UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 31, 1997
7A
Pope sends message of hope
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY — Decrying the forces of evil, Pope John Paul II sent a message of hope for the victims of violence in Albania and Africa in his Easter Sunday message.
As has become his custom, the 76-year-old pontiff used the Urbi et Orbi ("To the City and to the World") blessing to appeal for peace in world trouble spots.
"Christ is the hope ... of those who see life and the future threatened by war and hatred, especially in the heart of Africa," said the pope.
"May the power of the Risen Christ sustain those who work to strengthen peace and democracy,
Pope John Paul II
often obtained at the cost of great sacrifice, as in the Balkans, and especially in beloved Albania," said the pope, who plans a visit to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in two weeks.
He also called for harmonious living in the Holy Land and said that his thoughts went out in a special way to the hostages held by rebels since December at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru.
For Christians, Easter is a celebration of Jesus' resurrection after death by crucifixion.
"Christ is truly risen! In him, today, we can overcome the forces of evil," said John Paul, who delivered Easter greetings in 57 languages.
In a departure from tradition, the pope spoke seated in a chair near the outdoor altar rather than from the basilica balcony, which had a banner and curtain set up in preparation for his presence.
The Vatican blamed the change on the late start of the pope's outdoor Easter Mass before the message. He risked missing the satellite feed for the message's worldwide broadcast if he had gone up to the balcony, officials said.
Some 100,000 people filled St. Peter's Square, marked by splashes of yellow, pink and white from flowers donated by Dutch cultivators.
John Paul appeared in relatively good form, if a bit tired, after a long week of celebrations, which culminated in vestedday's rites.
Albania, torn by chaos and violence for weeks, and Zaire, scene of a long-running civil war, have been foremost in the pope's mind during the Holy Week celebrations.
He has referred to the countries several times in public remarks, and Albanians and Zalrians were selected for Saturday's traditional baptisms by the pope and for the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum.
Women's garb veiled by controversy
Islam dictates modest attire in Persian Gulf
The Associated Press
SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates — Samira Ismaili can see the world around her through a thin slit in her veil. The world sees little more of Ismaili than her eyes. The rest of her remains concealed by folds of black cloth.
Still, among the conservative Muslims of the Persian Gulf, showing even a woman's eyes is too much. Hard-line Islamic clerics argue that the "niqab —the eye-revealing veil that Gulf women are taking to—can encourage promiscuity.
Women's eyes are too alluring, the clerics argue. And worse yet, the hard-liners say, some women are wearing kohl—an age-old Arab version of eyeliner—doubling the temptation for men to stare and women to stare back.
In mosques, religious edicts, or fatwas, are handed out urging a return to the traditional veil that covers the entire face. In one fatwa, a Saudi cleric says that "the gates of evil shall open and will be difficult to shut again" if any man can look into a woman's eyes.
Ismaila's almond-shaped, brown eyes register hurt when this is discussed, for she believes the niqab is her way to be closer to Allah.
"I'm at peace because I feel I will not incur God's wrath," says
Ismaili.34.
The idea of the veil comes from the Koran, Islam's holy book, which says women must hide their "adornments" from all but their husbands. This has led to the tradition of Muslim women wearing a whole range of scarves, veils and even masks when outside their homes.
Many Muslim women wear the "hijab," which covers the hair—or most of it—but shows the face. Veils that reveal just the eyes have long been used in some places. But in the Gulf, tradition dictated a gauzy black cloth that hides the woman's face entirely and allows her to see the world only dimly.
The wearing of the veil seems to cause as much fuss as any aspect of Islam, both in the Muslim world and outside. Westerners—and some Muslims—argue it is a way to subjugate women. But other Muslim women say it gives them a comfortable anonymity.
Many Muslim women gave up the veil earlier in the century, wearing Western styles instead to be modern. But with Islam gaining a stronger influence in the last 20 years, so have the veil and scarf.
In Sharjah, Ismaili sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor of her home and explained that her life had been a series of veils.
First, she covered her entire face, as her mother had. But after she had an embarrassing stumble, her husband suggested she cover her hair with an "abaya," a black cloak, but leave her face showing so she could see where she was going. Now, with many Arab women returning to tradition, she has taken to the niqab.
Along with piety, reasons given for donning the garment include pressure from family and friends and its stvlishness in the Gulf these days.
Women in niqab do not socialize with strange men, but it hasn't stopped them from taking on careers. It is not unusual to see Gulf women wearing niqabs while driving cars or talking on cell phones.
