Who will speak for Aqsa Parvez?

Opinion

Barry O'Regan, Now Public Contributor 

As a Father of two daughters, I would also like to be added to those who speak for Aqsa Parvez, I have for the past year since joining Now Public have written countless articles on this subject and similar murders of women under the guise of honour killings. 

Imams as usual stating Aqsa's murder was never a religious murder, rather a murder based on their belief that Aqsa was a notorious drug dealer, who loved hip hop and was dating a Black Man.  Well, now that you put it that way..................as Imams eloquently state publicly to anyone who will listen if you do not wear a Hijab you are not considered Muslim, and as most readers who have followed my previous stories in which some  Insane Imams in Canada state publicly on National Television  "Women who do not dress modestly and abide by Islam are undressed pieces of meat who deserve whatever "Fate" dished out the them by both Muslim and non Muslim men. So in ending Aqsa's murder was not over Muslim faith, as she was not considered a Muslim, as she was strangled to death without her Hijab. With Islam it is always semantics.

By stating this and other cases on Canadian Immigration Websites and training Canadian Immigration officers in Consulates in predominately  Muslim countries would be a start, but the Politically Correct politicans do not wish to seem racist and fostering outrage in outlining the obvious at Canadian Consulates, though this trend of murdering Muslim women seems to be growing in our media around the world.  Perhaps stating Western Society is not Muslim and unlike their own will assist those who wish to make any western country their home,l help those who adhere to the strict Islamic code to best seek another country more Islamic friendly and to their their liking. We have warnings for Cigarettes on packages, warning on Dry Cleaning bags and warnings for Tran fats. Trivial warnings on everything else, yet no warnings to those who feel our Nations laws and Culture do not apply to them when their religious beliefs are paramount over control of the life of their own flesh and blood.

My Final Thought

Will politically correct Canadians and ethnic vote sucking Politicans ever wake up and finally speak for women, killed because they
refuse to bend to the will of man who feel their "Man made religion"
dictates that they have the undeniable right to snuff out any female
race for not wearing to what amounts to a f#*king hat?  As I stated before, as a father of two daughters, I do not know any religious belief that states I can kill my daughters over a piece of cloth. Apparently Aqsa thought the same.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_fatah/20071214.html

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December 14, 2007

Sixteen-year-old Aqsa Parvez did not want to wear the hijab.

The Middle Eastern head covering has become the most significant
icon for Islam in the West, which is unfortunate, since 90 per cent of
Muslim women in this country don't we

The CBC's own Little Mosque on the Prairie plays into this
stereotype by showing every prominent Muslim woman in a hijab. This
superficial measurement of Muslim-ness has become so prevalent that a
small but increasing number of families are pushing it on their
daughters.

Aqsa, a Pakistani-Canadian, was just one of the victims of this growing obsession.

Now that Aqsa is dead, who will speak for her? Who will speak for
the countless Muslim girls who lead double lives and who suffer in
silence in their homes? Who will make sure they aren't abused or killed?

Who chooses?

Most Islamist men and women say that a woman chooses to wear the
hijab. But, all too often, that choice is taken away from young Muslim
girls.

They are being told by their parents and their imams that if they
don't wear the hijab, they are no longer Muslim. This occurs even
though the Koran, Islam's holy book, does not say that a woman has to
cover her hair.

Take a walk in downtown Toronto, Montreal, Windsor or other cities
with large Muslim populations. You will see little girls, as young as
four, five and six, wearing hijabs on their way to school.

Did these little girls really make a choice to wear the hijab? Did
they make a declaration to their parents that they want to be
religiously pious and sexually modest? Common sense indicates that
these children did not choose for themselves.

The innuendo

Meanwhile, the mullahs and Islamists are busy dismissing the idea
that Aqsa's alleged murder had anything to do with religion. They are
circulating rumours on-line that she had a black boyfriend, that she
was sexually promiscuous, that she was a drug pusher. These are cited
as reasons why her family was strict with her.

Why are they so afraid of acknowledging that obsession with a
religious ritual may have been a factor? It is because they fear their
own culpability in this horrible tragedy.

Before their congregations, these religious leaders tell men to control their daughters, wives and sisters.

