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India’s Daughter: The Banned Rape Documentary
BY SHEIMA BENEMBAREK On March 4th 2015, the Indian government banned the planned release of India’s Daughter, a documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin, which graphically depicts and discusses the rape epidemic in India through a profile of the gruesome Delhi gang rape of Jyoti Singh. The initial film release in India was scheduled to coincide with International Women’s Day (March 8th), however a court order quickly managed to deter those plans. It would appear that the Indian government believes releasing this documentary would only increase fear, tension and further incidents of violence. On the evening of December 16th 2012, Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old university medical student joined a male…
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Thoughts from a Real Muslim
BY SHEIMA BENEMBAREK I woke up on January 7th 2015 thrilled to begin the second semester of my graduate publishing studies and to continue as publisher of the On the Danforth magazine. Thrilled, that is, until I found out that eight staff members of the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo had been shot and killed by Muslim extremists during their daily editorial meeting that morning. A dark day not only for those working in media and publishing, but for all. As a publishing professional and a Muslim living in Canada for the past ten years, I was struck deeply on several levels. I was both angry and worried. Angry at these…
