituted September 23, 2007, the fourth Sunday of the month as the Daughter's Day. The Company being the leaders in the industry wanted parents to not only feel proud of having daughters but also express their love & celebrate it too. The success of

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen Sadaf Chaudhary, a resident of Roorkee, has brought laurels to her entire family by securing 23rd rank in the Union Public Service Commission examination. The success of Sadaf Chaudhary is also special because she is the first person in her entire family to ever clear the Civil Services Examination. Sadaf Chaudhary is an exception as she cleared the examination without going to a coaching centre, she studied at home for 2 years. Sadaf Chaudhary gives the credit of her success to her parents who supported her against all odds. Sadaf's father Mohammad Israr is a Branch manager in UP Gramin Bank, Nangal Branch Deoband. Sadaf's early education took place in Amroha, UP, she had a passion to study and gather knowledge from the very beginning. It was her dream to become a civil servant from a very young age as she had noticed how people’s perception of the government is dependent on their interaction with the civil servants. Talking about how her pare

रत्ना शुक्ला आनंद, आवाज़ ए ख़्वातीन जहां चाह वहाँ राह  खिलौने वाले हवाई जहाज़ से खेलने वाली ताहिरा रहमान हमेशा अपने माता-पिता से कहा करती थीं कि वे बड़े होकर हवाई जहाज़ उड़ाएंगी, और उनका ये सपना सच हो गया। जी हां हम बात कर रहे हैं जम्मू कश्मीर के राजौरी ज़िले के खोदवानी गाँव की रहने वाली एक ऐसी बच्ची की जो पैदा तो गाँव की मुश्किल परिस्थितियों में हुईं, लेकिन साहस, लगन और आत्मविश्वास के दम पर आज भारतीय वायुसेना में फ्लाइंग ऑफिसर के तौर पर चुनी गई हैं। ताहिरा रहमान बचपन से खेलकूद और दम ख़म वाली गतिविधियों में हिस्सा लेती रही हैं। ताहिरा रहमान जम्मू-कश्मीर की पहली गुर्जर महिला हैं जिन्हें भारतीय वायु सेना के फ्लाइंग ऑफिसर के रूप में चुना गया ताहिरा को भारतीय वायु सेना की AE (L) शाखा में शॉर्ट सर्विस कमीशन के लिए चुना गया है और अब उनका प्रशिक्षण चल रहा है। माता-पिता के परिश्रम के फलस्वरूप हुई प्रारंभिक शिक्षा  ताहिरा की मां राकिया बेगम के मुताबिक़ बेटी की मेहनत और लोगों के समर्थन से आज ताहिरा को इतना बड़ा मौक़ा मिला। दरअसल ताहिरा जम्मू-कश्मीर के राजौरी  ज़िले के जिस गाँव से आती हैं वहाँ सुवि

Rutba Iqbal / Awaz e Khwateen Tahirah Rehman, from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir has been selected for Short Service Commission training in the AE (L) branch of the Indian Air Force. She is the first Gujjar girl from Jammu and Kashmir to be selected as an IAF officer. Tahirah’s achievement comes as a testament to her strong will. She hails from a backward district in Rajouri and had to strive against all odds to realize her dreams.   During an exclusive conversation with Awaz-e-Khwateen, Abdul Rehman - father of Tahirah Rehman said, “We come from the most backward districts of Rajouri, I used to travel for 4 hours to get Tahirah to the school. The infrastructure of the schools was also not so great, we faced a lot of difficulties along the way”. Tahirah’s father never gave up because he wanted to give her daughter a bright future. The patriotic fervor in Tahirah was ignited by her father, who worked in the Indian Army for 20 years. She had shown a keen interest in her father’s

  रत्ना शुक्ला आनंद / आवाज़ ए ख़्वातीन सदफ चौधरी ने यूपीएससी में हासिल की शानदार कामयाबी संघ लोक सेवा आयोग की परीक्षा में रुड़की की रहने वाली सदफ चौधरी ने 23 वी रैंक हासिल करके अपने पूरे परिवार का नाम रोशन किया है। सदफ चौधरी की ये कामयाबी इसीलिए भी खास है क्योंकि अपने पूरे परिवार में यूपीएससी में चयनित होने वाली वे पहली व्यक्ति हैं। सदफ चौधरी का कहना है कि उन्होंने घर पर ही पढ़ाई कर दो साल की कड़ी मेहनत के बाद ये मुकाम हासिल किया है. सदफ चौधरी इस कामयाबी का श्रेय अपने माता-पिता को देती हैं। सदफ के पिता मोहम्मद इसरार यूपी ग्रामीण बैंक, नागल शाखा देवबंद में मैनेजर के पद पर कार्यरत हैं। सदफ की प्रारंभिक शिक्षा यूपी के अमरोहा में हुई उनमें शुरू से ही पढ़ने और आगे बढ़ने की लगन थी। बहुत छोटी उम्र से ही आईएएस बनना उनका सपना था क्योंकि वे जिलाधिकारी की शक्तियों परिचित थीं। हमेशा से ही समाज के लिए कुछ करने के जज़्बे ने उन्हें प्रेरणा दी।   सदफ ने  एनआईसी जालंधर से केमिकल इंजीनियरिंग में बी टेक किया है इसके बाद एक मल्टीनैशनल बैंक में नौकरी की। नौकरी करने का उद्देश्य आर्थिक तौर पर मज़बूत होना था ताकि

Photo Courtesy : Times of India As India continues to reel under the disastrous effects of COVID-19 on its social fabric, a humanitarian story from Uttarakhand's Dehradun is warming the hearts of people across the nation. In a great turn of events, a Muslim woman and a Hindu woman donated kidneys to save the lives of each other's spouses. Vikas Uniyal, a 50 year old resident of Dehradun, had been on Hemodialysis for 2 years due to Renal failure. At the same time, 50 year old Ashraf Ali too was going through the same plight.   Over their 2 year old ordeal, the wives too tested to see if they were a match for their respective husbands, but unfortunately results did not pan out as expected. Running from pillar to post, the women even approached their extended family for a positive donor match, in a bid to save their husband’s lives.  This taxing process took a lot of time, but to no avail. Expensive dialysis too added to the financial burden of the family. With the expenses mounti