They have brought into Canadian homes the radical Islamist notion that
a man's honour is encompassed in the sexual and physical body of the
women in his family, that's why they must be covered up and kept
inside.

Muslim fundamentalists have made a woman's body the fighting ground
for their religious wars, and it is unfortunately women who pay with
their lives for the sake of their men's honour.

A wall of silence

Women's advocacy groups have played mute on the issue. When Canadian
feminists are asked for their reaction to Aqsa's murder, they decline
to respond and instead suggest that it would more appropriate to turn
to Muslim women's groups for reaction.

Advocates are willing to speak up for all other women in Canada,
from women who need cancer treatment because of radioisotope shortages
to the dozens of prostitutes murdered in British Columbia, but they
will not speak for Aqsa.

Even social pundits and critics are making excuses. They say that
this isn't something unique to the Muslim community. They bring up
examples of honour killings in Christian, Sikh and Hindu families.

Just because there are religious fanatics in every group doesn't
take away the need to investigate what is happening to young Muslim
women.

So far, the only ones who have spoken honestly are the young girls
that attend Applewood Heights Secondary School in Mississauga.

The friends and classmates of Aqsa, who aren't concerned with
political correctness, have said without hesitation that Aqsa was
abused and threatened at home because of the religious fanaticism of
her family. They have said she was killed because she wanted to be
herself.

The rest of Canadian society could take a hint from these girls. We
hesitate to condemn this behaviour because we don't want to be seen as
racist. Are we going to allow cultural relativism to be the scapegoat
for abuse and murder in this country?

This is not the time for discussions about cultural nuances and lowered
expectations for ethnic and religious minority groups. This is the time
to speak up, and say enough is enough to the religious fanatics in
Canada.

If a vacuum of silence is left by the moderate people in Canada, who
are the overwhelmingly majority, then that vacuum will be filled by the
religious extremists on one side, who will make excuses for these
actions; and by intolerant racists on the other, who will say religious
minorities are poisoning this country.

Canadians, Muslim and non-Muslim, must say that while this country's
greatest pride is its diversity, multiculturalism and acceptance, there
are certain beliefs and laws that are inherently Canadian and that must
be respected.

We have to say loudly that a woman is free to cover her body as she
chooses. She is free to wear her hair how she likes. That at least in
this country, she is free, no matter how you interpret your religion.

Letters

I cannot believe the response from Aayla.
This is exactly the kind of problem the writer is talking about. The
girl told her friends that she didn't want to wear the hijab. The
friends said she didn't want to wear the hijab.

There
is documentation that the father beat her because she wasn't
traditionally Muslim enough. How much more evidence do you need? You're
right we don't know all the details yet, and Natasha is not saying that
the father is guilty. She is talking about a bigger problem about
forcing religion on people.

Why are you looking for excuses?

– Alejandra Luna | Montreal

Ms. Fatah is to be commended for forcefully stating social and personal reality for many.
I agree that we need to look through political correctness and the
guise of multi-culturalism to correct behavior which wrongfully
affects, controls and impedes the lives of many in Canadian society.

Individual Canadains should be able to define themselves, and forces
which wrongfully impede this, contrary to the values of Canadian
society and the Charter, should be actively dealt with by the state and
exposed by the media.

– S.R. Ball | Toronto

Aqsa Parvez was not killed because her family is Muslim;
she was killed because her family is religious. Her father and his ilk,
given the choice between killing God and killing his daughter,
obediently kills the daughter. Why? Because he loves God more than Aqsa.

Note that Muhammad Parvez has never met God but simply assumes he
exist because that's what his daddy said. In other words, he has
short-circuited his intellect - his ability to think clearly.

We have several billion people on this planet that think the same way.
Things are not going to get any better anytime soon for the Aqsas of
this world.

Give it a try people: No one has ever been proven to have
encountered God in any form - ever. Therefore he doesn't exist or is
irrelevant. Now, you can give your God-given hatred a rest and carry on
with exploring this wonderful world.

– Murray Hill | Richmond, BC

I find the speculation in this article disturbing.
It is an excuse to emotionally point the finger at women's advocacy
groups who will not "speak up" for this victim. At the time of this
writing, there is a publication ban on details of the case. How does
the author of this article "know" that it was Aqsa Parvez' refusal to
wear hijab that led to her death?

