The Hindu Business Line : A far cry from freedom

The biggest irony is that I have stood up for women all these years and, today, when I face a vicious attack by religious extremists, I am fighting alone,” says Pakistan’s federal minister for tourism, Nilofar Bakhtiar. “Earlier, when I was the Minister for Women’s Development, I had worked relentlessly on legislation to empower women, including introducing bills like right to inheritance, amendments to the blasphemy law and right of citizenship of men married to Pakistani women. But now, in the face of senseless condemnation from radical clerics — who have done everything to malign me and cast aspersions on my character, I remain defenceless,” rues Nilofar.

It all started some months ago after newspapers published photographs of Nilofar embracing her male instructor during a charity parachute jump in France to raise money for victims of the devastating October-2005 earthquake in Pakistan. An infuriated Nilofar handed in her resignation to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who refused to accept her offer to step down. She says she decided to quit “when I received no support from either my party (Pakistan Muslim League-Q) or the government I was working for”. Even members of the civil society were not spared. She lashed out angrily, saying “that otherwise they go to lengths to point out injustices [but] remained quiet,” in her case.

“How long will we [women of Pakistan] have to take this nonsense,” asks Nilofar. The answer lies somewhat in Rukshanda Naz’s worldview. “However liberal our men may be, there is a beard in their stomachs when it comes to their own home and women,” says Rukshanda, who is the resident director of Aurat Foundation in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) — one of the most conservative provinces in Pakistan. “We are not ready for real emancipation because our men are comfortable seeing us in the role of homemakers,” she adds.

A view validated by the reported comment of one of the Ghazi brothers of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, prior to the hostage crisis and subsequent storming of the mosque recently. “By blindly following the West and asking women to find work outside their home, we are disturbing the natural system,” he had said.

Women in Islam have it really easy, he said. “Unless there is a dire economic need, women are not supposed to work outside. They already have a very responsible task — taking care of the children, which an ayah (nanny) c annot do. And if they have to work outside, they must observe purdah , limit their interaction with male colleagues or, better still, work in a segregated environment,” he had said. The only concession he made for women is that t hey should attain maximum education, but he did not find it necessary for them to put that to any constructive use.

Anila Qamar, Director Programmes, Khwenda Kor — a women’s organisation working in the tribal areas of the frontier province, says, “This attitude is really taking us so many years behind. How will we ever progress if we leave 51 per cent of our population behind doors, or do not involve them in the political process?”

Creeping ‘talibanisation’

Of the many instances of strange decrees against women’s rights, the most recent onslaught would be almost laughable had it not been tragic. A hardliner cleric, Haji Namdar of Amer Bilmaroof Wanahi Anilmunkar (ABWA) in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency, one of the seven tribal principalities in NWFP, has proclaimed on his FM radio station that all women working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would be captured and married off if found working. “NGOs want to spread obscenity and vulgarity through their women workers in our area. Their aim is to weaken the basic belief of Muslims,” he is reported to have said.

In view of the eminent danger, several women working for NGOs in the health sector, especially with vaccinations — vital in rural areas — have been replaced by male workers in Bajaur, a neighbouring principality. Also, some 70 government-appointed health workers reportedly resigned after sermons in mosques termed them “sinful” women.

But it is not just the health sector that bears the brunt of such a harsh view. A few months ago, letters were issued to girls’ schools in other cities of the NWFP asking students, even those at the primary level, to observe purdah. However, this creeping ‘talibanisation’ is being felt not only in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan but is also making inroads into big cities.

In February this year, 36-year-old Zil-e-Huma Usman, the provincial minister for social welfare in Punjab and also a women’s rights activist, was shot dead in Gujranwala while addressing a political rally. Her assassin, a bigoted cleric, was reportedly enraged by her refusal to abide by the Islamic dress code and also had a dislike for the involvement of women in political affairs.

In May, Razia Sultana, an associate professor of the history department at Islamabad’s Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), was hit on the head by a man who said he had been instructed by God to punish women who do not observe a proper dress code. She is among the few teachers at the QAU who do not cover their head. Even though these incidents of extreme violence against women may be disturbing, Anis Haroon, Director, Aurat Foundation, does not find them startling.

Collective questioning

“It’s not a new and sudden trend. The seeds were sown when Pakistan got involved in the training of the Taliban. We are now only witnessing the results of this by way of propagation of their (Taliban’s) moral code and enforcement of the Shariah (Islamic law),” she says.

The issue, says Anis, can only be resolved if the government “takes a strong exception to this”. But “their double policy game, on the one hand, of encouraging these extremist elements (by not coming down hard on them) and, on the other, talking of moderation, is more dangerous.”

Rukshanda endorses this view, saying, “It’s so much easier to terrorise women by setting this trend.”

Terming Zil-e-Huma’s murder a ‘political murder’, she says the biggest tragedy is that there is no serious effort on the part of the State to control these miscreants. Even at the policy level, because the mindset is patriarchal, women’s issues are never given priority. According to her, what is required is a mass movement against these extremist forces. “The time seems just right but perhaps not for the men.”

“This discussion has to come out of our drawing rooms,” agrees Anis. “It’s just not enough to be talking and it’s not a women’s issue alone. Did you see how the Turkish people came out in hordes to support the secular system? Where are our people who talk of empowerment and enlightened moderation?”

Women’s Feature Service