Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Malaysiakini : Jailing the parliamentarian will also remind the world about the high-profile divorce that she alluded to in 2019.
Today,
many people will be curious to know the outcome of this divorce, which
was initiated in 2016. Did Emilia finally get justice? Or, is she, like
her poorer cousins at the other end of the social spectrum, still
battling it out in court, still struggling to find justice for her
children and herself?
Punishing
Maria in this manner will also show that when domestic violence is
involved, most ex-wives find that such violence is often overlooked, and
sadly, most former husbands will not get prosecuted for beating and
abusing their former wives.
How does it discriminate?
The Syariah Court system is man-made. Ask many modern Malay women and they will tell you that it is more suited to an earlier time, that is many centuries ago.
So, how many other ways are women discriminated against?
Here are a few:
In divorce cases, if the husband is not present in court, talak
(to divorce/to release) will be difficult to achieve. She cannot move
on with her life. If she were to find a new love, she cannot remarry.
Some husbands are vindictive and do not want to see their wives find
happiness, and thus refuse to divorce her. However, no such issue
presents itself to the man as he is allowed to have four wives.
Recalcitrant husbands or fathers who refuse to pay child maintenance and alimony do not get chased to effect payment.
A
woman who is raped must find four male witnesses. Who is stupid enough
to have four witnesses when committing this vile act? She can have a
full busload of women witnesses, but their testimony will not count.
A woman who is raped may get charged for fornication or adultery.
She will be whipped, jailed, and fined. The man gets a lesser
punishment, if any. Will she be allowed to abort the child if she is
found pregnant?
The system of inheritance does not favour the woman when there are no male heirs.
Syariah
courts allow property already registered in the wife's name to be
transferred to the husband's name under the pretext of 'harta sepencarian', which relates to properties purchased during the course of the marriage.
If
the Federal Territory Syariah High Court thought that punishing Maria
with a jail sentence would stop her from speaking up about the many
problems faced by women in the court system, then they are wrong. This
will only motivate her.
The other irony is that jailing Maria will only strengthen the resolve of many Malaysians who will try harder to highlight the suffering of women who were failed by Syariah. They will also demand urgent reform of the Syariah system.
Jailing
Maria reinforces what many Malaysians already know but are powerless to
change. The suffering of the Muslim single mother is an all-too-common
story, which is often largely left untold because it brings shame to the
individual, her family, the community, and our institutions.
At
the mention of Islam or Syariah, many Malaysians are petrified and
refuse to speak up to offer solutions to improve a system, which we all
can see favours men, who put the system in place, to begin with.
Jailing
Maria has proven her right, because yet another woman is being punished
for daring to speak out. Her jail term should be rescinded.
