NEWS IN BRIEF

Men sometimes cross roads as well!

Two newspaper reports that shed light on how we live here:

11 GET CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Eleven people were condemned to death for drug trafficking and intentional murder in the first half of this year, making it a record number of capital punishments announced over a six month period. Eight of those convicted were found guilty of drug smuggling and trafficking, while three were charged with intentional killing.

ADAM TEASING ON THE RISE
Local women are harassing men, a result perhaps of the new-found freedom women are enjoying here.
Men (poor dears) are increasingly becoming targets of teasing by young Qatari women since they are not able to marry due to social and financial constraints. Basically a conservative society, the social milieu here is gradually opening up with men and women intermingling. The phenomenon of intermingling is new to the country having taken roots barely a few years ago. ‘Adam teasing’ seems to be a by-product of this intermingling. Young women now like to show off dressed up in fashionable cloak and wearing strong perfume to catch the attention of men. Some of these women can be seen making suggestive comments on men publicly.
The horror!

MORE ON CONSTRUCTION SITES

Lead one day last week was the North Korean missile testing; there was only one small local story on page one of the paper, plus the obligatory picture of a member of the ruling family .

Inside, another tale of trouble on the construction sites. Many of the newly arrived Sri Lankan workers want to turn tail and leave after a week or so in searing heat on the buildings and would blame them? They also discover that they aren’t getting paid what they were promised. Apparently there was an unofficial ban on hiring from Sri Lanka for a while, but no more and an estimated 55,000 are now working here, most of them low-paid. All the tea boys in DAGOC are Suree-Lankan as they put it. Many come on visitor visas, making them particularly vulnerable. About ten every day are approaching the Sri Lankan embassy and asking to be sent home.

At a cabinet meeting, the issuing of construction licences was on the agenda; a committee is to be formed to review the law.

On to women’s rights, and Qatar’s family law ( Law No 22 of 2006 passed June 29) now allows a divorced woman to claim maintenance from her former husband, if it was he who granted the divorce.

No longer can the courts order a wife to go back to her husband if she has walked out ‘of his house’ following a dispute or harassment. Women can approach a court for divorce without surrendering custody of their children, said the Supreme Council for Family Affairs. The law intends to protect the rights of women and children and is not entirely based on Shariah.

The courts are now shutting up shop for three months until October 1, but there are still the usual sad cases. For instance, the young Muslin Sri Lankan, who was charged with being pregnant. She worked as a maid and was taken to hospital by her sponsor when she fell ill, when it was discovered she was pregnant. She told the court she neither had relations with anyone nor was she pregnant.

Two Arabs nations were charged in drinking cases. One was charged with drinking in a bar and faces 40 lashes. The second was caught drunk driving after hitting a street pavement and gets a QR 1,000 fine as well as 40 lashes. Who does the lashing? What a job!

In the UK, a Populus poll of about 1,000 Muslims and 1,000 others discovered that only 42 per cent of the population think that Muslim pupils should be free to wear religious dress compared to 76 per cent of Muslims.

The most thought-provoking quote on the findings comes from Prof David Dabydeen, Professor of Cultural Studies at WarwickUniversity. “ I think that aspects of Islam are so backward they are practically medieval, particularly when it comes to attitudes towards sexuality and gender,” he said. Muslims living in the UK shouldn’t feel threatened. “This is a plural society that has tolerated many different cultures and I see very little evidence of mosques being burnt down or attacked.” Brave man.