And their future
The position of women in Pakistan, largely, remains a pressing concern. True, our women have made inspiring advances in many fields, not the least being politics, where Benazir Bhutto became the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country. There have been no less inspiring feats across the spectrum. Yet, importantly, most of these ‘agents of change’ have been women who were already empowered, coming from the society’s elite. Hence their struggles, admirable as they were, cannot exactly count for the state of women generally in our society.
And that is where successive governments have repeatedly let the people down. If in almost seven decades of freedom, the condition of our women remains among the most backward in the world, there can be no hope of a meaningful turnaround ever unless a drastic change of course is instituted. Stories of persecution, harassment, rape, marital oppression, honour killings, etc, have become so commonplace that they hardly cause popular uproar anymore. The few victims of oppression that do struggle through their ordeals and gain international commendation – like Mukhtaran Mai and Malala Yousalzai – are actually censured rather than celebrated at home.
For far too long the state has been accommodative of regressive elements who exploit religion to instill their conservative worldview on society as a whole. That the trouble began with Bhutto giving space to this bloc and Zia raising them to unprecedented heights is not new. But it is troubling that governments that followed did precious little to remedy the situation. Even so called secular governments of Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf never moved beyond heavy rhetoric and cosmetic changes. Of course they were wary of upsetting the religious lobby, not just because of the possibility of physical violence, but also political turmoil that could limit their time in power. As a result, not only women, but the state and people of Pakistan have been compromised. The government must immediately take up this matter. The country is in the middle of an existential war, and the future of our women is forever tied with the future of the federation. Unless their status is improved, Pakistan will continue to struggle.
