Changing Priorities

Today, numerous Bangladeshi women are taking charge of their personal and professional lives. However, widespread gender bias and violence continue to challenge their dreams of emancipation and empowerment. Have the two women Prime Ministers of Bangladesh made a difference in the life of an average woman?

South Asian politics is dominated by dynastic trends and the presence of women leaders at the helm of affairs. The former is an unfortunate reality but the latter should be a source of pride for developing nations that have traditionally struggled with gender issues to provide their women with some very basic human rights. Whether it is the assassinated former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Indira Gandhi of India, or the still vibrant Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, we must credit these women for their determination and persistence against the norms of their male-dominated cultures. Unfortunately, however, that is not a testament to women’s empowerment because not only do most of these women leaders have a strong male connection as primary reason for their rise to power, but also the life of an average woman has remained largely unchanged under their rule.

Bangladesh is a developing nation of 165 million with an adult literacy rate of about 55%. It has been run almost exclusively for the past two decades by Bangladesh’s two Begums – current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Awami League (AL), and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s independence hero and first prime minister murdered in 1975. Khaleda Zia is the widow of former president, Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman assassinated in a failed coup attempt in 1981.

As Prime Ministers, the Begums have been known to run corrupt regimes, and faced criminal charges. In 2007, the army tried to end their monopoly on power when it seized power by splitting their vote banks and trying to create alternate forces. However, the Begums’ parties proved resilient and Sheikh Hasina came back to power in Dec 2008 and promptly resumed business as usual by filing more corruption charges against her opponent.

It is safe to say the last two decades have seen Bangladeshi women become more visible on the social and professional scene, but the gains have fallen short of expectation, especially under successive women Prime Minsters. So while the Begums focus on each other, the majority of women fight their own battles at home and in the social sphere against harassment, assault, kidnapping, acid throwing, and murder over dowry disputes.

Amnesty International reported that in 2010 police had received more than 3,500 complaints of physical abuse of women over dowry disputes, and in 2011, violence against women topped all crimes reported to the police between January and June, and 1586 out of 7,285 complaints were of rape cases. Due to prevalent patriarchal social attitudes, women in general, but especially from low socioeconomic backgrounds, lack access to resources for protection or legal redress. Domestic violence, however, transcends class barriers and acid-throwing is a brutal favoured punishment of spurned suitors or disgruntled husbands. There is also extensive trafficking of women to other countries in Asia and Middle East, lured by job prospects but forced into prostitution.

Moreover, The Daily Star quoted United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) on International Women’s Day 2012 asserting that much effort was still needed to improve the lives of women in Bangladesh. The report said that almost half of the female population in Bangladesh is married before reaching 16, which results in higher pregnancy rate in adolescence, and undernourished mothers then give birth to underweight babies. Many young girls are still denied schooling and face bleak futures. UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon urged the government, civil society and the private sector to work for gender equality in Bangladesh, which had not kept pace with strides in economic development.

Clearly, Bangladesh’s economic gains are not fully transferred to its women though their contribution to the economy is substantial, especially to the garment industry which is the source of 90% of Bangladesh’s foreign exchange. Institutions like Grameen Bank and BRAC have revolutionized the lives of many rural women by extending micro-credit to them, and have contributed to their economic empowerment, but unfortunately, Grameen Bank founder, the Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, has been attacked by Sheikh Hasina, ironically again, in what is seen as a political move.

Gender bias has also often surfaced through religious expression. In April 2011, CNN reported   that when the government announced its Women Development Policy 2011 about inheritance of property, protests broke out from the radical Islamic parties that considered it a violation of the Quran’s injunctions about inheritance. Ironically, the opposition party BNP of Kahleda Zia was reported to be supporting the protest, undermining the cause of women’s empowerment just to gain some political mileage.

