The Indian Weekender, Friday 8 July 2022

4
NEW ZEALAND
A role model for
hijab-wearing
Friday, July 08, 2022
Read online www.iwk.co.nz
muslim women
VENU MENON IN
WELLINGTON
The Christchurch mosque
shooting of March 2019,
which claimed 51 lives,
left Aotearoa’s multicultural
fabric blood-stained.
But the message of hate still
resonates, according to rights
activist Anjum Rahman.
There are government
initiatives that are under way,
such as hate crime reporting
by the New Zealand Police, the
social cohesion framework put
in place by the Ministry of Social
Development, the strategic
framework for preventing and
countering violent extremism,
and other measures.
Even so, “we now have an
environment where there
is a lot of malinformation,
the spreading of hate, the
denigration of science and fact
checking, the messaging around
women politicians or activists,”
Rahman said.
Hate directed against one
community impacted all
communities because it made
hate acceptable, she noted.
“The Christchurch mosque
attacks were the ultimate act
of hate.”
But every day there were
small acts that made the
environment hostile for
particular groups, Rahman
added, citing the recent arson
attack on the Rainbow Youth
Centre in Tauranga, which
followed the vandalism of a
‘pink’ church in Greymouth.
“People are feeling bold
enough to commit these kinds
of acts,” Rahman observed.
Rahman said there were still
acts that were making the
Muslim community feel unsafe.
The stereotyping that hijabwearing
women like herself
face is still ongoing. Access
to housing and employment
remains problematic.
“All of this was happening
well before the Christchurch
attacks,” Rahman pointed out.
“And they are still happening.”
Yet Muslim women who
wear the hijab have been
active within their families,
communities and professions,
Rahman stressed. “But their
work is seldom noticed.”
“That’s also part of the
stereotyping that when we are
doing good work, it is never
seen or talked about,” Rahman
lamented.
“The question is always
around how we must always be
victims, rather than what our
achievements are.”
Rahman was scathing on the
portrayal of Muslim women
in the media. Ethnicities or
religion tended to be identified
whenever the portrayal was
negative.
“But when it was something
positive being spoken about,
then this was a New Zealander
who had done something really
well. Then the identity of that
person was left out.”
She cited research to show
that the more media a person
consumed in Aotearoa New
Zealand, “the more negative
the perception they would have
of Muslims.”
Rahman had experienced this
first hand.
“I did an interview on the AM
show on TV 3. I highlighted a
nice, positive story. They put
it up on their Facebook page.
Within 24 hours, they took it
down because the comments
were so bad,” she recalled.
Rahman’s experience would
suggest there was no audience
for the positive stories put
forward by Muslim women.
“The story that is usually
told and that everyone wants
to hear is what discrimination
Muslim women face,” she
noted. “Yes, we want to
make people aware of
the discrimination
we face, but that’s
not the only story
about us.”
Rahman wanted
the rights upheld
that are “already
enshrined in law”
– the rights that
other communities
take for granted, such as
the freedom of association,
freedom to practise one’s
faith, the right to safety,
employment, education and
housing.
As the Co-Chair of the
Christchurch Call Advisory
Network, formed in the
aftermath of the mosque
shooting, her role is to deal
with the
“terrorist
environment and extremist
content” online.
It is particularly focused on
things like the viral video that
the shooter involved in that
attack had run, and which a
few had followed. The recent
Buffalo, New York, attack
video showing the shooting in
a supermarket was reportedly
sent to the victims of the
Christchurch attack.
“The Christchurch victims
were being targeted with that
video. These people were being
targeted again and again, and
“But
when it was
something positive
being spoken about,
then this was a New
Zealander who had done
something really well.
Then the identity of
that person was
left out.”
Anjum Rahman
deliberately so.
It’s all pert of the
environment of
hate.”
But Rahman is mindful
of painting everybody with the
same brush.
“I honestly don’t believe the
majority of the community
would support any of this. They
either don’t see it, or they
don’t understand it or they feel
powerless to do anything about
it,” she said.
In 2013, Rahman made an
unsuccessful bid for Council. It
inspired Muslim women to step
up and be leaders.
Currently, her energies are
focused on leading her pet
project – Inclusive Aotearoa
Collective Tahono – that aims
to bring communities together
around a common platform. In
2020, the Collective visited
46 towns and cities and “just
talked to people.”
But were hijab-wearing Muslim
women fighting a wider battle
within their own community
against male orthodoxy?
“It’s an interesting question,”
Rahman conceded. “I don’t
think it’s any different from
women in other communities.”
But the struggle for gender
equality within the Muslim
community was more nuanced.
“One of the concerns that
we have as Muslim women
is that if we raise any of our
issues publicly, it adds to the
stereotyping and the hate
campaign that says Muslim
women are oppressed and are
second class citizens,” Rahman
explained.
“People will use it to attack
us rather than looking inward at
what is happening in their own
communities, or rather than
asking what can we do to help
or support. This dissuades you
from speaking publicly.”
But in the eyes of many across
communities, Anjum Rahman is
a role model for hijab-wearing
Muslim women across Aotearoa
and beyond.
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor to be in NZ to judge Tapas competition
IWK BUREAU
Renowned Indian chef
Sanjeev Kapoor
is coming to New
Zealand where he will be one
of the judges at the fourth
Australasia Tapas Competition,
to be held on August 22 at
Ignite Colleges.
Sanjeev Kapoor is a
household name in Indian
kitchens all over the globe.
The first chef in the world to
launch his own food channel,
he’s on the Forbes India
Celebrity 100 List, the Reader’s
Digest list of ‘100 of India’s
most trusted persons’ and has
been named ‘Best Chef of India’
by the Indian government.
A multi-award-winning chef
extraordinaire, Padma Shri
Sanjeev Kapoor is India’s
brightest gastronomic star.
This is the fourth year the
Australasia Tapas Competition
has been held in NZ.
Jasbir (former Ignite
Colleges General Manager
and current Vice President of
NZ Chefs Association) first
launched the championship
in 2018, after working at
Barcelona’s Disfrutar and
competing in the World Tapas
Competition herself in 2017.
“This is an incredible
opportunity for New Zealand
and Australian chefs.
"Not only does it give them
something to work towards
and look forward to, but
it’s a chance to make their
mark as chefs not just here,
but internationally too.”
Competitors will be judged
on originality, flavour,
presentation, and business
potential by a distinguished
panel of chefs and foodies,
including multi-awardwinning
Indian celebrity
chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
Tapas experts direct from
Spain will also be among the
judging line-up.
Event sponsors include
E-Spain, Ignite Colleges,
Great Taste NZ, UNOX,
Nestle, and Hospitality
Training Trust (HTT).
If you are a Chef, this is
your chance to participate,
show off your skills and
impress the best of the best.
Chefs have until
August 1 to enter.
Enter now via https://tinyurl.
com/2022-tapas-competition.
Find out more by emailing
amoreton@e-spain.eu