Meet Mangaluru’s Mubeena Banu who secured government job after 13-year-long legal battle
Mangaluru: In a remarkable tale of perseverance and determination, Mubeena Banu, a Muslim woman from Hokkodigoli in Arambodi village, Belthangady taluk, has secured a government post after a 13-year-long legal battle.
Mubeena Banu, the tenth child of Muhammad H, a beedi contractor, and D. Zainaba, pursued her education in her village from 1st standard to 2nd PUC. She later completed her graduation from a private college in Moodbidri and earned her post-graduation (MA) from Mangalore University, Konaje. In 2008, with the aim of fulfilling her parents' dream, she applied for the post of Supervisor in the Women and Child Welfare Department.
Despite her qualifications, she faced a setback when she was not selected for the post in 2010. Undeterred, Mubeena Banu investigated the reason for her exclusion and discovered a discrepancy in her marks. Her BA degree marks were recorded incorrectly as 71.79% instead of the actual 75.36%. Despite facing resistance from senior officers, Mubeena persisted in her efforts, seeking support from former MLAs Vasant Bangera and Ramanatha Rai.
Having relocated from Mittabailu to Melkar and working as a lecturer in a private educational institution, Mubeena approached Speaker UT Khader for assistance in her final attempt. She filed a complaint with the Lokayukta and approached the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT). Through persistent efforts, KAT ruled in favor of Mubeena Banu.
On January 10, 2024, the Women and Child Welfare Department issued an appointment order to Mubeena Banu for the position of Supervisor at the Office of Child Development Project Officer, Bantwal Taluk. Mubeena, who initially applied from Arambodi village, is now in Sajipa Muda village of Bantwal taluk with her husband, marking the culmination of her arduous journey.
Reflecting on her journey, Mubeena expressed gratitude to her late father, a social worker who emphasized education, and her mother for their unwavering support. She acknowledged the financial assistance from her parents and husband Ismail Khader during her numerous trips to Bangalore Vidhana Soudha and departmental offices. Mubeena also highlighted the crucial support from Lokayukta officer Amanullah, Speaker UT Khader, and his close assistant Libzat.
In her own words, Mubeena Banu said, "UT Khader always supported my persistence and struggled to get that government post, which I missed due to the mistake on the part of the officials. Maybe it can be said that after he intervened, the path of my struggle became easier."
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