In July 2011, Human Rights Watch reiterated its concern for Bangladeshi women who are increasingly on the receiving end of religious fatwas issued by so-called scholars, even against the rulings of civil courts, in shalishes, the traditional dispute resolution methods. These decrees have resulted in humiliating punishments resulting in death for young girls wrongly accused. The punishments include imposing fines, lashing, cutting hair or blackening faces, and ostracizing families, carried out by vigilantes. While many of these incidents go unreported, human rights groups claim at least 300 such incidents have occurred in the last decade. In 2011, one particular case in Shariatpur district highlighted the seriousness of the issue when the shalish ordered 100 lashes to Hena Akhter for an alleged affair, when she had reportedly been sexually abused. She collapsed while the punishment was being carried out, and later died. Thus, the government’s failure to effectively address such incidences and implement legislation continues to result in grievous harm to women under the watch of their woman Prime Minister.

 It should be a matter of pride for Bangladesh that in November 2010 it was elected to the board of UN Women, but to do justice to this role Bangladesh’s Begums need to shift focus from personal and political gains and use their position to aggressively to work towards emancipation and empowerment of the average woman. Only then can the Bangladeshi women be truly proud of their Begums. 

A version of this article was published in SouthAsia, April 2012, as Changing Priorities

Demystifying Shari'ah

The conference held at the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, on Saturday, March 31, was appropriately named as "Demystifying Shari'ah" - a word not many were familiar with until a few years ago, a concept so charged today that it fiercely divides communities and send chills down spines.

The aim of the conference was to educate the audience in a spirit similar to what President John F. Kennedy had famously said, "…a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

The full-day long program ended with dinner as per tradition of the Islamic Center of New England – some of my friends find the spicy food served at the ICNE reason enough to attend any event there, so I was hoping that combined with the topic's popularity (or notoriety?) would draw a big crowd. I am thankful to those who came, though I did not see many unfamiliar faces and felt an opportunity for sharing concerns and seeking answers seemed lost. I assumed many were either held up by prior commitments or by the inability to overcome their fears – or perhaps, simply, the advertising efforts needed more work!

Read full article at  Sharon Patch

Futile Efforts

“We can help train an army, we can help equip an army, we can help build facilities for the army, but only the Afghan people can breathe a soul into that army.” Lt Gen. Karl Eikenberry, former Commander, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan( CFC-A)

The decade long War on Terror in Afghanistan seems to be coming to a close – or at least scaling down to a limited presence of foreign forces from active combat to a supportive role by 2014. Understandably, there is both hope and apprehension not only for the Afghanis but also the most affected neighboring country of Pakistan, and the US whose terrorism-related pursuits have resulted in its investment of enormous manpower and material resources into the Afghan quagmire. However, a strong and independent Afghanistan is crucial to the security of the region. That requires, among other things, a successful transition of responsibility for primary security to the Afghan National Army (ANA).

Afghanistan has a long history of interruptions in political process due to tribal rivalries and violence, and external invasion and occupation, and existence of tribal militias goes back much longer than the presence of the ANA. The country’s history of resistance against foreign invaders and internal insurgencies also goes side by side with other crippling issues of gender discrimination, illiteracy – only 28% of Afghans can read and write. (UNICEF, 2008) – its ranking of174/178 countries on the global Human Development Index, and its status of a leader in illegal opium production supporting 90% of global production (UNDP, 2007). All these issues do not contribute to a promising picture. 

In 2002, realizing that bringing ANA back on its feet would be crucial to bringing any form of stability in the future of the country, the US and NATO began training and organizing the ANA. Now, having achieved some major objectives of the War on Terror (WoT), and with exit strategies of NATO and the US forces for 2014 in place, building ANA’s capacity has assumed more importance. Over the years, NATO and the US trainers faced numerous challenges due to post-Soviet era chaos and the violence and insurgency resulting from WoT,  including working with non-existent infrastructure, navigating traditional ethnic rivalries and crippling levels of illiteracy, widespread drug abuse, and ineffective role played by the central government.

