This letter is in response to an article “Carrot for India and stick for Pakistan” by Dinesh Sharma published on 22 July in your paper.
The writer suggests that the Indians respect women politicians not because they are good politicians but because of archaeology of womanhood which has given them a demigoddess status. The facts on the ground suggest otherwise. Sexual harassment, dowry, child marriage, female infanticide, sex selective abortions, domestic violence and trafficking are the very characteristics of Indian society and amply depict women’s plight.
They do occur in Pakistan but we don’t boast that women are living very comfortably in Pakistan. Then the writer compares the state of Pakistani and Indian women and suggests that because of Indian women being in better condition, Hilary Clinton is building stronger ties with India, I think the perception is erroneous.
The last five years are so were great for women in Pakistan. Many laws have been enacted against harassment and domestic violence. Women rule the media. In civil service and in other jobs they are competing against men. Our Speaker of the National Assembly and Foreign Minister are also women. So the difference between India and Pakistan when it comes to women conditions isn’t what the writer has depicted.
WASEEM KHAN
Lahore
Wrong interprepation on your part…. The writer is saying something else. Women have been running and winning in India in greater numbers for much longer and by far in greater numbers than Pakistan because they are better politicians at demanding their rights, and the society supports them and puts them on a high pedestal in politics and religion, not in all aspects of domesticity. Please read it carefully. If things have finally changed in 5 years in Pakistan than good for you… just look at Bangladesh, Indonesia…. stop denying the facts!!!!
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