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

Surviving in a Man's World

“Violence against women is a violation of human rights that cannot be justified by any political, religious, or cultural claim.” ( Amnesty International )

Are women’shuman rights given the importance they deseve?

Discrimination against, and exploitation of, women is rife in many societies of the world be they developed, developing or under-developed. Unfortunately, violence against women is also the most socially tolerated form of abuse in cultures across the globe.

“This year, more than 15,000 women will be sold into sexual slavery in China. 200 women in Bangladesh will be horribly disfigured when their spurned husbands or suitors burn them with acid. More than 7,000 women in India will be murdered by their families and in-laws in disputes over dowries. Violence against women is rooted in a global culture of discrimination which denies women equal rights with men and which legitimizes the appropriation of women's bodies for individual gratification or political ends.” (Broken Bodies, Shattered Minds: Torture and Ill Treatment of Women, Amnesty International, 2001)

The UN High Commission on Refugees advocates that "women fearing persecution or severe discrimination on the basis of their gender should be considered a member of a social group for the purposes of determining refugee status." (Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women)

TYPES OF VIOLENCE:

Domestic violence- A personal matter?

Domestic violence violates a woman’s right to freedom of thought and action, and to physical integrity. Unfortunately, it is often viewed as a ‘personal matter’. A woman may be beaten up or tortured for something as simple as being negligent in performing household chores. Domestic crimes are allowed to go unchecked frequently in patriarchal societies. It is important to understand that when the law fails to provide protection to the victim, the state also becomes a party to inflicting torture upon its own citizens.

The Condemned Bride

In most under developed countries, women are not given an equal status to men in political, social, and economic spheres. Hence, suppression of women is common. Rejecting a marriage proposal, or bringing a small dowry for many women in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh might result in serious repercussions. These women may be set on fire or acid burnt – and die of third-degree burns - or blinded and severely disfigured for life. The statistics for women dying at home from such ‘accidental’ deaths are found to be the highest among young married women.

Killing in the name of “honour”

In Eastern societies, women are considered to represent the family honour. When suspected of violating that honour, they are savagely punished by their own fathers, brothers or husbands. Once accused, they are treated as ‘guilty until proven innocent’. In Pakistan, when they are accused of the crime of ‘Zina’, which is punishable by death with stoning under Shar’ia law, there is little hope for them to get justice. Sometimes, young girls also become targets of lifelong violence by rival tribes when offered in compensation for settling feuds; or targeted for revenge as a result of a wrongdoing committed by their men - the gang-rape of Mukhtar Mai in Meerwala, Pakistan, is a case in point.

Miseries of women in prison

Women in jails become victims of further abuse at the hands of the guards because of their total dependency on them. They are pressurized to provide sexual favours to avoid punishment, or to avail relaxation in certain rules. Sometimes they are also denied medical and psychological support to force them to be more compliant to the demands of prison staff.

Trafficking of women

According to Human Rights Watch, trafficking is “…the illegal and highly profitable recruitment, transport or sale of human beings into all forms of forced labor and servitude, including trafficking into forced marriage…In all cases, coercive tactics, including deception, fraud, intimidation, isolation, threat and use of physical force, or debt bondage, are used to control women.” Without the assistance of corrupt officials, this practice cannot survive. Provision of false documents, and protection provided, help and encourage the perpetrators of this crime. There is further abuse and trauma when the victims are treated as criminals or illegal aliens.

Women’s sufferings during war times

Wars take a huge toll of the killed, maimed and tortured from women. Through a planned strategy, physical and psychological violence against women is carried out during wartimes to achieve objectives like creating terror or extracting information; or simply suffer as spoils of war. Women’s rights organizations have found that, for these victims of war-ravaged communities, domestic violence is directly proportional to the increasing family tensions arising from the atrocities of war. Countless women in war zones across the globe are bearing the brunt of wars facing economic and domestic problems, and continue to suffer the worst forms of torture and sexual abuse.

Mental Health Problems of Victims of Violence:

Being a victim of violence can be the cause of severe trauma and emotional stress, resulting in serious mental health problems. Post traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and panic attacks make the victims seriously mal-adjusted in their environment, requiring professional help. They may exhibit uncontrollable crying spells or rapid mood swings, and might appear completely divorced from reality at other times. Loss of sleep and appetite, flashbacks, nightmares and low self-esteem hinder normal functioning and extensive psychotherapy is often the only recourse available to help the victim return to a normal existence.

Rehabilitation:

The rehabilitation of victims of physical abuse is a difficult task that requires long-term commitment .

Inge Genefke, Rehabilitation and Research Center for torture Victims (RCT), Copenhagen, states:

“The aim of torture is to destroy a person as a human being, to destroy their identity and soul. It is more evil than murder…. Today we know that survivors of torture can be helped to regain their health and strength, and in helping them we take the weapon from their torturers.”

After the crime has been reported, proper medical examination must be carried out immediately to establish the veracity of abuse. All available evidence must be meticulously recorded and treatment of injuries done on a priority basis. For all this to take place, however, an efficient medico-legal system needs to be put in place – which is not the case in most under-developed countries, since women’s human rights are not considered high on Governments’ priority lists.

Too often the victims vanish after reporting, either forced into hiding to escape threats of the perpetrator, or shifted by the family members to avoid attention to the ‘tarnished’ family name. The result is that the charges have to be dropped. The victim must be provided reliable security options and the abuser taken into custody, so that he is not in a position to silence her through intimidation.

While the process of law takes its course, the victim should be provided extensive psychotherapy to address the feelings of shock, denial, guilt and anger.

Counseling of close family members and friends is also extremely important, as their moral support is crucial in helping the victim through the period of crisis.

Prevention of Abuse:

Prevention of abuse is a collective responsibility. All members of a society must play their role sensitively for effective prevention of violence.

Media must play its role in educating public opinion by creating awareness about public responsibility on this issue. Victim’s right to privacy must also be ensured at all costs. Giving a clear direction to social censure about shifting stigma from the abused to the abuser, may bring down many instances of abuse.

Sale of acid to public should be strictly monitored, and every instance of burning should be meticulously investigated to rule out foulplay. To help the burned and disfigured women restart their lives, reconstructive surgery should be made an affordable option for the victims through sponsorship schemes from government and private sector.

Special attention must be paid to empowerment of women through focus on literacy. Today, two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults comprise of women – a fact that speaks volumes about the lack of commitment, and need thereof, of governments around the world.

Punishing corrupt officials, who falsify documents and protect gangs of traffickers, can effectively check this menace. Poverty-reduction schemes and vocational-training programmes run by government agencies and the NGOs should target, specifically, single-parent families headed by females, and orphaned young girls.

Governments must be urged by international human rights organizations, to protect women’s human rights during times of armed conflicts around the world and be held accountable for lapses by the UN Bodies.

Peoples of all nationalities should join hands to support Human Rights Organizations in their fight against gender crimes and provision of the rights of the oppressed around the world. It should not be viewed as a choice, but a responsibility.



Published Dec, 2007; SouthAsia Magazine

Dispel the Darkness

“Education for all is important for three reasons. First, education is a right. Second, education enhances individual freedom. Third, education yields important development benefits." John Daniel, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education.

How committed are the South Asian nations to promoting education for all? How focused, indeed, are they on building their future?