Clearly, no quick solution was possible. So, work began despite these serious inadequacies. A report titled, “It’s Starting to Look a Lot Like an Army” (LA Times, 2006) quotes Commander Leppert talking about the difficulty of the job, “We are building an airplane while the airplane is flying.”  While praising the hard work of the Afghan troops, the report described how the “Afghan commanders and soldiers complain of poor pay, faulty weapons, ammunition shortages and lack of protective gear. US trainers, while praising Afghan soldiers for their bravery, complain of slovenly appearance, lack of discipline, petty theft, mistreated equipment and infiltration of the army by Taliban spies or soldiers who sell information.” Several incidents have surfaced over the years where infiltrators were caught trying to gain access to information and some officers were caught for arms trafficking. The ANP has been implicated in massacre of civilians (Matthieu Aikins, The Atlantic), and the Afghan Local Police in killings, rape, abductions and illegal raids (Human Rights Watch Sept 2011). That makes the job of preparing an effective and respected army even harder.

Despite the challenges, and while the overall perception of security has declined periodically, ANA is generally seen in a positive light by the general population. An Asia Foundation (2006) opinion poll also supports that view, stating that 87% of Afghans still support the ANA because they see it as an alternative to other more corrupt government forces. NATO trainers applaud small successes of ANA and find it satisfying that ANA is now somewhat prepared to play a significant role in actively participating in, and sometimes leading, military operations. Their participation helps NATO and US forces to carry out bigger operations. Partnering with the Afghan forces allows them to make contact with local populations while they conduct combat operations with insurgents. The importance of forming a relationship of trust with the local population through Afghan forces cannot be ignored as the exit for a major part of foreign troops draws near, while liaisons are needed for others who plan to remain behind in supportive roles for another decade. Over the years the supportive and leading role of ANA has been tested with leading combat and search/clearance operations successfully, though on a smaller scale. These successes however, do not predict a strong ANA in the near future. It is going to be a long haul.

In the post-NATO/US Afghanistan, ANA’s active participation has significant importance for Pakistan which needs that stability in its neighboring country to be able to send millions of Afghan refugees and insurgents back to their home country. With its own economic challenges growing bigger by the day, Pakistan is ill-equipped to support any longer these refugees it took in on humanitarian grounds firstly in the Soviet war of the 80s, and later amid insurgency and violence following WoT. The fallout from the WoT has crippled Pakistan’s security as well, despite international support and extensive internal efforts. Pakistan’s geo-strategic location offers economic dividends that Pakistan has not been able to utilize due to security concerns and Pakistan also needs that stability to be able to check Afghanistan’s opium production landing in Pakistan on its way to European markets, and destroying the youth of the country.

 ANA’s work in Afghanistan is not going to be easy after most of the coalition forces leave in 2014. If NATO and US make their exit without ensuring that the ANA is well-equipped and trained enough to exert a positive influence over the war-weary and traumatized population, the rewards reaped from their work so far might be lost entirely and the country might slip back into chaos as militias become more organized. While addressing ANA’s internal issues is extremely important to achieving any success with them,  it is also important to understand that unless poor governance, corruption and human rights abuses are addressed side by side, stability in Afghanistan will remain a distant dream. Ultimately, only “the Afghan people can breathe a soul into that army”.

 Published in SouthAsia as Futile Efforts, Feb 2012

A Legacy of Hate

Op-Ed

It is time to heal ourselves now

A children’s coloring book recently published by Big Coloring Books, Inc., in St. Louis, titled,We shall never Forget - The Kids Book of Freedom has sparked much controversy of late. It claims to be a tribute to the victims of 9/11, but many are questioning its deeper agenda.

Responding to criticism, Wayne Bell, the publisher of the book, has denied it advocates anti-Muslim sentiment. He was quoted on Abc News as saying, “This book under no way… zero, zero… no way… mentions Islam or Muslims…it does not mention Islam in generalities...” He claims the book was “created with honesty, integrity, reverence, respect and does not shy away from the truth.” However, a cursory glance through the book makes one pause to consider the implications of the message it appears to advocate – albeit unintentionally, if we are to honor Wayne Bell’s words.

