While the banging of the door by Ibsens Nora as she walked out of her Dolls House in protest against the 19th century marriage laws was heard all over Europe way back in 1879, it took another three decades for the first International Womens Day to be celebrated in 1911. Women in England, in fact, continued to be denied the right to vote till 1919 and in France till the end of the Second World War in 1945. A highly enlightened Mohammad Ali Jinnah encouraged Muslim women to take part in the Pakistan Movement. A number of Muslim women including Fatima Jinnah, Shaista Ikramullah, Fatima Begum and Begum Shah Nawaz, to name a few, entered public life at his urging in the 1940s. After the creation of Pakistan, however, political exigencies of the civil and military ruling elite soon led them to evolve a retrogressive state ideology with the result that affirmative moves to bring the women at par with men were kept in abeyance.
Despite outmoded customs and laws that militate against them, Pakistani women have, meanwhile, struggled hard for their rights and made a mark on society. Fatima Jinnah and Benazir Bhutto led heroic struggles against military dictators. A number of women organisations strived to raise awareness among women. A sound barrier was crossed, however, with the formation of the Women Action Forum which launched protests against the anti-women laws enacted by Zia. After this, the womens struggle for their rights became an integral part of the movement for democracy. Daring women like Mukhtaran Mai, broke social taboos, providing courage to others to speak out against oppression. Ghulam Sughra who was given the International Women of Courage Award this year is another woman who rebelled against the outmoded social conventions and worked for the empowerment of women. Women had to struggle hard to reach the Assemblies and overcome hurdles to join the armed forces, civil aviation, bureaucracy, and judiciary.
What is lacking is an appropriate support from the government. The claim by Prime Minister Gilani that his government is determined to empower women cannot be substantiated merely by the initiation of BISP or an act aimed at protecting women against harassment at workplaces. A most glaring example of the neglect of women is the governments failure to bridge the yawning gender gap in literacy rates, 36 percent in the case of women as compared to 63 percent in the case of men. The laws introduced by a military dictator to deny equality to women continue to remain on the statute book. The government machinery generally fails to come to the rescue of women who continue to be killed every now and then after being declared Kari. Women have yet to be provided quotas in services, including judiciary, to enable them to get their rightful place in society. Unless the measures are taken, claims about the empowerment of women are bound to be taken with a big pinch of salt.
