{"id":7442,"date":"2010-12-27T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T08:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=7442"},"modified":"2010-12-27T00:00:22","modified_gmt":"2010-12-27T08:00:22","slug":"afshan-azads-courtroom-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/12\/afshan-azads-courtroom-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Afshan Azad’s Courtroom Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Back in July, I wrote<\/a> about Afshan Azad\u2019s abuse by her father and brother. When they threatened to kill her for having a Hindu boyfriend, she fled to London; her father and brother were questioned and charged by police. Though Azad attempted to drop the charges, her brother and father were tried in court last week. She did not show up to court to testify against them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Afshan Azad. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coverage around Azad\u2019s court case is particularly sensationalized because of her work with the Harry Potter <\/em>films. The Sydney Morning Herald <\/em>republished a Daily Mail<\/em> story and titled it, \u201cHarry Potter actress Afshan Azad beaten and abused<\/a>,\u201d as if the outlet was covering her actual assault (which happened in May), rather than the court case. The Herald<\/em> followed the Daily Mail\u2019s <\/em>initiative; their title was, \u201cHarry Potter actress was beaten and branded a prostitute by her brother after dating man \u2018who was not a Muslim.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian <\/em>upped the yellow journalism ante by publishing the headline, \u201cHarry Potter actress Afshan Azad \u2018missing\u2019 in domestic violence case<\/a>,\u201d making it appear as if Azad has gone missing instead of not showing up to a trial. The Australian <\/em>changed the title from the The Times\u2019 <\/em>original title, \u201cHarry Potter star backs out of \u2018honour crime\u2019 trial<\/a>,\u201d which is a more accurate description of the case.<\/p>\n

Part of the sensationalism of the media surrounding the case involves the details. Specifically, the \u201cMuslim\u201d details. The fact that Azad\u2019s family is Muslim is emphasized in everything from the titles to the highlighted case details. To read most of the articles, one would believe that her family\u2019s faith is more important than the fact that her father and brother assaulted her for dating someone they didn\u2019t approve of.Articles in The Mirror<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> The Daily Mail<\/em><\/a>, and the vastly more trustworthy Guardian<\/em><\/a> report that the reason for her failure to testify is fear. Her statement to the lawyer of her brother and father was the following, \u201cI dearly love my father and brother. The proceedings have caused me no end of distress and if it goes ahead it will make things much worse for me.\u201d The court heard the following (taken from The Australian<\/em>):<\/p>\n

\u201cThat apparently is disapproved of by her family, who are Muslim,\u201d said the barrister. \u201cSpecifically she speaks not only of assault but of threats to kill made jointly by her father and brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Azad had been woken on May 21 by his son shouting: \u201cSort out your daughter, she is a slag,\u201d Mr Vardon said. \u201cHe continued in disputed Bengali to say \u2018just kill her\u2019 and the assault continued in front of him. There was a discussion where she was being called a prostitute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading from the victim\u2019s statement, Mr Vardon said: \u201cMy father began saying he would do it, a reference to kill her, as he did not want his sons to have her blood on their hands and he would do time for it. It was at that point that Miss Azad began to feel very scared.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made a statement to the police on May 22, she having apparently been so scared of her family she left her home address via her bedroom window. Part of her version of events was that he was going to force the complainant into a forced marriage of some sort.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The relationship between stereotypes of Muslims and Azad\u2019s case is illustrated further by the defense of Azad\u2019s relatives. Her family is described as liberal, as evidenced by their support of Azad\u2019s acting career, which would not be \u201cconsistent with a conservative Muslim family.\u201d Making it a matter of \u201cconservative\u201d or \u201cliberal\u201d dances around what actually matters, and that is that her family, which is supposed to make her feel safe, assaulted her. Whether or not they are \u201cliberal\u201d does not matter.<\/p>\n

Azad\u2019s silence may be for many reasons: she may be afraid of her family, she may be afraid of fanning the flames of Islamophobia, and she could even just be afraid of negative press. But it\u2019s clear that fear is in the driver\u2019s seat when it comes to this case.<\/p>\n

Rather than using Azad\u2019s case as opportunity to sensationalize the domestic violence of a film star, it is more timely to initiate a dialogue about stopping culturally justified violence. Azad should not feel like she has to choose between her safety and standing up for herself.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in July, I wrote about Afshan Azad\u2019s abuse by her father and brother. When they threatened to kill her for having a Hindu boyfriend, she fled to London; her father and brother were questioned and charged by police. Though Azad attempted to drop the charges, her brother and father were tried in court last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[59,367,368],"class_list":["post-7442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-afshan-azad","tag-domestic-abuse","tag-domestic-violence"],"yoast_head":"\nAfshan Azad's Courtroom Drama<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Back in July, I wrote about Afshan Azad\u2019s abuse by her father and brother. 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