Kerala journalist faces threats for Facebook post on sexual abuse in madrassa
FB account blocked over child sex abuse details of madarsa
The journalist has received threats since she put out her post, but says will remain fearless.
IndiaToday.in | New Delhi, November 26, 2015 | Posted by Parthshri Arora | UPDATED 13:20 IST
Ever since Rajeena put up the Facebook post, she was at the receiving end of a barrage of abuses and threats
The Facebook account of journalist VP Rajeena was blocked after she put out a post about child sex abuse during her time at a madarsa on November 21.
The Facebook post was about sexual abuse that her classmates had to face at a madarsa some time back. Rajeena wrote about how an 'Ustad' at a Sunni madarsa in Kozhikode, popularly known as Calicut, which lies in north Kerala, sexually molested her male classmates.
The post says that young males were asked to unzip their shorts by the 'Ustad' over measurement of their size.
It also says that an 'Ustad' over the age of 60 sexually abused minor girls during power cuts.
The events, Rajeena's Facebook posts says, were spread out across her six years at the madarsa.
Rajeena started receiving threats after she put up the post, which made her write another post in which she said that despite everything, she would remain fearless.
On 22 November, a senior journalist working with a prominent Malayalam newspaper wrote a poignant post on her Facebook account about sexual abuses her classmates had to face in a Madarassa years ago. For more than 24 hours now, journalist VP Rajeena’s Facebook account has been blocked, and she continues to receive threats.
In the Facebook post that became controversial Rajeena reminisced about an ‘Ustad’ or teacher at a Sunni Madarassa in Kozhikode city, who would feel up her male classmates’ private parts. She described how young boys in the class would be summoned by the ‘Ustad’ and asked to unzip their shorts. Rajeena said that even as the boys squirmed, the girls too were left embarrassed and shocked. The ‘Ustad’ would then tell the boys that he was only checking the size, she wrote. She also talked about how such experiences were spread out across her six years of education at the Madarassa and even the girls in her class were not spared. The journalist also alleged that another ‘Ustad’ who was above 60 years would move around the class during power cuts and sexually abuse minor girls.
Ever since Rajeena put up the Facebook post, she was at the receiving end of a barrage of abuses and threats, forcing her to write another post in which she declared that despite everything, she would remain fearless.
"Curses... Abuses... Venom spewing... Let everything befall on me. But I am least afraid because Allah is with me. And so, even if the whole world turns against me, I will not fear. It is becoming clearer that whatever I did was the correct thing. Even my life is at stake. History is replete with such stories of annihilation of voices that dissent. I am ready to face that." (Translated by Firstpost).
“After I put up the Facebook post my account was blocked for some time and it later came back. But from Wednesday morning it was blocked again and has not been reinstated by Facebook,” Rajeena told The News Minute (at the time of writing this on Wednesday night Rajeena’s Facebook account was still blocked, but the account was restored on Thursday morning.)
Rajeena believes she is being targeted for various reasons.
“I am a woman, a Muslim woman that too and a journalist, so such a revelation from me was unacceptable for many. What should have lead to a healthy debate on child sexual abuse has denigrated to a fight against me. I have been called an anarchist and someone with an agenda to defame a particular religion,” she said.
Many prominent voices in Kerala have come out asking for Rajeena’s Facebook account to be restored and for a sane discussion on Madarassas and other educational institutions.
- See more at: http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-woman-journalist-threatened-fb-account-blocked-after-post-child-sexual-abuse#sthash.EWExakkE.dpuf
A senior journalist for a prominent Malayalam newspaper, faced flak on Facebook, after she wrote an account on her wall about the sexual abuse her classmates had to face in a madrassa years ago. The journalist's account has been blocked and she has been consistently receiving threats, reported The News Minute. VP Rajeena, in her Facebook post, claims to have seen inappropriate conduct at her Madrassa.
VP Rajeena's Facebook profile.
Rajeena works as a sub-editor with Madhyamam, a Malayalam news daily. On 24 November, Rajeena gave a graphic account of what transpires in a madrassa, where young children are repeatedly exploited by the teachers.
According to The Indian Express, the write-up was triggered by a controversy surrounding gender segregation in a college in Kozhikode run by Muslim management. The Hindureported that she was forced to use social networks because she felt that Muslim women were facing a denial of justice on many levels. The paper quoted her saying, "The suppressed anger of so many years might have also come out through the post."
According to The Indian Express, Rajeena wrote on her Facebook about how 'a bulky middle-aged man' made boys stand in a line, calling them to his seat one after the other, unzipping their trousers and touching them inappropriately. She also recounted how an ustad (teacher) used to abuse the girls during the night classes. Facebook exploded with nasty comments and threats against Rajeena.
The News Minute quotes Rajeena saying, "I am woman, a Muslim woman that too, and a journalist, so such a revelation from me was unacceptable for many. What should have lead to a healthy debate on child sexual abuse has been denigrated in to a fight against me. I have been called an anarchist and someone with an agenda to defame a particular religion."
Rajeena's posts on Facebook:
("Curses... Abuses... Venom spewing... Let everything befall on me. But I am least afraid because Allah is with me. And so, even if the whole world turns against me, I will not fear. It is becoming clearer that whatever I did was the correct thing. Even my life is at stake. History is replete with such stories of annihilation of voices that dissent. I am ready to face that.")
Rajeena said, "My Facebook account was blocked following mass reporting. What I had said was no
exaggeration but the truth and only the truth," and added that her motives were questioned and efforts were made to present it as an attack on religion.
VP Rajeena's Facebook profile.
exaggeration but the truth and only the truth," and added that her motives were questioned and efforts were made to present it as an attack on religion.
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