Rehana Fathima
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Rehana Fathima, also known as Suryagayathri, is an Indian women's rights activist from
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
. She has a background in telecommunications and modeling, and has participated in various protests against moral policing and sexism. Fathima gained widespread attention in October 2018 when she was one of two women who attempted to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala following the Supreme Court's decision to lift the ban on women of menstruating age. She has faced legal consequences for her activism, including arrests for allegedly offensive Facebook posts and a body painting video. She wrote an autobiography named 'Shareeram Samaram Sannidhyam'


Early life and education

Rehana Fathima Pyarijaan Sulaiman was born into an orthodox Muslim family. Her father Pyarijaan Sulaiman died when she was in Class 12. She has a sister. Fathima completed B.Com and MCA degrees with first rank from
Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...
.


Career

Fathima worked as a telecommunications technician with
BSNL Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (commonly known as BSNL) () is an Indian central public sector undertaking, under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India with its he ...
until May 2020, when she was forced to take compulsory retirement. Fathima also modelled, before becoming a women's rights activist. Rehana has also acted in a Malayalam film titled 'Eka' written and directed by her husband Manoj K Sreedhar, who is a poet and graduate from Pune film institute. The movie talks about the lives of
intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...
persons. According to ''The Quint'', "The posters of Eka carried the tagline: ‘I am intersex. I have a penis and vagina by birth. I want to live.’"


Activism


Kiss of Love protest

Fathima and her partner film-maker Manoj K Sreedhar, participated in the
2014 Kiss of Love protest The Kiss of Love protest was a non-violent protest against Moral police, moral policing. It started in Kerala, India, and later spread to other parts of the country. The movement began when a Facebook page called ''Kiss of Love'' called forth t ...
in
Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
against moral policing.


Onam tiger mask dance

Fathima also participated in the
Puli Kali Puli kali (Meaning: Tiger Dance) is a recreational folk art from the state of Kerala, India. It is performed by trained artists to entertain people on the occasion of Onam, an annual harvest festival, celebrated mainly in the Indian state o ...
(annual Onam tiger mask dance), a popular event in
Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...
which usually see the attendance of all-male troupes.


Sexism protest

'' Scroll.in'' reports that in March 2018, Fathima joined a protest and "kicked up a social media storm by posting pictures with watermelons covering her breasts in protest against a professor for saying women who did not cover their chests enough showed off their breasts like watermelons in a shop." ''The Quint'' reported "The photo received both support and backlash from people, and Facebook took it down after the number of trolls and abusive comments piled up."


Sabarimala temple

For centuries, females of childbearing age (approx. age 10–50) have been banned from worshipping at the
Sabarimala The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple () is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ayyappan, who is also known as Dharma Shasta and is the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini (female avatar of the god Vishnu). The temple is situated atop th ...
temple in Kerala, India. Some devotees believe that the resident deity is practising celibacy and women who can carry children may sway him from his vow. According to an NDTV article, some feel the denial of entry of women is rooted in the long-standing cultural belief that menstruating women are "impure". In September 2018, after a 20-year legal challenge, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban. ''The Quint'' reported "While pronouncing the judgment, CJI Misra said a woman is not inferior to a man and patriarchy cannot be permitted to win over faith, while Justice Chandrachud said to treat women as children of a lesser god is to blink at the Constitution itself." According to '' Scroll.in'', in October 2018, Fathima was one of two women of menstruating age who almost were the first to enter the
Sabarimala temple The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple () is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ayyappan, who is also known as Shasta (deity), Dharma Shasta and is the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini (female avatar of the god Vishnu). The temple is sit ...
in Kerala after the Supreme Court allowed the entry of women of all ages to pray there. The two women were escorted by eighty police officers in riot gear, but were blocked by a group of about 300 people at the sacred steps to the shrine. ''The Quint'', ''The News Minute'' and ''India Today'' reported that afterwards, Fathima's home was vandalized.


Facebook selfie

In November 2018, ''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'' reported Fathima was arrested and detained for fourteen days after police received complaints about an October 2018 selfie she posted on Facebook. According to ''BBC News'', the picture "showed her dressed in black (the colour most Lord Ayyappa devotees wear), her forehead smeared with sandalwood paste in the Hindu tradition, and her knees pulled up in front to mimic the classic
Ayyappa Ayyappan, also known as Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is the Hindu deity of truth and righteousness. According to Hindu theology, he is described as the son of Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu), thus representing a bridge between Sh ...
pose", and the complaints received by the police included that the photograph "was 'sexually explicit' and 'wounded the religious feelings of Lord Ayyappa's devotees.'" ''BBC News'' reported Fathima's friend Arathy said Fathima did not intend to hurt religious sentiments or be sexual or offensive, and asked, "What about the men who go to Sabarimala bare-chested or expose their thighs? How come that's not outrageous?"


Body painting video

In June 2020, Fathima was arrested after posting a video that ''The Times of India'' described as depicting "getting her pre-adolescent son to paint on her nude torso." Press Trust of India reported that in her bail plea to the court, she "said the allegations prima facie would not constitute any offence punishable which are non-bailable in nature," and stated "she was an activist who has been fighting a battle against body discrimination," and "that there needs to be openness so far as discussion on body and body parts are concerned." According to the ''Mumbai Mirror'', the video was titled 'Body and Politics' The high court of Kerala denied her anticipatory bail application in The POCSO case against Rehana Fathima, after which she filed a special leave petition in the supreme court against the high court's decision. In August 2020 The supreme court of India denied anticipatory bail application by Rehana Fathima and quoted that she is spreading obscenity using social media. On 8 August 2020 Rehana Fathima surrendered before the circle inspector of Ernakulam Town South's police as the supreme court denied her anticipatory bail application.


"Gomatha Ularthu" video

In November 2020, the ''Hindustan Times'' reported that
Kerala High Court The High Court of Kerala is the List of high courts in India, highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and the Union territory of Lakshadweep. It is located in Kochi. Drawing its powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Hig ...
ordered Rehana Fathima to not use the word "gomatha" (a common reference to holy or sacred cows) as a synonym for beef, because "If it is so believed by several lakhs of Hindus throughout the country, definitely, the use of the term gomatha as a synonym for meat used in a cookery show, prima facie, is likely to wound the religious feelings of those believers," according to the court. Fathima was heard repeatedly referring to meat as "gomatha" after she posted a cooking video on social media in May 2020 titled "Gomatha Ulurthu" and referred to beef as "gomatha". In February 2021, the Supreme Court granted a partial stay to the Kerala High Court order that restrained Fathima "from publishing, transmitting, sharing, uploading or disseminating any material or comments through any public visual and electronic media, but directed that the prohibition on her spreading any comment that may affect religious sentiments will continue," according to ''The Indian Express''.


Personal life

Rehana Fathima's other name is Surya Gayatri. She has two children.


References


External links

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Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rehana Fathima Indian women's rights activists Indian women activists Activists from Kerala Actresses in Malayalam cinema Living people Year of birth missing (living people)