At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, an important Millennium Development Goal (MDG) was drafted that focuses on increasing literacy among children around the world. It asks the member States to “ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.”

Unfortunately, a look at the status of education in some Asian countries depicts a worrisome trend and it is feared that they might not be able to achieve this goal within the stipulated timeframe. The drop-out rates are on the rise among children from poor families, girls, street children and other marginalized groups.

According to UNESCO, Asia has the world's largest share of children not receiving an education. UNESCO’s Education For All Global Monitoring Report 2007 states that Pakistan ranks second in the world with the highest number of out-of-school children. Of these 6.5 million out-of-school Pakistani children, “80 per cent were never enrolled, 10 per cent dropped out, while the remaining could get to school at some later stage.” India ranks third with 4.5 million such kids. India also houses the largest number of 'working' children in the world - about ¼ of the world's total. The official Indian Government figures estimate the number of working children to be at about 59 million, though Oxfam estimates speak of 100-150 million.

Out-of-school children – whether not enrolled at all or drop-outs – often end up in the child labour markets, working in some of the worst working conditions imaginable. This includes working in brick kilns and factories in bonded-labour with no fixed hours or minimum wage-limit, as well as being forcibly recruited to fight in conflict areas and sold into commercial sex tourism.

Girls comprise about 57% of all out-of-school children and 2/3 of adults without access to literacy are women. In a majority of developing countries, girls suffer serious forms of discrimination. In Pakistan, over half of the population comprises of children, roughly a ¼ of which are girls. Sadly, only 25% of these girls manage to finish primary school. UNESCO supports girls’ education in developing countries by sponsoring their access to, and retention in, primary education and by encouraging education policies and strategies of governments and NGOs that aim to provide girls and women with equal opportunities of learning and decision-making regarding their future.

The United Nations (UN) estimates the number of street children to be around 100 million. According to Asian Development bank (ADB) reports, the world’s largest number of street children resides in South Asia. They constitute the marginalized group of many Asian societies and are often neglected by governments when implementing welfare schemes. The Human Rights Watch has found that India has 18 million street children, the world’s largest concentration (HRWA 2000). Other Asian nations offer similar trends. In Afghanistan, more than two decades of war has resulted in huge populations of orphaned street children struggling to survive - about 37,000 based on a headcount in 2002. Nepal is home to about 30,000 street children according to a 1996 estimate. These street children constitute a big part of the statistics of children who are either out-of-school or are drop-outs.

Some experts estimate that half of the 104 million out-of-school children live in countries that are in, or recovering from conflict. Education in crisis situations can provide children with a sense of normalcy, but in the first Global Survey on Education in Emergencies, research shows that “over 27 million children and youth do not have access to education in 10 countries affected by conflict.” In Sri Lanka, in the North-Eastern Province alone, it is estimated that 2,000 children have been involved in the guerilla warfare as child soldiers, and face difficulties readapting to age-appropriate living conditions. In such areas, UNESCO not only provides emergency educational assistance but also helps local aid agencies and governments to establish makeshift schools, improve learning conditions and provide other necessary materials.

One major hurdle, in the provision of basic education to children, is limitation arising from some form of disability such as physical handicaps, cognitive, motor, visual or auditory disabilities. According to UNESCO the number of children under the age of 18 with disabilities around the world has been estimated to be between 120 and 150 million, and more than 90% of such disadvantaged children in developing countries do not attend school. Although humanitarian aid agencies insist upon special initiatives for the disabled, many South Asian nations are lagging far behind in undertaking the necessary initiatives.

For the Asian nations still struggling in the education sector, the drop-out rate is a bigger problem than enrolment, though both offer serious cause for concern. According to UNESCO’s Education For All Global Monitoring Report 2007, “the net enrolment ratio (NER) in Pakistan is less than 80 per cent as compared to other developing countries where enrolment ratios jumped to over 85 per cent by 2004”, says the report, adding that “NERs increased significantly in South and West Asia from 77 per cent to 86 per cent, with the exception of Pakistan and Nepal.”

A UNESCO 2004 study reveals that Asia tops the school dropout league. An Asian Development Bank (ADB) report suggests that in South Asia, for every 100 children who start grade one, less than 60 will complete grade five within the prescribed time. The Primary school drop-out rates for some Asian countries are:
Pakistan – 55%
India – 53%
Laos – 47%
Burma – 45%
Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh - 35-38%

Despite efforts of the UN and Aid Agencies, as well as governments and NGOs, the drop-out rates clearly establish that much more needs to be done. Some of the steps that may be taken to improve enrollments and decrease drop-out rates are:

• It is important for enrolment and sustainability that States make primary education free and compulsory According to the new edition of the EFA Global Monitoring Report, “Primary-school fees, which are a major obstacle for universal access, are still collected in 89 countries out of 103 surveyed.” It must also be accessible to all, without any form of discrimination - as the Salamanca Statement urges: "... schools should accommodate all children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions."
(Article 3, The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action, Salamanca, Spain, 1994)

• It is important to fight all kinds of injustice done to the girl-child. Recently, one religious cleric in Pakistan declared girls’ education as un-Islamic. As a result, parents of more than 2,000 girls in that area stopped sending them to school. It is important not to allow anyone to manipulate religious sentiment, and impress upon parents and other community members the value of an educated female as a useful community member who would also pass on the benefits of education to the future generations.

• There is a need for a large number of qualified teachers in Asia. In 75% of Indian schools there is only one teacher for several classes. In Pakistan, officially, there is one teacher per 35 students in primary schools and one teacher per 48 students at secondary level, but a serious problem for Pakistan government is the presence of ‘Ghost’ schools in remote areas where teachers simply don’t turn up. Bangladeshi pupils are found to be in the most crowded classes, with just one teacher for every 57 pupils. Cases of physical punishment also result in increasing drop-out rates. UNESCO officials stress the need for properly trained teachers with adequate command over their respective subjects and teaching skills. Neglected groups must be targeted specifically in all social uplifting schemes with approaches having flexible non-formal teaching methodologies rather than promoting standard schooling.

• Improving the quality of curriculum would increase its value and, hence, sustained participation. The education curriculum must include teaching of technical skills and life skills to give children a chance at practical and productive livelihoods. That would also encourage parents to get their children enrolled.

• Poverty alleviation schemes involving government and NGO sector should focus on countering the effects of lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing etc. Creating awareness about the importance of support and guidance from parents and the relevance of formal education would also go a long way in solving the drop-out problem.

If the efforts of organizations committed to spreading education around the world are supplemented by a stronger political will of governments, there is no reason why the MDG on literacy cannot be achieved by 2015. It would be a very small investment in terms of the far reaching development benefits it would yield.


Published in SouthAsia Magazine
Dec, 2007

A CONTROVERSIAL ANGEL

Mother Teresa once said: "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work."
Though her devotion to humanitarian causes is undeniable, her work is not without controversy.



The late Roman Catholic nun and missionary, Mother Teresa, dubbed affectionately as the ‘Saint of the Gutters’ and the ‘Angel of Mercy’ died ten years ago this September, aged 87. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.[2]

Born August 26, 1910 to Albanian parents, in Skopje (now in Macedonia) Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she left home at the age of eighteen to join the community of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland, known for their missionary work in India. She trained in Dublin at the motherhouse of the Loreto Sisters. When she took her vows, she adopted the name "Sister Teresa," after Saint Teresa of Lisieux, the patroness of missionaries. They sent her to their mission in Calcutta. She took up teaching at St. Mary’s high school, later on becoming its Principal, and remained there for 17 years.

