– It’s 2023 now. Where is the price of Shabana? It’s not too late to lay him on his grave, writes Adel Khan Farooq in a debate entry in the online newspaper Utrop.no.
Comedian, social debater and writer Shabana Rehman died on December 29, 2022 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January of the same year. He recently received the Ossietzky Award for 2022 from Norsk PEN, and twenty years earlier he also received the Fritt Ord Award.
Can get street names
Rehman’s funeral is paid for by the state. She is the first of immigrant origin to have her funeral covered by the state. Recently, Sarah Gaulin, a local Labor politician in the Søndre Nordstrand district and managing director of LIM – Equality Integration Mangfold, also suggested that a street in Oslo should be named after Shabana Rehman. The proposal is supported by the Oslo Culture Council.
Adel Khan Farooq believes Rehman should have received a Norwegian-Pakistani award in his lifetime.
– Shabana has received many prestigious awards for her strong commitment and presence, and is now also receiving a state-funded funeral. But as far as I can see, she has not yet received a single award from a Pakistani or Norwegian-Pakistani organization in Norway, she writes.
At the same time, he comes to terms with how he thinks Shabana Rehman was talked about during his upbringing.
– We were raised to hate Shabana. For many years I, and many others of Pakistani origin, have lived with this illusion about her. It was the tree of sin we had been warned not to go near, she writes.
[ Vil oppkalle gate etter Shabana Rehman ]
I didn’t get a price
Khan Farooq points out that Shabana Rehman was not among those who received an award when the committee presented 50 awards to Norwegian-Pakistani on 14 August during the celebration of 50 years since the first migrant workers from Pakistan arrived in Norway.
The August 14 Committee was established in 2003 by right-wing politician Aamir Javed Sheikh and organizer Muhammad Anwar Soofi, to celebrate Pakistan’s National Day in Norway. Since then, they have handed out numerous awards – the most famous being ‘Norwegian Pakistani of the Year’ and ‘Bridge Builder of the Year’. In 2022, presenter Noman Mubashir received the award for ‘Norwegian Pakistani of the Year’.
The former Norwegian magazine X-plosiv (later called Blend) he also received the “Norwegian Pakistani of the Year” award in his time. In 2007, this award also went to Noman Mubashir, he was then Shabana Rehman among the six candidates. The prize was awarded until 2010, and in those years it went to Hadia Tajik, Tahir Hussain and Kadafi Zaman.
[ Frihetskjemperen – Shabana Rehman 1976 – 2022 ]
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