Comments on: Scared for Her Life and Other Stories of Hate [UPDATED]

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:15:48 +0000

Look, women of all colors, religions, races and clothing get harassed. I’m sure all of the women reading this have been harassed at some time or another, whether in the US or the subcontinent. What’s the basis for concluding that her hijab had something to do with the harassment? I too have lots of sympathy for her family, but I don’t think it does anyone any favours to assume it’s a hate crime without any evidence.

By: CynicalMuslim

CynicalMuslim — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:50:18 +0000

I’m sceptical as well. why? Because: 1. what are the odds of someone showing up drunk and smelling of drugs at noon time? 2. why did she call her sister and not her husband or 9-11? 3. why did she speak to her sister in not-so-frantic english but not urdu or her native first language? something tells me that this very traditional family speaks their native language more than they speak english. also, wouldn’t you NOT want the potential abductor to understand what you’re saying? 4. why didn’t she get up and leave the area and go to a more public area? 5. this sounds too much like a cheezy plot for a cheap b-film. this is so typical of an indian-movie scene: drunk rowdy comes along, slap, and she gets abducted. this is the quintessential bollywood theme it seems. 6. why would a 5’2″ girl SLAP a man who’s drunk and not go to a more public place? 7. in her voicemail, she says that she’s so “confused”. this is an odd thing to say when you’re scared or your life is in jeaopardy.

OK – i’m sure that she’ll be found alive, and moreover, we will soon see that she was never kidnapped. i just hope that she wasn’t shopping at low’s.

By: Jehanzeb

Jehanzeb — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:08:02 +0000

It's really sad that people are doubting her story. You all speak as if you know her or her family. I think that is utterly shameful.

You should be praying the best for her instead of imagining problematic narratives in your own heads. There's a "blaming-the-victim" tone in your comment, too. It is NEVER the victim's fault. Period.

Also, if you admit that Islampohobia exists, then you know pervasive it is, right? You are aware of how a hijab immediately marks a woman as a racialized "Other" regardless of what her skin color or citizenship is, right? Instead of denying the possibility, you should consider it.

By: Jehanzeb

Jehanzeb — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:02:27 +0000

The point is to address the broader issue of racialized anti-Muslim violence. The FBI recently reported that anti-Muslim hate crimes have been on the increase.

I found Sujata's comment condescending because of this remark: "Please hold off till there is more information before you write such things." This comment speaks as if it is a crime to highlight on the growing Islamophobia in the US and how racism intersects with sexism.

Rather than seeing the possibility in this crime being racially and/or religiously motivated, comments that accuse the author of making "assumptions" are counter-productive and derail the conversation.

By: Taz

Taz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:20:59 +0000

Link, please?

By: Adnan Hussain

Adnan Hussain — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:50:31 +0000

Thanks for the post Taz. Don’t let the trolls bring you down. You made a positive addition to the world by bringing awareness to the story of a missing young woman and adding to much needed conversation on injustice toward women and islamaphobia. People who find themselves blaming the victim as a response to the situation rather than feeling compassion can only benefit from exposure to more knowledge and discussion like this.

By: PeoplesRepublicOfDravidNadu

PeoplesRepublicOfDravidNadu — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:42:22 +0000

I’m becoming skeptical about this whole thing. I just heard her last voice mail message. This girl probably got married against her wishes to her first cousin, and she’s probably wearing the hijab against her wishes (or had tremendous societal pressure to do so). Now, I’d like to point out that white Christians, Indian Christians, Hindus, Sikh girls ALL also have their equivalent of this. White girls are sometimes forbidden to date certain ethnicities. Ditto for the Sikh/Hindus. Hindu kids are not allowed to eat the food that they want to eat (i.e. beef), etc. Anyways, I’ve heard the tapes, and I think that she’s running away from a marriage because she couldn’t say “tilaq tilaq tilaq”.

By: Sidra

Sidra — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:11:41 +0000

I’m Muslim and I agree with Sujata. we DON’T KNOW if the motivation of the attack yet, so how can we automatically label it as a racial/religious hate crime? I honestly found the two responders more condescending for acting like it is an absolute fact that it is an anti-Muslim woman crime.

By: Sidra

Sidra — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:08:28 +0000

I agree with you here. This blog story has a lot of assumptions. YES, Islamophobia is there, YES, Aisha was a “visible” Muslim, but that does not mean Aisha was necessarily a victim of an Islamophobic crime.

Even if it was a nonMuslim person, it doesn’t mean they are anti-Muslim. Perhaps the guy was just really upset that she slapped him and got provoked. I think any physical contact like that is an extreme step; it’s probably better to scream or run, than to actually slap a guy but…we don’t know the exact circumstances she was in. Also I hope it isn’t a case where she got wedding cold feet or ran off with somebody; that would be really embarrassing for her family But, obviously, it is more important that she is found than worrying about national embarrassment.

By: Neil

Neil — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:15:21 +0000

"it often feels that as a woman in the American public we have to brace ourselves for street harassment." -Never been to a Middle Eastern country I take it???

"But Aisha is a girl in hijab – I can only imagine that her harasser must have said something really islamophobic and sexist to have deserved a slap."

And you know this...how???