In 1946, on her way to convalesce in Darjeeling, she claimed she had heard “the call within the call” to work in the slums “among the poorest of the poor.” Thus began a career spanning more than 45 years living and working among the rejected, the homeless, and in her own words, “unwanted, unloved and uncared for” of the society. In choosing such a life, this petite, sari-clad woman gave humanity a code of conduct transcending culture, class and religion.

The humanitarian work of Mother Teresa’s order, Missionaries of Charity, has received international acclaim acknowledging the efforts of devoted nuns and volunteers in orphanages and hospices worldwide. In 1952, she established a home for the homeless who were dying on the streets, the “Nirmal Hriday (‘Pure Heart’) Home for Dying Destitutes”. There, they were fed and taken care of and allowed to die with dignity. She founded such homes from Calcutta to New York to Albania. She also opened homes for AID’s victims. She believed in working tirelessly and said once: ‘Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” She traveled extensively to offer solace to the suffering. Her works of mercy knew no bounds.

Mother Teresa received many humanitarian awards in acknowledgement of her efforts towards social uplifting. She was given the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and the Congressional Gold Medal. At the Nobel Peace prize ceremony – which she received in 1979 - she revolutionized the concept of the award ceremony by insisting the money be given for charity instead of spending on the ceremonial banquet, as she believed earthly awards to be any good only if they helped the world’s needy. She even used the money she received by auctioning the Lincoln Continental – the car that Pope Paul VI gifted her – for establishing a leper colony in East Bengal. She bathed and washed the lepers herself and is quoted to have said: “When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord Himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?”

She urged the world leaders to “choose the way of peace” and not cause suffering in their desire to gain supremacy over each other, and that, nothing could justify in the end the terrible loss of life and the pain and suffering they would’ve caused in pursuance of their desires. She was baffled by the motivation behind war and bloodshed, and once expressed her confusion about the Israeli and Palestinian conflict in the words: “I don’t understand it. They are all children of God. Why do they do it? I don’t understand.”

She strongly opposed abortion – a fact that earned her a lot of criticism. While accepting the Nobel Peace prize, in 1979, she had charged that abortion was the “biggest destroyer of peace.” Again in 1994, at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, she reaffirmed her stand by repeating the assertion that abortion was abhorrent and ,” If a woman can kill her own child, what is there to stop you and me from killing each other.” In the same statement she requested that "If there is a child that you don't want or can't feed or educate, give that child to me. I will not refuse any child. I will give a home, or find loving parents for him or for her. We are fighting abortion by adoption and have given thousands of children to caring families.”

Despite the great humanitarian works that Mother Teresa is recognized for, her person and deeds are surrounded by controversy. Her strong anti-divorce views did not endear her to many. She was accused of having double standards when upon hearing of her friend Diana’s divorce she had commented that she was pleased with the news as the marriage had obviously been an unhappy one. While previously, on several occasions, she had categorically advocated her anti-divorce stand. A few months prior to Diana’s divorce, she had demanded in a referendum in Ireland that a ban on divorce and remarriage be made part of the state constitution. In a message sent to the Fourth UN Women’s Conference at Beijing, also she wrote: “the family that prays together stays together, and if they stay together they will love one another as God has loved each one of them.”

Mother Teresa was also accused of promoting suffering as a gift of God – a thought considered opposed to the concepts of human rights and dignity. Susan Shields, who was a Missionaries of Charity sister for nine and a half years, played a key role in Mother Teresa's organization until she resigned in 1989. In an article published in the Free Inquiry magazine, she claims that many people who supported Mother Teresa with generous donations – one year there was roughly $50m in the bank account held by their New York office alone – were deluded into thinking they were helping the poor when “…most of the donations sit unused in her bank accounts” as “…her twisted premises strangle efforts to alleviate misery.” According to Susan Shields, Mother Teresa was keen that the sisters preserve their “spirit of poverty” because “suffering makes God very happy.” Many volunteers are reported to have returned from Calcutta disillusioned by the Order’s harsh ideology and unreasonable poverty-loving practices.

Christopher Hitchens, a strong critic of Mother Teresa, in 1995 in his book ‘The Missionary Position’ wrote, "Only the absence of scrutiny has allowed her to pass unchallenged as a force for pure goodness, and it is high time that this suspension of our critical faculties was itself suspended.” Pertinent questions have been raised as to where all the donation money went as it did not seem to reach the poor.

Donal MacIntyre, a reporter and documentary-maker for Channel 5 television in the UK, managed to gain secret access to the Daya Dan orphanage in Calcutta, in 2005. He has strongly criticized the degrading inhuman treatment of the vulnerable orphans, aged between six months and twelve years, in Mother Teresa’s care home in a first-hand account published in New Statesman. The Calcutta police and social welfare departments also verified the prevalence of horrifying conditions in the Daya Dan home when they carried out their own investigation after seeing MacIntyre’s footage.

Donal MacIntyre writes of a child he saw in that home with “his ankle tethered to his cot like a goat in a farmyard.” He further states: “I saw children with their mouths gagged open to be given medicine, their hands flying in distress, visible testimony to the pain they were in…some of the children retched and coughed as rushed staff crammed food into their mouths. Boys and girls were abandoned on open toilets for up to 20 minutes at a time. Slumped, untended, some dribbling, some sleeping, they were a pathetic sight. Their treatment was an affront to their dignity, and dangerously unhygienic… there were no nappies, and only cold water. Soap and disinfectant were in short supply. Workers washed down beds with dirty water and dirty cloths. Food was prepared on the floor in the corridor.” Clearly, something is amiss somewhere.

Mother Teresa is respected and loved by many but there are mysteries shrouding her life and works that make her legacy controversial. Though her services to humanity are indisputable, the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was probably not entirely without human failings.


Published in SouthAsia Magazine
Nov, 2007

Working Women's Woes

Women’s human rights deserve more importance than they are accorded in many societies. Every woman deserves her dignity and respect at home and in the workplace as much as any man – if not more.


The term, ‘Human rights’ refers to the basic rights to which all human beings are entitled. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), states that all human beings are… “ endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

Ours is a world that is evolving and changing in ways which effect traditions, cultures and peoples across the globe. For women, emancipation and empowerment seem to be the order of the day. The only route leading to that goal is through economic independence. More and more women are looking for work outside the home with the aim to share the burden of financial responsibilities as well as to gain some measure of control over their own lives. But all good things come with a price.

An estimated 1.2 billion women worldwide constitute a part of the international work force. In Asia, almost 74% women are employed. Yet, owing to gender discrimination, almost 60% of the world’s working poor are women. Trend analyses across a wide range of studies indicate that many women are now marrying late and postponing childbearing – as observed in Japan and Singapore – in order to establish themselves in their respective fields. The factors responsible for this trend may be economic or personal. In Malaysia, about 70% of university students are women. These women want to bring about a change in an organized manner. Women belonging to the marginalized sections are also gathering courage to stand up for their rights in the society and the workplace, demanding an end to all forms of discrimination.

