Gujarat chapter of the Girls Islamic Organisation launched campaign to raise awareness about women’s rights in Islam

Setting a target to reach out to 50,000 girls in schools and colleges in seven cities, Gujarat chapter of the Girls Islamic Organisation (GIO) has launched an awareness campaign “rights of women and Islam”. The week-long campaign that will conclude on January 24 will cover Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Vapi, Modasa, Vijapur and Junagadh.

“There will also be door-to-door and corner meetings as part of the campaign. The aim is to educate women about her rights in Islam and also remove misconceptions,” said Shazia Shaikh, president of the GIO while during a press conference on Wednesday. The organisation with 50 members, between the age group of 15 and 28 years, and affiliated to Jamat-e-Islam is working in Gujarat for nine years. The GIO members said they have been allowed to campaign only in Muslim institutes.

“Not only private schools, but even the municipal Urdu schools did not allow us to campaign,” revealed Shazia. Arifa Parveen, secretary of Jama-e-Islamic women’s wing, said, “Attempts would be made to spread awareness about women rights so that they can stand against dowry, female foeticide, domestic violence, eve-teasing, rape and other atrocities on women.”