Fatima, 43, claims she was one of the first women in Sharjah to don the niqab seven years ago. She gave up her scarf for the more conservative niqab not from religious conviction but because her husband pushed her to do so.
"Soon afterward, I welcomed it because my husband stopped nagging that I wore too much makeup or opened my mouth too wide when I laughed," said Fatima, who asked that her last name not be used.
"Now I can laugh as loud as I want and open my mouth as wide as I like. Nobody is going to know who I am," she said with a giggle.
Fatima has heard the criticisms of the niqab's focus on the allure of women's eyes, and she has stopped using black-powdered kohl around her eyes.
She did so at the urging of her daughter, a 22-year-old medical student who wears the niqab and considers kohl too enticing.
Most of the anti-niqab clerics are from Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the guardian of Islamic orthodoxy. They argue that the anonymity of the niqab can foster immorality, and one fatwa relates a married Saudi woman's confession of her temptation after donning the niqab.
"I began looking at men very openly and would see their eyes
Samira ismalli Muslim woman
"I feel I have earned my respect. Being anonymous gives me freedom."
and feel their astonishment," the woman's account said.
"I began to hear compliments. Flattering remarks were music to my ears. One thing led to another, and the fear subsided and finally disappeared. ... When a man noticed my excitement and approval, he gave me his phone number."
Despite complaints against the niqab, Ismaili sees it as God's will and said it liberated her.
"I feel I have earned my respect. Being anonymous gives me freedom," she said.
She also has given up wearing kohl and now sits with male relatives or friends only in the presence of her husband.
"Islam says that temptation results from mingling between men and women and that that women are often subjected to insults," Ismaila said. "I prefer that God is happy with me, not that men are. I feel God is satisfied with me—and would take me to Heaven."
Peru's hostage crisis lingers on
Easter brings hope, no end
The Associated Press
LIMA, Peru — President Alberto Fujimori has again rejected a key demand from rebels holding 72 captives, dampening Easter weekend speculation that an end to Peru's hostage crisis was close.
"The framework in which we're working is the same, which is to say, not to release any of them," Fujimori told a television news program, Contrapunto, on Saturday. However, he said that talks had advanced.
Despite newspaper reports that the government and leftist guerrilla captors were considering a deal, Fujimori said in an interview broadcast yesterday that he had not budged from his refusal to release several hundred jailed rebels.
Tupac Amaru leader Nestor Cerpa said this weekend that the standoff at the Japanese ambassador's residence would continue as long as the government refused to free his comrades.
Cerpa, who led a team of commandos that seized the compound during a cocktail
party on Dec. 17, denied that a resolution to the hostage crisis was close.
Fujimori was more positive, saying that preliminary talks had practically finished and that the two sides had reached agreement on some issues.
He said that Cerpa and government negotiator Domingo Palermo still needed to hold some meetings.
"There was a lot of speculation this Easter Week that a peaceful way out would happen, but it wasn't in the final stage," he said.
Talks between the rebels and the government were expected to resume this week
Last week, Peruvian newspapers reported that mediators had crafted a plan in which the rebels would be offered a payoff and safe passage to Cuba, which has agreed to accept the rebels. The deal also would include the promise of early release for some, but not all, jailed Tupac Amaru rebel.
Fujimori said that the rebels had been flexible on the issue of a ransom payment.
"I understand that there's no insistence on that subject," he said.
"They're physically well. But from the psychological point of view, it could be causing deterioration in their health after more than 100 days of being confined."
Politics hostile in India
The Associated Press
liament reconvenes in three weeks.
NEW DELHI, India — The Congress Party, which has dominated Indian politics since leading the country to independence from Britain in 1947, suddenly withdrew its support from the governing coalition yesterday, meaning new elections may be necessary for the second time in a year.
Congress called on Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to resign, blaming his government for what the party called a failure to curb Hindu nationalism and for a breakdown of law and order.
Gowda's 14-party United Front coalition responded defiantly, saying that it would battle to stay in office when par-
The timing of the move came as a surprise because India and Pakistan were engaged in their first formal dialogue for three years in an effort to ease tension between the hostile neighbors. The political upheaval was likely to overshadow the talks, which are due to end today.
A spokesman for the United Front coalition said that the prime minister would not resign.
Opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the withdrawal of Congress' support would likely lead to an election and that he doubted that any party could command a majority in parliament.
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