According to the Government of Pakistan (GoP) figures, there are 14% working women in the country. They are competing and succeeding in diverse fields and making an important contribution to the struggling economy. In all socio-economic groups and educationally-advantaged as well as disadvantaged sections of the Pakistani society, the concept of women working outside the home has gained popularity over the years despite widespread gender bias and discrimination, and pressure from religious fundamentalists. Though reasons vary for women of different backgrounds for rejecting their traditionally accepted roles, the resulting exposure provides an increased level of awareness of their rights and responsibilities – besides a heavy burden of accompanying physical and verbal abuse. For these working women, workplace harassment is a reality none can deny.

Worldwide, harassment is considered to be widespread and requires strict monitoring and legislation in order to develop effective strategies for dealing and coping with it. Although men can be victims of harassment, women constitute a major part of the group vulnerable to it.

Harassment has many subtle and covert forms as well as more aggressive and overt ones. The subtle forms of harassment include disinformation, spreading scurrilous stories about colleagues, disrupting their schedules, withholding important information etc. – all done to affect the victim’s work performance and make her look incompetent. These seemingly harmless and subtle forms have a devastating affect on the victim’s life, threatening her physical and psychological well being.

The other and more serious form of workplace harassment is ‘sexual harassment’, which is defined as unwelcome physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature in the workplace. It may include crude jokes, vulgar language, suggestive gestures, inappropriate physical touching or contact. For reasons of clarity, sexual harassment may be divided into two types which include: ‘quid pro quo’ and a ‘sexually hostile environment’.

Quid pro quo (Latin for ‘this for that’) harassment refers to conditions involving exchange of economic benefit for sexual favours, while a sexually hostile environment would be one where a frequent repetitive pattern of sexual innuendos, jokes, or sex-role stereotyping is carried out by co-workers or boss. Although both forms are in theory distinct claims, the thin line between the two is many a time unambiguous and the two forms often occur together, one being the natural outcome of the other.

In Pakistan religion plays a pivotal role in everyday life. Unfortunately, it is a version of religion interpreted by a small group of people who are self-proclaimed authority-figures on matters spanning various spheres of social co-existence. These conservatives urge women to continue to play traditional roles of housekeeping and child-rearing, and not be influenced by western women whom they see as too liberal-minded, aggressive and unfeminine - a challenge to the accepted social hierarchy.

It is interesting to note that these same men who cite the Holy Quran as their source whenever urging women to observe ‘purdah’, completely ignore the same Book’s instructions where men are strictly told not to ogle and ‘cast down’ their eyes in the company of women.. Women who are educated and seek personal satisfaction or economic independence, or for those who are compelled to work because of economic constraints, the work environment is made uncomfortable by their male colleagues. Due to strict gender segregation practiced and advocated in many eastern/Muslim societies, men generally have less gender sensitivity and view women as objects of desire rather than as equal co-workers.

On another level, their competence and unbending independence frightens them and challenges their male chauvinistic instincts. Sometimes, a feeling of insecurity upon their failure to interact with intelligent women on an equal intellectual level compels them to embark on such ego-salvaging endeavours. They subject their female colleagues or subordinates to lewd, rude stares, suggestive gestures, offensive touching and even demand favours of sexual nature openly. Due to the power exerted by the harasser – power of position at the workplace or by virtue of the concept of socially-accepted male superiority - the sexually harassed woman is generally unlikely to complain. Studies have shown that only 10 to 15% women actually go ahead and report their abuse. Factors like economic dependence or sense of humiliation play an important part in compelling them to remain quiet. Many women fail to bring charges because of the fear of retaliation from the person in authority, or because they do not have enough trust in legal recourse.

The effects of harassment are devastating. Victims suffer psychological distress in the form of humiliation and loss of dignity. There is also damage to professional reputation and career when they are forced to choose between their self respect and their job. In some cases even their personal safety is compromised. Abuse of women’s human rights is generally the most socially tolerated form of abuse in a society such as ours. Sexual harassment, like most other forms of abuse, is also considered to be the woman’s fault, and accepted by the victims as the price they have to pay for leaving the protected environment of their home

Many developed Western nations have managed to put in place a robust infrastructure to deal with harassment, and a gradual process of cultural change is bringing about the necessary deeper attitudinal change. The US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission actively engages in imparting training to educate employees and employers about their rights and responsibilities under the EEO statutes.

Employers are expected to create a work environment where employees are aware that any unpleasant conduct that falls in the category of sexual harassment will not be tolerated and could result in the aggressor’s discharge from service. Preventive measures are encouraged and maintaining confidentiality stressed. Employers are made aware that failure to adopt a pro-active stance on this issue can result not only in costly lawsuits, but also in a decline in employee morale and productivity, and spoiling the company's image. The employees, for their part, are expected to report abuse in time using any grievance system available.

The important steps to be taken in order to discourage harassment of women in the workplace start with establishing preventive measures, maintaining confidentiality of the complainant’s identity, and supplemented by remedial measures in the form of drafting strict legislation and it’s enforcement. Although cultural attitudes take a long time to change, determination of the affected women to stand up for their rights in the workplace and refusal to tolerate or comply with this social injustice will go a long way in bringing about this change. Educated, sensitive and sensible men can also play an important part in making the workplace a professionally satisfying and socially comfortable environment for their female colleagues.


Pubished in SouthAsia Magazine
Available at : NDU Library
Sept, 2007.

Existing Without Hope

Mental illness affects people around the world, transforming their lives into a continuous struggle for preservation of their dignity and human rights in societies that do not always understand them.

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights" states the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Throughout history, mental illness has been associated with factors like weakness of character or possession by demons. As a result, the mentally ill have been isolated, neglected, tortured and even burnt alive; their lives destroyed by stigma and taboo.


The progress in medical knowledge encouraged a scientific approach to mental health problems and resulted in a slow and steady change in attitude. Many people began to view mental disorders as illnesses akin to other diseases that required treatment, not condemnation; though many societies still continue to show disdain for the mentally ill, and their mental health services remain insufficient and ineffective.

Understanding mental disorders is a difficult task in terms of the dynamics of the disease and the heavy emotional and psychological toll it takes on family life. Care for the mentally disabled is a serious human rights issue because of its effect on societal harmony and stability and potential for exploitation and abuse. In many mental health facilities, rehabilitation is not always seen as the chief aim of treatment. Human rights violations against people with mental disorders occur in communities throughout the world – in mental health institutions, in the wider community, and at individual level.

The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly urges communities to ensure respect for human rights and dignity in all mental health facilities, and outside. According to WHO reports based on testimonies of the patients and their relatives, it has been observed that many patients face severe discrimination and endure appalling living conditions in the mental health facilities. The following are excerpts from some of the letters addressed to WHO:

1. "Among the professionals who dealt with my son's psychological illness, I frequently encountered irritation and threats aimed at him ('if you don't shape up' or 'I'm really having a problem with you today'), as if his psychological problems were subject to his direct control. In the 15 months of cancer treatment that my son also received, I never heard a nurse or doctor express any anger or irritation with my son for the symptoms of his illness."(Source: Weissman MM. A piece of my mind: stigma. JAMA, 2001, 285(3): 261-2.)

