TWO sisters from Bristol are setting a brave example by raising awareness on “honour hate” within Asian communities.
Amaleehah and Nadia Aslam-Forrester chose to react, rather than retract, after community members harassed them for posting photos of themselves wearing fashionable clothes online.
The BBC reported that the sisters, who have a Pakistani mother and English father, were “slut-shamed” for “not upholding cultural norms”.
Amaleehah, 22, said she and Nadia had always been “creative”, and used social media to display their taste for art, modelling and fashion.
The duo, however, faced online rage, stemming from “deeply ingrained cultural pressures”.
“In our community, honour lies within the body of a woman,” lamented Amaleehah.
“There's always pressure on her to uphold men's honour in her behaviour and also in the way she dresses.”
The sisters received “a lot of hate messages” that were “awful”—one of them asked the sisters to “drink bleach”.
“And that was all because we were being judged, there was stereotyping involved,” said Amaleehah.
This prompted the sisters to join a youth-led charity based in Bristol, Integrate, to spread awareness about “honour hate” in Asian communities, especially in schools across the UK.
In this context, ‘honour hate’ could be described as reactions to the perceived sullying of a family’s or community’s reputation and tradition.
Incidentally, their mother herself had faced repercussions, including shunning, in the name of honour for marrying a non-Muslim Englishman.
Thus, she contacted Integrate, known for gender and racial equality campaigns, and motivated her daughters to join it.
Amaleehah and Nadia attended several group workshops on issues such as female genital mutilation, sexism and honour-based violence, on which they made a short film (available on Integrate’s website).
The sisters believed their engagement with Integrate gave them “a voice in a community that didn't really understand us”.
Delhi’s air quality dropped to hazardous levels after Diwali, topping global pollution charts.
IQAir recorded a reading of 442 for New Delhi, 59 times higher than WHO’s recommended level.
Supreme Court had allowed limited use of “green crackers”, but violations were reported.
Lahore ranked second most polluted city with an air quality reading of 234.
AIR quality in New Delhi deteriorated to hazardous levels on Tuesday (October 21), with pollution readings the highest in the world, according to Swiss group IQAir. The spike followed the use of firecrackers during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
The Supreme Court of India had last week relaxed a ban on firecrackers in the city, allowing the use of “green crackers” for a maximum of three hours each on Sunday and Monday. However, Reuters witnesses reported that firecrackers were set off outside the permitted time.
Emissions from green crackers are 30 to 50 per cent lower than conventional fireworks.
IQAir recorded a reading of 442 for New Delhi, making it the most polluted major city in the world. The PM 2.5 concentration was more than 59 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommended annual guideline.
PM 2.5 refers to particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can enter the lungs and increase the risk of deadly diseases and cardiac problems.
India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) rated the city’s air quality as “very poor” with an air quality index (AQI) of 350. CPCB considers an AQI between 0 and 50 as good.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences forecast that Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in the “Very Poor to Poor” category in the coming days, with AQI levels expected between 201 and 400.
Delhi and its neighbouring districts experience smog every winter as cold air traps construction dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from agricultural fires. The pollution affects many of the city’s 20 million residents, leading to respiratory illnesses.
In the past, authorities have closed schools, suspended construction work and restricted the use of private vehicles to reduce pollution levels.
India is not the only South Asian country facing severe air pollution.
In Pakistan’s Punjab province, which borders India, the government has implemented an “emergency plan” to tackle toxic air. The plan includes measures against farm fires and smoke-emitting vehicles, and the use of anti-smog guns in highly polluted areas.
The air quality reading for Lahore, the provincial capital, was 234 — the second highest in the world, according to IQAir.
“Right now, the major issue is the air coming from Indian Punjab and other parts, which is affecting the air quality in various parts of Pakistani Punjab,” said Sajid Bashir, spokesperson for Punjab’s Environment Protection Agency.
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