I think that
most of us, given the climate of fear and suspicion against Muslims in
this country, are right to refrain from knee-jerk reaction until we
know more about what happened in this family.

This tragedy
appears to be about family violence and that is all that we can
currently say with confidence. Family violence and abuse are never ever
ok or acceptable... but family violence and abuse are not confined to
Muslim cultures alone.

I think what has happened to this poor
young woman is terrible. I am not going to further violate her by using
her death to rain down self-righteous vitriol.

– Aalya Ahmad | Gatineau, QC

Thank you for this excellent article.
I am a Canadian expatriate who is deeply disturbed by the reaction to
this young woman's murder and by the CBC's other coverage of it: it is
significant that on the evening news, the only feedback on this site
that was quoted was from those who insisted that the incident had
nothing to do with Islam. As usual, the story was used to beat up on
Canadians for their supposed racism and intolerance.

However, it is also a mistake to differentiate between "radical" and
"moderate" Islam. You can only be a "moderate" Muslim (or Christian or
Jew, for that matter) if you choose to ignore parts of the so-called
holy books, which are full of hatred and exhortations to smite the
unbeliever.

It's time all of us started living in the 21st century and stopped
letting our lives be guided by books written in an age of ignorance.
Then maybe we can all start treating one another with respect.

– Peter | Bellevue WA

In every society, culture and religion parents have right to choose what they think is best for their young kids both morally and physically.This is their social and moral obligation. I don't see why writer have problem with that.

Second. Most of the Muslim feel dependent on the interpretation of
the Holy Qur'an provided by other equally illiterate peoples and most
of the time consider their cultural and tribal tradition as religious
obligations. Covering the face or body is not only considered
"Religious" obligation in Islam but also in Christianity, Hinduism and
other religions from centuries.

The Case of Aqsa is not as simple as “not wearing Hijab” (as some
commentator suggested), It is a cultural phenomenon in some part of
Indo-Pak sub-continent where crossing the limits of cultural traditions
justifies “honor” Killing. Recall the similar incident happen with
indo-Canadian Sikh girl from BC (Jaswinder Kaur) who was killed just
because she was in love outside her cult and ready to get marry. She
wasn’t “teen” or Muslim.

Muslims should stop feeling "guily by association"for every crime
committed by other ill minded Muslims. The case of Aqsa should be
condemned by all Canadians including Muslim Canadians.

– Jawed Memon | Ottawa

Thank you for having the courage to write this viewpoint.
When murder is reported, discussed and dismissed as just something that
happens;it is a dangerous social attitude, especially when religious
fanaticsm is accepted as "normal".

I agree, that there IS an ongoing, overt and subtle
political/cultural push for this image of the Muslim woman with a
covered head. This has to cease and desist. The media has major
responsibility in this push through its practices in photography,
online, in print and on air.

The culture that is responsible for this is the culture of fear and
control - in and out of homes. Reporting that is merely the parroting
of "politically correct" ideas and images, gives dead information.
Where is journalism - that drive to probe and look at human issues with
clarity, objectivity etc?

– Sali | Toronto

I could not agree more with you Natasha, why is it that Women's advocacy groups are not responding to Aqsa's murder? This is NOT soley a Muslim issue.

As
a Canadian more so than as an Indian-Hindu, I see this murder, and all
such murders, as a crime against ALL women. Making this an issue about
one community is just not enough.

– Angela Misri | Toronto

This is a excellent article and
thank you for writing it. Muslims are so busy being defensive about
every little thing, they cannot admit when there actually is a problem
in the community. Hopefully articles like this will help.

– Alia Khan | Windsor, Ontario

Your article is nicely stated.

The fact remains that Aqsa was murdered for not obeying her fathers rules. There is no excuse no matter what her religion is.

Millions of teenagers disobey their parents everyday, they don't die for it.

This man, or shall I say monstter killed her for just that reason. It's sickening.

– Bessie | Markham, Ont.

Thank you very much for speaking up the way you did, and for your exceptional insight into this story.

It's
refreshing to see someone with a critical and well-rounded view of the
situation. It's a horrible double edged blade when people are too
scared to speak out for fear of being branded as a racist, and the
extremists on either end of the spectrum get to trample over the
Canadian ideal of freedom.

– Rich | Victoria