2. "I experienced homelessness at one stage coming out of the hospital. I had nowhere to go. I had no choice. My family at that point was struggling with their own view of my condition and there was no place in the family for me. If my family had been educated, taught how to help me, supported and helped, then my story would be very different. (Source: Stop exclusion – Dare to care. World Health Day brochure. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2001.)

3. "The conditions there are miserable… dirty patients; dishevelled and very skinny [patients] surrounded me asking me for some bread. As for the building, it is pitiful to look at: many broken glasses, walls without painting for many years …The toilets, totally out of order, without running water. Most of the time cooking is done with water caught from the rain.…"

The report goes even as far as to quote a health worker as saying, "Why are you fighting that much? This place is but the waste of society."

(Source: Letter 78, original in French. Voices from the shadows: a selection of letters addressed to the World Health Organization 1994 – 2002. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2004.)

Investigators from Mental Disability Rights International have found that inmates of mental health facilities who tried to escape were given severe punishments such as confinement for hours in cold, bare rooms without clothes; while over-drugged, unkempt and neglected patients pleaded for provision of basic needs like a glass of water. (A report by Mental Disability Rights International, September 2004)

WHO sources give a depressing analysis of the situation of mental health management worldwide: almost 64% countries have been found to have no legislation regarding mental health, or at least one that is less than ten years old. About 30% of countries don’t have a separately allocated budget for mental health; 20% countries spend less than 1% of their health budget on mental health; 32% countries have no community care facilities and vast differences are observed in the number of psychiatrists available to the populations ranging between more than 10 per 100,000 to less than 1 per 300,000. In Pakistan, though the fiscal year 2006-7 has seen a significant increase in the health budget, only 1% is estimated to be spent on mental health.

Researchers have found that factors such as low income, low education and difficult marital and family relationships expose women to abuse and make them more vulnerable to mental disorders. Accor-ding to WHO sources, the probability of developing anxiety and depression are higher among women as compared to men, and these findings are constant across a series of studies conducted in different setups. A study by World Bank (1993) that focused on disability from neuropsychiatry disorders among women found that up to 30% women were affected in the developing countries as compared to 12.6 % men.

Pakistan Association of Mental Health (PAMH) declares that of the estimated 44% Pakistanis suffering from clinical depression, the majority are women. In Pakistan, many of the plans working towards social uplifting of women’s health focus on their reproductive health and their psychological and emotional needs are generally not given due importance, as is the norm in patriarchal societies. Women as care-givers have multiple roles to play at home. The burden of responsibility for the household including efficient running of home and fulfilling the needs of immediate as well as of extended family members requires a lot of energy. This burden is further multiplied for working women who have no one to share the burden of domestic duties along with the demands of their job. A culture of suppression prevents women from finding healthy outlets to their frustrations. It is not surprising then that they become over-stressed and succumb to nervous breakdowns.

A serious trend manifest in the behaviour of the mentally disturbed is a tendency for deliberate self-harm. According to WHO sources, mental disorders are associated with 90% of all suicide cases; the last 45 years have seen a global increase of suicide rates by 60% and about 1 million people died of suicide worldwide in 2000. It is also among the top three leading causes of death of individuals aged 15-44 years. WHO finds that though traditionally suicide rates were highest among the male elderly, now the younger age-group mentioned above are at higher risk of suicide in a third of developing as well as developed countries, though reasons and methods vary.

In Pakistan women remain particularly vulnerable to suicide because of numerous factors including social and cultural pressures, domestic and sexual violence, and undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses. Stigma and discrimination by society allow these mental health problems to go unchecked. The HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan) report for 2005-6 declares that total suicide and attempted suicide cases increased from 2,712 in 2005 to 3,919 in 2006. There were around 200 women suicide cases reported within the first six months of 2006 along with 181 cases of attempted suicide, most of the victims being under 30 years of age. A 2007 trend analysis report by the HRCP also found young married women to be at highest risk.

Attempted suicide is underreported because it is a criminal offence in Pakistan punishable by up to one year imprisonment, and many successful suicides are also reported as accidents due to stigma. Hence, actual figures elude statistical collection, posing a challenge to effective data gathering.

Effective treatment of mental disorders requires a multi-pronged and multi-tiered approach involving government and private sector, community health services, family support groups and access to individual counselling facilities. Increasing awareness about the rights of the mentally ill, countering stigma and discrimination, training of primary health professionals, improving standards in psychiatric institutions, restriction of access to common methods of personal harm, etc. may be some of the strategies applied in this regard.

People suffering from mental disorders are either not aware of their rights or are not in a position to claim them. It is thus the collective responsibility of communities, institutions and governments to ensure that their dignity and human rights are upheld, and they are helped in order to resume their normal lives again.

Published in SouthAsia Magazine,Aug 2007.

Planning a Healthy Tomorrow

Healthy individuals make for a healthy society capable of contributing to progress and stability in the country. Population planning is central to all development plans focusing on health or economic concerns and aiming to improve the quality of life in general,


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the last two decades, population planning has become an increasingly vital concern for many developing countries of the world. The Mexico City Declaration defines the importance of population planning as a part of human development with the words:

"The principal aim of social, economic and human development, of which population goals and policies are integral parts, is to improve the standards of living and quality of life of the people. This declaration constitutes a solemn undertaking by the nations and international organizations gathered in Mexico City . . . to promote social and economic development, human rights and individual freedom."i

For the Government of Pakistan the development goals targeting health as a primary concern also rest on population planning strategies for their achievement. Unfortunately, the outdated concept of normative ‘values’ prevalent in the society in general has slowed down their accomplishment. For the most part men as decision-makers have resisted acceptance of guidelines regarding population planning and welfare adopted by the government in agreement with UN bodies. They are sceptical about these policies because they view them as an attempt to replace the Eastern concept of family and social harmony with their perception of the western lifestyle as rapidly disintegrating family models. Contrarily, all developed and many developing nations are reaping the benefits of timely and effective implementation of the same policies.

A clear example of rejection for anything connected to the ‘West’ is the recent opposition to the government’s polio eradication drive which met stiff resistance and had to be abandoned temporarily in the tribal areas because it was being perceived as clandestine administration of population control medicines in the guise of vaccination against Poliomyelitis. It also resulted in the murder of a doctor in Bajaur for advocating the cause of polio eradication and administering the drops to small children, while one cleric went as far as to declare that death by an epidemic elevated one’s status to that of a martyr. Small wonder then, that Pakistan remains one of only four countries in the world - India, Afghanistan and Nigeria being the other three - where polio still afflicts a significant number of children and overshadows their prospects of a healthy, productive future.

It is generally accepted by development planners and practitioners that population planning is a human development issue that has a direct bearing on socioeconomic welfare and human rights. Unfortunately, the basic understanding of the general population of Pakistan regarding the same is deficient. Pakistan is the sixth most populous nation on earth, home to an alarming number of 158 million. Roughly, 40% of these live below the UN recognized poverty line and almost half the population is below 18 years of age; 78.2 million have no access to sanitation and 56.9 million have no access to safe drinking water; add to this the high fertility rate of 5.4 births per woman and it presents a bleak picture for the future of the country.

The effectiveness of any future planning regarding employment opportunities, housing, and provision of education, sufficient food and safe drinking water is compromised by disproportionate population growth. According to the 1998 census, the number of housing units in demand is 21.92 million based on recommended occupancy ratio of 6, and a backlog of 2.22 million. At present, 57.9 million live in houses consisting of a single room.