To begin with, the phrase ‘radical Islamic Muslim extremists’ appears ten times through the course of its 36 pages, and in one section the book claims: “These attacks will change the way America deals with and views the Islamic and Muslim people around the world…”, connecting all Muslims living in countries around the world to 9/11, and making no attempt to distinguish between the small minority engaged in promoting violence and the majority of peaceful Muslims worldwide. It might be true to say that the attacks have influenced the American foreign policy towards Muslim countries since 9/11, but the last decade has also brought to us the sad reality of how America has changed the way it deals with its own Muslim citizens, where despite assurances otherwise embedding of FBI informans pretending to be Muslim converts inside mosques are now old stories. This has been widely criticized as a counter-productive measure since it appears to treat all Muslims as part of the problem.

 On a more personal level, Americans now view their fellow countrymen with suspicion and hatred. This has alienated huge sections of the society and pitted communities against each other which should have been working to buid relationships. Similarly, institutions that should be working in collaboration with each other to defeat violent extremism end up being in collision due to lack of trust. This situation has undermined the strength of the American society and created fissures in the beautiful mosaic of ethnicities, cultures and Faiths that America has always been proud to host.

The book also makes other observations that appear to be unfounded and based on conjecture, for example, “Children, the truth is, these terrorist acts were done by freedom-hating radical Islamic Muslim extremists. These crazy people hate the American way of life because we are FREE and our society is FREE.” The simple fact of the matter is that 9/11 and later acts were not carried out by individuals who hated the American way of life, but by individuals who have used their religion as an excuse to further their personal agenda. Terrorism is all about power and control, and terrorists of all affiliations use excuses to further their agenda, and gather support from the like-minded. A simple question we can all ask ourselves is, if the supremacy of Islam is the main motivation for these self-proclaimed defenders of faith, why do they continue to kill innocent Muslim men, women and children in staggering numbers in Muslim countries?  No one can refute the fact that the 9/11 bombing was carried out by individuals who were Muslim. We know they were Muslims because they believed themselves to be, and we have to accept how a person wants to define himself,  but why are we failing to make a clear distinction between them and the mainstream Muslims?

Perhaps the American nation needs to pause for a moment and try to make sense of the cacophony of messages it receives from multiple sources, each with its own agenda, and reflect not only on the immediate impact of the sad event of 9/11, but also the long term effects of the decisions they make today that will shape the lives of their future generations. The periodic resurfacing of hateful agendas may be the price of living in a free society, as a dear friend pointed out to me, but freedom also comes with responsibility – a responsibility for everyone, but more so for those who may not be on the receiving end of this campaign of hate but who believe in upholding justice and fairness for all. It is only when the silent majority stands up to deny anyone the opportunity to contribute to further disintegration of societal fabric that we will begin to heal.

The publisher’s claim, if we are to acknowledge as credible, that the book has already sold out of its first print run of 10,000 copies should be a cause of alarm for all of us. Can we hope that more parents will begin to make a conscious choice to not let anyone pass on a legacy of hate to their children? Can we, indeed, hope to leave a better world for our children based on tolerance and respectful engagement?

Let us say, “Enough!” and move on now. We owe our children a future full of hope, not regret. 

A version of this article was published in Sharon Patch as Divided, We Fall 

India - a Quest for Identity

Living in a melting pot of races, religions and cultures, the inhabitants of Northeast India continue to struggle with an identity crisis while battling decades of ethnic conflict.

Northeastern India consists of the seven sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and parts of North Bengal. This is a very diverse region and has strong ethnic and cultural ties with Southeast and East Asia while it is officially a part of India since 1947. These states constitute a special category which is officially recognized by the Indian government. The major religions practiced here include Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.  

