'Nothing to be ashamed of your body': Activist Fauzia Ilyas posts nude photos on Twitter in support of #IAmRabiPirzada
Fauzia Ilyas is a campaigner of feminism and atheist rights and an open critic of her former religion, Islam, for many of its conservative and misogynist outlooks.
Dutch-Pakistani speaker, political activist, and president and co-founder of Atheist & Agnostic Alliance Pakistan - Fauzia Ilyas - riled up Islamic fundamentalists on Twitter after she posted nude photos of her on Twitter, in support of Pakistani pop singer Rabi Pirzada, whose nude videos had earlier gone viral online and subjected her to mockery by conservatives.
Ilyas said that Rabi Pirzada did nothing wrong as it is her life and her choice. "Shame on those whose [sic] cursing her," the political activist said, condemning the ones who bully women because of their body. Fauzia Ilyas posted nude photos of herself in solidarity with Pirzada and said that women should not feel ashamed of their bodies.
"There’s nothing to be ashamed on your body.I don’t understand why always more & more women get bullied just because of their body. Rabi Pirzada done nothing wrong. Its her life. It’s her choice. Shame on those whose cursing her. #IAmRabiPirzada #Nobodyshame #WestandwithRabi," Fauzia Ilyas tweeted.
The British-Iranian political activist and human rights campaigner, Maryam Namazie, later shared her tweet from her official social media handle and said that there is nothing obscene about women's bodies. Instead, she said the misogynist Islamic view that propagates the culture of shaming women, controlling and policing their bodies and sexuality, is what is obscene.
"There is nothing obscene about women's bodies. What is obscene is the misogynist Islamic view of women's bodies and the shaming culture that aims to control and police women's bodies and sexuality. #IAmRabiPirzada @FauziaGilani," Maryam Namazie tweeted.
Earlier, Pakistani pop singer Rabi Pirzada had been in the news for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Kashmir issue in various ways. Most recently, she was seen fashioning a bomb vest.
Fauzia Ilyas, a campaigner of feminism and atheist rights, is an open critic of her former religion, Islam. Married off at a young age to a businessman she did not even know, Ilyas was sexually abused by her husband and received no help in return. Her parents simply dismissed his acts with Islamic apologia. It was then that Ilyas, in her desperation, gradually started questioning the existence of a supreme deity. Eventually forced out of her home, she later refuted her religion and became an open apostate of Islam after marrying fellow atheist Sayed Gillani in Lahore.
Ilyas and her husband have continued facing charges of blasphemy in Pakistan and from conservative Muslims, who have even issued death threats against her. In 2015, fearing the threat to her life, Ilyas managed to escape to the Netherlands via Dubai seeking political asylum and was later joined by her husband.
Fauzia Ilyas elaborated her stance on Facebook, on her solidarity with Rabi Pirzada with a placard where it is written, '#IAmRabiPirzada'.
"Thank you, everyone, for your support. Nude pictures of Rabi Pir Zada were leaked by another person, however, Pakistani people were cursing her instead of demanding an investigation against the person who leaked those photos and videos. Just wondering after reading many women that why she took such photos. There are several cases where men harassed a woman by sending their nudes in women inbox. Then they don’t feel shame but if a woman comes up with those ideas then their so-called values hurt," she wrote on Facebook.
On Twitter, Fauzia Ilyas was, as expected, criticized by conservative Muslims for her way of supporting the Pakistani pop singer.
However, there were some who were in support of her brave move.
Fauzia Ilyas continued to explain her stance on Facebook.
"It’s hypocrisy and it should be ended now. We’re no one to tell others how to lead your life. We’re no one to tell a woman how should she take her photos Even though Rabi PirZada has clarified several times that she made those photos for her husband. Being a sensible person we should leave that matter but everyone was demanding her nudes, her videos. This is a level of hypocrisy that people were watching those nudes and meanwhile abusing her. It should be stopped now. It is strange that people are not offended when children get raped by Mullahs in mosques, they are not offended when a girl is raped, but they’re offended when a woman comes up with her own choices. It is my choice to support her in this way. If people don’t get offended by nudity while watching the porn then they shouldn’t even get offended to see a naked woman supporting a cause. #IAmRabiPirzada," she wrote on Facebook.
Ilyas had earlier condemned Facebook for taking down Pakistan-based secular and Islam-critical pages, arguing that the social media platform should be one for freedom of self-expression.
Earlier, private photos and videos of the Pakistani pop singer Rabi Pirzada got leaked on the internet after she got into a heated debate on social media with Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Asif Ghafoor.
Rabi Pirzada earlier took to Twitter and posted a photo wearing a suicide vest to threaten PM Modi and was slammed by the social media for having done so.
The singer took to Twitter and posted her photo wearing a suicide vest with a caption, "#ModiHitler i just wish huh #kashmirkibeti."
However, soon after she tweeted her photo, Twitter users took her to task and slammed the pop singer for having such views with many taking jibes on Pakistan saying this is the true mindset of its people.
Not the first time when the Pakistani singer indulged herself in such an act.
Earlier, she shared a video online with snakes and alligators threatening attack against PM Modi after India's landmark decision on Kashmir.