The annual GDP growth rate, cited often by the government sources as a positive indicator of development, touches an impressive 6.6% but this rate is largely restricted to the already economically advantaged section of the country and there is no trickle down effect of the resources enjoyed by the elitist minority.

For them to be truly effective all population-planning policies are required to establish safeguard measures to protect basic human rights, and modified to suit the prevailing cultural and religious concerns; otherwise some sections of societies feel threatened by population control programmes and may reject them altogether. The Pakistan government’s family planning programmes that have been coming under fire of the religious clergy are now being even more vigorously opposed by them since the government has become more active in promoting its policies in the recent years.

It is no secret that in Pakistan women’s status fares poorly on many important indicators of development. Though many development policies of the government have focused on women, due to cultural limitations the results have not been satisfactory. Pakistan has a poor track record of upholding human rights in general and of women’s rights, in particular. While cultural harmony and some of its related aspects are traditionally considered to rest on a woman’s shoulders, most of the time she does not have the right to choose her family size or timing. The effectiveness of any development plan in her favour is diluted by selfishness or ignorance of men in the family, and outside. The everyday media reporting of heinous crimes committed against the female sex are indicative of a deeper conflict rooted in widespread gender bias present in the collective mindset of the society. The overworked and poorly-coordinated judicial and social support system has worsened her plight and exposed her to further humiliation and prejudice.

The health support systems currently in place for the female population are deficient, and maternal mortality is high. This is due to non-availability of essential basic obstetric care to these women. Every year a significant number of women die in Pakistan, as in the rest of under-developed world, from complications of pregnancy and from illegal abortions performed under horrifying conditions of hygiene and professional negligence.

According to estimates by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA for the years 1990, 1995 and 2000, an alarming half a million women around the world lost their lives to complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth, with 40% occurring in Asia; about 10.5 million women experienced unsafe abortions which may have caused them serious harm or endangered their lives in the process. Also, some 68,000 women die from complications of unsafe abortion each year – almost all in developing countries: 34,000 of these only in Asia. In the year 2000, of the estimated 529,000 women who died of maternal causes worldwide, 95% occurred in the developing countries while less than 1% in the developed countries. WHO sources rightly assert that this huge regional difference clearly establishes that most of these deaths were preventable

The Pakistan government is trying to work with UN Agencies in this regard to safeguard the rights of women and bring maternal mortality down. According to the Ministry of Health, due to the diligent efforts of an efficient network of 96,000 LHWs (Lady Health Workers) working under the governmental National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Healthcare, the infant mortality has been brought down from 105/1000 births in 1994 to 77.1/1000 births in 2006, targeting to reduce it to 55/1000 births by 2008. Similarly, maternal mortality has been reduced to 340/100,000 in 2006 from 500/100,000 deaths in 1994 and now aiming to bring it down to 180/100,000 deaths.

These LHWs, who are now reaching out to 70% of the female population compared to 30% at the inception of the programme in 1999, have often felt threatened and at times been actively stopped from approaching women in the villages, especially in the conservative North West Frontier Province where religious sentiment clashes with population planning concerns. The government is working to provide them job security and creating awareness through mass media to gain acceptability for them in the conservative circles.

In the ultimate analysis, however, while government and the world agencies may promote population control as a solution to many of the problems afflicting the country, population programmes can only work when incorporated with other development strategies, as observed in China, Singapore and Sri Lanka. When applied in isolation, the achievement of population targets is adversely affected in the developing and underdeveloped world by factors including misconceptions about religious beliefs and status of women, threats of high infant mortality and economic pressures. These concerns dissuade people from choosing smaller families and giving preference to wider national interest over their own and ultimately result in the failure of population planning strategies.

i Mexico City Declaration on Population and Development, paragraph 5; International Conference on Population, Mexico City, August 1984


Published: SouthAsia Magazine, Planning for a Healthy Tomorrow June, 07.

Winds of Change

Human societies have, traditionally, been male-dominated owing to the male’s superior physical strength. However, as higher intellectual concerns gained importance, women began to assert themselves and change became inevitable in the status quo, with some cultures being more receptive while others resistant.


Over the last hundred years, Western societies have seen a change in attitude, with emancipation and empowerment of women bringing about a major revolution in their status. Unfortunately, Eastern societies by and large still remain mired in centuries-old traditions strongly emphasizing stereotyping of gender roles. However, despite widespread gender-bias in these societies, women are surprisingly resilient and competitive. Many Eastern nations including Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines and Turkey have, or have had, women Heads of State, and Bangladesh stands out with a female PM as well as a female head of opposition.

Conversely, when we look at the wider picture closer to home, the status of women presents a dismal picture. They are encouraged to be submissive, dependent and subordinate with the majority having little or no control over any kind of economic or political decision-making, as well as in everyday issues like marriage, dress code, access to basic health facilities and career aspirations. Men, on the other hand, enjoy a privileged existence. A male child has priority over his female sibling in access to food, education and health. Not surprisingly, the percentage of males outnumbers that of females in Pakistan, a trend opposed to that prevalent in the rest of the world. The Demographic and Health Survey of Pakistan in a report (1992) declares the ratio of men and women in the country as 108:100 – one important cause of this discrepancy being the high mortality rate in childbearing young women.

A major obstacle in the way to empowerment of women is gender bias leading to economic dependence. The UN Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) ranks Pakistan as 100th among 185 of its registered countries. Social constraints prevent many capable women from pursuing active careers and achieving economic independence. According to recent Government of Pakistan figures, the percentage of working women in Pakistan is only 14% - a bleak picture for the future of a country that badly needs as many working hands as possible in order to not only improve its standing among the developing nations but, actually, to survive.

The predicament of the lower class woman is worse than that of the middle or upper class female, though all suffer due to unjust social practices. They are battling domestic violence, Karo-Kari, marriage to the Quran, Swara, Wani, honour killings and much more, besides other less severe forms of discrimination from close family members. Due to economic pressures, female employment is much higher among low-income groups than in the middle or upper class. Unfortunately, these working women do not benefit from their hard work, as they are not independent decision-makers in the use of their earnings.

For the middle and upper-middle class female, social pressures generally dictate career choices. Medicine and teaching appear to be the most sought after fields, albeit per force. Though both provide excellent career opportunities for women having an aptitude for these professions, many enter these fields for lack of other available options. As a result, they experience little or no job satisfaction and are unable to contribute productively. Only a small percentage of women rebel against conformity, defy tradition and venture into male-dominated fields, risking the wrath of their own family as well as censure from society. These women have to struggle hard to secure their rights in the workplace. The attitude of male colleagues is often discouraging, as they become wary of competition from those widely acknowledged inferior. Women who aspire for higher management positions meet stiff resistance; while for those who manage to climb the corporate ladder despite all odds, success is attributed to unjustified means rather than competence.

Recently however, a change has been observed with women – though still a minority – competing and succeeding in diverse technical fields, joining private organizations or working as entrepreneurs, and getting noticed for their silent contribution to the dwindling economy. They are also making a mark in the political arena with a record number of representation as women legislators in the political decision-making bodies that were traditionally considered male-dominated power houses.