Northeast India has seen a steady flow of immigrants throughout history, which accounts for its ethnic, linguistic cultural and religious diversity. Linguistically, the Bengali and Assamese speakers have been the most in numbers, as Subir Bhaumik pointed out in Ethnicity, Ideology and Religion: Separatist Movements in India’s Northeast, and the statistics regarding linguistic majority have been influenced by political affiliations e.g. in Assam, the migrant Muslims of Bengali origin registered as Assamese speakers between 1947 and 1982 to become part of the larger community, but after the 1983 riots, many of these Muslims began to register as Bengali speakers, changing the statistics about the number of Assamese speakers in the 1991 and 2001 Census.

There are three main groups inhabiting the Northeastern region which have been at odds with each other: the Assamese, the Bengalis and the tribal communities. Historically, wave after wave of migration towards the region was directed from the Eastern Asian countries like Tibet, Burma and Thailand, and the 1947 Partition led to increase of Bengali Hindu and Muslim refugees. As happens with demographic change and tipping of ethnic balance in any region when also accelerated by political maneuvering, a feeling of discrimination and deprivation slowly established itself and hatt has led to a constant sparking of ethnic violence for decades, uprooting families and claiming lives.

This sense of discrimination has been aggravated to a level that the resulting agitation has led to accusations of changed political loyalties of the Assamese towards the Indian government. This attitude of distrust has sustained in the minds of some politicians and policy makers and has prevented implementation of policies for social uplifting and effective conflict management. The fact that is conveniently ignored by politicians is that the historical differences and resulting conflict actually originate from the Colonial era discriminatory treatment of Assamese, and has continued due to mismanagement by the government and exploitation by political leaders.  

Several reasons are acknowledged by economists and policy makers to be the cause of conflict in this region. One of them is the region’s geographical location as a poorly integrated remote corner of the country. Assam is landlocked by Bangladesh, Bhutan and Tibet and is joined by a narrow corridor with India through Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Some blame successive economic and political policies of the Indian government relying on use of force to suppress conflict rather than to manage and understanding it, and sometimes even just focusing on temporary political gains.  Dr. Shakuntala Bora of Gauhati University finds in the course of her research that the reasons for the identity crisis of the ethnic groups in Assam include their awareness of being different from the majority group, a sense of being discriminated against and a strong desire for a significant share in political power – all of which are legitimate concerns for self-assertion.  Dov Ronen, who has been affiliated with Harvard University’s Centre for International Affairs, also suggests that ethnic nationalism is just an expression of self determination and, “ethnicity is politicized into the ethnic factor when an ethnic group is in conflict with the political elite over such issues as the use of limited resources or the allocation of benefits.”

The Northeasterners also suffer discrimination due to their physical appearance. Racially, they are considered to be closer to Southeast Asia, and have trouble fitting in and being accepted by the larger Indian population. The discrimination has resulted in a steady increase over the years in trafficking of, and sexual violence against, women which is seen, based to a 2011 study of North-East Support Center and helpline (NESCH), by Madhu Chandra as “a reflection of India's caste practices and social system as majority of North-East Indians come from Scheduled Castes and Tribes and ethnically Mongoloid race, which falls out of caste hierarchy.” Though the Indian constitution protects right of minorities, practically, there has been little protection from hate crimes and exploitation for the Northeasterners even in the capital, Delhi. Northeasterners working or studying in Delhi have complained of having little support from the police or legal system. Hence, it is seen that most of the cases go unreported. Even when reported, however, they are often denied FIRs or their cases are delayed by the police and courts. According to the NESCH, of the cases studied less than half were taken up by police, out of which only 1% actually made it to court. Derogatory terms are also in common usage for referring to Northeastern men and women. To add to their misery, Northeast Indians face identity crisis not only in their own country, but due to their East Asian looks but Indian passports, they are also meted out the same treatment when they travel to adjoining Bhutan, Nepal, China and Myanmar. This discriminatory behavior often fuels anger and sense of deprivation among the inhabitants of this region and contributes to socio-political unrest and communal violence. It is no wonder that the Northeast has been India’s most insurgency affected region.