One encouraging factor for women in Pakistan, resulting in an increase in participation in non-traditional fields is the burgeoning of the NGO sector over the last few years. It has provided a wide range of job opportunities to women with good salary packages. The ‘glass-ceiling effect’ felt and resented by a large number of women working in many of the government and private organizations, in which the power hierarchy does not allow women to go beyond a certain level despite fulfilling all pre-requisites, has been challenged by these NGOs who offer jobs on the basis of qualifications. They install women as programme coordinators and send them out in the field to prove their worth, rather than settling for locally-accepted select set of positions. In this regard, the foreign donors having humanitarian, or female-friendly, agendas are playing an important role.

In the Pakistan Armed Forces, women have been working as doctors and nurses in the Army, Navy and the Air Force. Recently, more steps have been taken to contribute towards their empowerment by introducing the first ever induction of female cadets in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as fighter pilots. In the Army, besides working in the Army Medical Corps (AMC) that proudly boasts of having two female Major Generals, now other options are also being made available. The creation of 34 new vacancies for women, initiated in 2006 in the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) has been widely welcomed. The newly inducted female cadets, after getting two-years training at PMA, will be adjusted in the ISPR (Inter Services Public Relations), AEC (Army Education Corps), ASC (Army Signals Corps) and the Army’s law department – the JAG (Judge Advocate General) Branch.

The Pakistan Armed Forces are generally considered female-friendly organizations and their command structure caters to the social needs of females. Female officers are not posted to what are known as ‘hard-areas’ to avoid social problems. Female officers, who are spouses of Armed Forces personnel, are also posted to stations accommodating both simultaneously. However, the trend in the society of bias towards female colleagues extends itself here too and, sometimes, senior male colleagues are observed dealing with their female subordinates with undue harshness. Credit for a job well done is, many a time, not generously given while male colleagues attribute even genuine appreciation from superiors to mere indulgence.

The latest developments in the amendment of the misused Hudood Ordinance, it is hoped, will prove to be a step forward for women of Pakistan. Despite having certain good aspects to it, this 27-year old law failed to provide protection to women against injustices. The perpetrators of Hadd crimes compounded the misery of victims by manipulating loopholes present in this law. The Protection of Women’s Rights (Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, passed by National Assembly on November 15, approved by the Senate on November 24 and signed by President Musharraf on December 1, aims to address grievances of oppressed women by putting an end to exploitation. However, strong opposition to the Bill’s implementation is expected, since any amendment in the controversial Ordinance is perceived and projected as un-Islamic and representative of some ‘Western agenda’ by some parties. These hardline religious parties need to deliberate on this issue with an open mind and understand that the purpose of WPA is to change man-made discriminatory laws and unfair social practices, not to challenge the Hudood set in the Quran.

Despite all odds, Pakistani women have come a long way in the last sixty years and will continue to move forward in order to secure the rights denied to them by an intolerant and biased society but promised by the Constitution of the country, as well as the religion it claims to represent. The winds of change are blowing on the horizon and it might be wise for all concerned to make way for the emancipated, motivated and self-aware woman of today.


Published: SOUTHASIA MAGAZINE - FEB,2007

Little(monstrous)Wonders!

The challenges of motherhood are never ending - a field offering only on-job training course! And this comes directly from a mother who has managed to pull through the sleepless-nights and eternally-crying baby stages and is now working through the pre-teen and teenage dilemmas. No matter how much you read up on the subject or take tips from other parents, you have to struggle, sweat and stumble your way through each stage, while all the time trying to preserve that oh-so-elusive thing called sanity.

Sigh! Early Monday morning...and the kids are home today. Yeah, it's another one of those local holidays that come only too often, if you ask me . Time for my adorable brood to rise and shine... so here I go pulling the curtains aside and turning on the lights.

"Aww...Mum!" the girls scream in unison.

"Good morning to you, too." I reply sweetly, ignoring their protests. What mother would survive otherwise?

"Out of bed, darlings!" I go on without batting an eyelid, "Get changed, put your room in order, finish your home works...and may be I'll take you out to ...err...Pizza Hut?"

I end on a cheerful note because one, I know they need a break after a hectic week of tests at school, and two, they love pizza! They sit up quickly, rubbing their eyes. Ah, my obedient little girls!

"Try me." I reply sweetly, breezing out of their room and off to the next one to wake up the young one I'm so proud of - my son.

As I turn on the light, he wails, "It's a holiday, Mum."

"Yes dear, all the more reason to start early and have more time to enjoy yourself." He scowls. I close the door quietly behind me.

After breakfast, Ahmed asks me to help him with his English homework. As he struggles with spelling and expression, my pre-teen princess comes along...

"What a silly story," she declares while bending over Ahmed's head inspecting his handiwork.

"Go away, Maha..." screams Ahmed.

I look up sharply, "Lower your voice!" I admonish.

"Get out of here!" Ahmed shouts, completely ignoring me.

"STOP SCREAMING IN MY EAR," I lose my temper.

"Mum, will you puh-leese keep your voice down? I'm trying to study here," Sania calls from her room. I roll my eyes, raise my hands in exasperation and take refuge in the kitchen!

"We're done." An hour later, I turn to find the three of them standing in the kitchen door, all groomed and glowing. I'm impressed.

"Well, then... I'll go and change." I turn off the burner. Sania hands me a list that's titled 'Things I desperately need'. No surprise, the teen-aged desperations...err...anti-split-ends serum, hair-straightening cream, French-manicure kit, CDs of some vegetarian bands - at least I think they must be: Red-hot Chilli Peppers, Greenday... what else?

"Sweetheart," I put on my sweetest smiles, "I pay for necessities and you have your allowance to cover for luxuries!"

"But these are all necessities," wails the teenager.

I remember reading somewhere: "There's nothing wrong with teenagers that reasoning with them won't aggravate." Hmmm...wise words, I'm already walking out of the room.

"Are you going to wear the blue dress again, Mum?" She calls out.

Surprised, I stop in mid-step, "Yeah...I was thinking about that."

"Haven't you got anything a little 'in'?"

I frown.

"And please don't put on that brown lipstick you always wear. What if one of my friends is there?"

"I beg your pardon?" I raise my eyebrows.

"I'd be eternally embarrassed." She declares matter-of-factly.

I open my mouth. "Hurry, Mummy," scream the other two and I reluctantly turn away, biting my tongue to suppress the retort that I know she positively deserves.

I'm still fuming as I get ready. They sure know how to flatter me. I don't have any sense of style left just because it doesn't meet the teenage approval? And just the other day I was putting up a picture of mine in a photo frame when my Number two breezed in and gushed excitedly, "Mum...you look so beautiful," as I opened my mouth to thank her for the compliment, she added, "...and so young." My smile froze. Now, I will concede the picture was many years old, but apart from a few lines under the eyes, I really haven't changed much. After all, age is but a state of mind...right, folks?

Anyway, we are finally on our way...yes, in my blue dress and brown lipstick. As we turn the street corner, we see a white cat with black patches on it, three kittens in tow, crossing the road. Two of them were just like the mother - white with black patches - but the third had a mix of orange too.

"That one's probably not her own," remarks Maha thoughtfully. Before I can offer a suitable explanation, Ahmed replies with all the seriousness an eight-year old can muster, "It's adopted, Maha."