A crisis in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies may result from suppression or exploitation of any group. To prevent it from blowing into a full-fledged conflict, we need policies that prevent polarization and encourage integration. Politicization of ethnicity which turns it into ethnic conflict has to stop. Without effective solution, or continuance of discriminatory policies, the situation only leads to insurgency and militancy as observed in Northeast India for the last many decades.

 Published : SouthAsia Magazine, as India: A Quest for Identity Dec, 2011 

Before and After

Opinion

Election 2008 - anticipation, apprehension or apathy?

Election fever in the US is gaining momentum, and while the US citizens excitedly debate and weigh their options, it’s a little quiet on this side of the globe with the Superpower’s ally also preparing to vote a new government into power on February 18, 2008. In fact, the excitement at this end is conspicuous by its absence.

True democracy has always been an elusive dream for Pakistan – promised but never delivered. The brief stints by the political parties edged in between the periods of military rule caused further deterioration of the system and did little to bring prosperity to the general public – basically, the civilian and the military governments have proven to be the classic ‘carrot and stick’ for the citizens of Pakistan. Survival has been their main concern while the bigger players set their own rules in the games they played at the expense of the national exchequer.

The year 2007 will be remembered not only for the judicial crisis and media curbs but also as a sad year with sounds of blasts reverberating in the background of our memory landscape and body parts scattered like debris in the foreground. The spate of violence that followed the popular PPP leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Dec 27, 2007 rode straight into 2008 – the year the new government was to herald a new beginning. The election scheduled for February 18, 2008 seems to hold little promise for this crises-prone country.

The relative calm of the pre-election phase is worth pondering. The reason the political parties seem to show a bit of tolerance for one another is probably born out of fear that the elections might be postponed indefinitely otherwise and that would serve no one’s purpose. Secondly, many people lost their lives in the suicide bomb attacks in the last year. As the election date draws near, the relative calm is starting to give way and campaigners are targeted and killed – the latest being the attack in Parachinar at the PPP-sponsored rally killing 46 of those present and injuring another 110. Although more than 200,000 security personnel have been deployed at all the sensitive areas to ensure a peaceful election, the voter is discouraged by these disturbing developments – already fatigued and left with little energy, battling multiple crises. A general feeling of apathy may also have set in – disappointment with those at the helm of affairs being at its worst and expectation at its lowest – knowing that the change of faces does not necessarily improve their lot.

As for the post-election situation, popular opinion polls focusing on current election campaigns of major parties have already shown PPP as being the favourite mainly due to the sympathy vote generated by Bhutto’s assassination. PML-N and the PPP are ready to form a coalition government after the election. On the other hand, PML-Q allying with the President is seen to hold an advantage for already having a foot inside the government; although President Musharraf has categorically stated: "I guarantee that these [elections] will be free and fair." The opposition parties doubt the sincerity of his assertions and openly accuse him of planning to execute massive rigging. The recent report released by Human Rights Watch quoting the Attorney General Malik Qayyum of massive rigging planned by the government does not help the government’s cause at all.

This election is also being viewed by some political analysts as a useless exercise – a waste of the sum of Rs. 200 billion spent on conducting an election whose outcome is likely to fall apart within six months. If PML-Q loses, would the President accept the result with the ‘grace’ that he advocates the losing parties show, even though he is aware that a hostile parliament would almost surely seek his ouster? The new COAS, General Kiyani, is not likely to allow his predecessor to reign in the opposition with the military’s help as has been done in the past. As a result, it might jeopardize the perceived cohesion between the Army Chief and the President’s office. If on the other hand the King’s Party (PML-Q) does win, the opposition is expected to use the rigging-card and carry out a full-fledged agitation campaign – a no-win situation, either way.

Whether the players would show maturity and think of the wider national interest rather than personal victories remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: tough times leaden with tough choices are knocking.


Published Mar 2008,  Before and After  in SouthAsia Magazine