I smile, while Sania bursts into laughter. "How silly can you get?" she manages between giggles.

Ahmed pulls on a long face, "I'm your brother, what do you expect?"

"Do you want to hear the truth?" she narrows her eyes.

"Do you want a knuckle-sandwich?" he challenges.

"Okay, okay, now... do you want to eat first or buy some books?" I quickly change the subject to avoid the war of words developing into a fist-fight. Yeah...mothers know all about that.

Books it is...at least they are in agreement on something. As we pass through rows of shelves lined with books at the popular bookshop, I notice the small number of actual buyers. Most of the people are leafing through the pages to pass the time. It's no surprise really, as I very well know every time I foot the bill for the books selected by my children.

Japan, I'm told, is a nation of book lovers. My cousin, who has recently returned from there, told tales of how her toddler embarrassed her - with the typical screaming, tantrum-throwing two-year-old persistence we know so well - whenever she visited the doctor's office while the Japanese toddlers sat serenely in waiting rooms, leafing through books and magazines, staring at pictures of more docile, well-behaved creatures like themselves and making perfect sounds of contentment while their mothers had their ailments cared for.

I'm reminded of what another friend of mine, who is often dropping pearls of wisdom my way, remarked the other day, "If I had my way, all children would be born 18 years old, perfectly groomed and ready to take on the burden of life, including earning a living." Sigh...wouldn't that be nice?

Books and pizza done at last, we head back...and no, we didn't see any of Sania's friends anywhere - must be my lucky day...or hers. As I dodge through traffic, my mind's running through solutions to various other problems waiting to be settled...yeah, mothers learn to excel at the art of multi-tasking as a matter of survival.

Ahmed had told me about the bullying in the school bus yesterday, and I have to get that sorted out. "Stand up to him, dear." I had told him. "Bullies are just scared little boys at heart!" I had laughed, trying to make light of the situation. He had frowned pointing out their age difference. He was right. I made a mental note to call the management of the bus service tomorrow, while brooding over the dimensions of the growing culture of bullying and abuse, and whether I was part of just a small minority advocating good manners and the tolerant 'live and let live' approach. Unsettling thoughts.

Finally, as I fall into my bed late, exhausted after a hectic day, and looking forward to an uninterrupted night of rest, there is a knock on the door.

"Yes?" I muster some strength that all mothers keep in reserve for an emergency.

Three heads peek through the half-open door. "Hey, Mum..." wide smiles saying it all, "thanks for a lovely day!"

My eyes become glossy as I open my arms. They jump into bed and fall all over me, hugging and squealing. I silently thank God for these adorable beings that warm a tired mother's heart...and make the woes of motherhood look pale in comparison to its blessings!



published May, 09; You magazine, The News.

The Perfect Match

Satire

Looking for someone special to share your life with? Just follow these simple tips!


It is indeed an uphill task all the way for many young gals trying to catch hold of the right 'g' these days -'guy' and 'grades', I mean! These girls really ought to concentrate on the second 'g', and wait for a while before embarking on a quest for the first one, if you ask me - there's so much to do in life before settling down!

Sigh. I can see my advice is falling on deaf ears, so here are a few tips that might at least help in making a sensible choice:

Tip #1. Do not spare a thought for the back-bencher in your Chemistry class whose stare is fixed on the beaker or Petri dish your teacher is holding. For one thing, he's not interested in the chemistry that you expect to arise between the two of you, though he may pledge so! Secondly, he'd turn out to be an awful bore bothering you in the kitchen with his weird ideas about how a different pot - bigger, smaller, wider, deeper - would help you cook better. He'd be terribly hard to please no matter what you do for him. What will you do with someone that fussy? Drop him like a hot potato while you still have a choice!

Tip #2. Are you considering the guy in your Biology class? Does his 'biology' impress you when he pushes that lock of mousse-applied hair off his forehead with his well-manicured hand, and smiles that drop-dead georgeous smile while tilting his head to fix his hypnotic gaze on you? Hmmm... I think he's too much of a narcissist to give you the attention you crave for your own beautiful curls and to-die-for smile! Do you really want to be always finding your cosmetic jars and bottles empty at the last minute, or struggling to win a smile contest with tough competition right at home? Surely not!

Tip #3. The born philosopher - though he may not be in your Philosophy class - is the one who stares into space as he talks about his big ideas for future. His hair is always messy and his clothes crumpled because he claims not to care much for such trivialities. He's one to watch out for, I tell you! He actually never listens to his Mom who would be just so glad to finally hand him over to you to teach him some manners! Trust me, you can't have him driving you crazy picking up after him while he runs around taking care of more important things like counting the stars, can you? Let his Mom deal with him...you don't want that responsibility!

Tip #4.. Okay, so the guy from the Gender Studies Department has caught your eye? I would rethink my options if I were you. He sure gives some fine fiery speeches advocating every girl's right to equality....but, Honey, all this slick-talk is only for the benefit of the one foolish enough to believe him! He's probably trying to appease his own conscience, or only making those speeches to ensnare you. In truth, as soon as you have solemnised the vows, he expects you to turn into quite the domesticated creature you abhor!!! And how do I know? Just drop by his home when he least expects you. You'll find him ordering about his little sister into running errands for him and driving his mother crazy telling her how lucky she is to have a son like him to carry on the family name! Move on, girl...there are definitely better possibilities to explore!

Tip #5. The Math class genius? Gosh no! Never ever, ever try to hook up with him! He will be forever calculating the pennies you spend and will know exactly how many seconds you spent extra talking to the fellow shopper when you should have shown more respect for time and money. You can forget about all the trips you've planned to the hair stylist or the beautician - he will be multiplying the number of hair cut with the amount of rupees you pay. He will also tell you without hesitation that you look no different now than when you went in for a makeover a good four hours ago, since you still have the same fuzzy head for numbers because of the huge sum you paid to your stylist! Sigh. Let him count his pennies alone.

Tip #6. The Psychology class sensitive soul? Hmm...I do admire his gentle mannerism, but there's always a danger he might become a little intrusive. If you're the motivated and career-oriented type, you could get into serious trouble. He would be constantly forcing you to embark on guilt-trips by asking you to take out some time for his birthday when you might have an important project on adjustment of frogs to a new habitat to work on. You wouldn't naturally want to spoil your work momentum either when he happens to fall down the stairs and break his leg. He will be definitely offended if you ask his mother to come and help clean up the mess ...er...I mean, take care of him...while you attend the seminar on gender-role stereotyping. Be wise now, and avoid the later heartache, dear.

Tip #7. The language class enthusiast you tend to connect with? Nooo! For Heaven's sake, girl, if there's one thing a gal must have an upper hand with it should be the ability to confuse the Significant Other into silence! Surely, the best of fights leave men nodding in agreement just because they can't make sense of it anymore! Why do you want to do away with that advantage? If he has the stamina to keep talking till the end, how can you ever have your way? That would be the ultimate disaster!

Oh, don't look so dejected, gals! I'm not saying no man is worth the trouble, but what's the big rush anyway? You have to take charge of your own life before you embark on such an important journey, you know. Let those Eager Specimens know that you're determined to take care of more important issues first and will bestow them with your attention at your own convenience!

Now... chin up, smile wide and get busy carving your future. Good Luck!



Published Feb, 09; You Magazine of The News.