Jahangir's World Times First Comprehensive Magazine for students/teachers of competitive exams and general readers as well.
Merely showcasing the presence of a few privileged and heavily painted females with designer outfits in our cabinets or assemblies is neither gender-mainstreaming nor empowering of women. They only epitomize a lust for self-display and an effrontery of affluence that only aggravates a sense of humiliation among the larger female population of the country.
Prime Minister Gilani has done well by announcing a high civil award for Sharmeen but he would do even better if he took concrete measures to erase this ugly scar from the face of the nation. It is not enough just to appreciate Sharmeen’s courage and creativity in highlighting the disgraceful issue of acid attacks on women through an award-winning documentary. He should not transfer his own responsibility to artists by asking them to continue to act as a catalyst in bringing positive change in the society. The change in society will come only through governmental efforts and affirmative political and economic action genuinely addressing the ‘core issues’ underlying women’s socio-economic backwardness in Pakistan.
The problem is that the overbearing feudal and tribal power structure in Pakistan has been too deeply entrenched to let any systemic change take place. The empowerment of men and women in the country doesn’t suit them. They have always resisted reform in the country which they fear will erode their vested power and influence base. Successive governments in Pakistan have only paid politically motivated lip-service to the cause of women. No government, not even the present one, has ever shown the courage needed to grapple with the primitive gender norms inherent in our legal system and customs.
Pakistan remains one of those countries where women even in the twenty-first century are subjected to primitive gender norms which are at the root of the pervasive political, legal, economic and social inequalities that perpetuate women’s lack of access to resources, education, health care, employment, decision-making and participation in public life. They are also victims of gruesome forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, with pervasive denial of justice. Acid attacks are just a tip of the iceberg. Violence against women in our country is endemic and widespread.
Despite the relative privilege of some elitist women, the large majority of women in Pakistan remains structurally disadvantaged as a result of our discriminatory legal system and obscurant norms and attitudes. They are subjected to barbaric and senseless customs and laws. There are systemic, almost insurmountable barriers to justice confronting victims of violence, rape and other excesses. Some of the victims prefer to seek asylum in other countries rather than live under conditions of insecurity in their homeland. The world knows this bleak reality.
Pakistan as a leading player in international forums making significant contribution to the promotion of global consensus on issues related to social and economic inequalities is obliged by its ratification of international treaties to ensure respect for women’s rights and fundamental freedoms. These include the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) for the advancement of women, which recognized that ‘equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice, and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace.’
Unfortunately, our performance in implementation of commitments under these international conventions is pathetic. Clear violations of international law on the rights of women occur daily in our country and are regularly chronicled in the reports of international human rights organizations. Laws that discriminate against women remain in the books and are actively enforced while discriminatory access to government resources and services continues unchecked. No wonder, global forums keep flagging Pakistan for its flagrant violation of ‘women’s rights to life and security of the person.’
Ironically, in our implementation reports on Beijing Platform of Action, we have been forthright in identifying our systemic failures while showing no capacity for remedial actions. We acknowledge harmful traditions and customary practices rooted in an exploitative feudal and agrarian structure of our society, poverty, lack of education and lack of awareness among women of their rights as the principal causes of exploitation and violence against women in Pakistan. Despite the relative privilege of some elitist women, the large female majority remains structurally disadvantaged as a result of our discriminatory legal system and obscurant norms and attitudes.
Widening gender inequalities in our country will not be bridged just by acknowledging what is wrong with us. The gender gaps will be closed only with concrete and sustained actions backed by the requisite allocation of resources to promote literacy and basic health services for women in Pakistan, especially in rural and other backward areas.
Indeed, a lot needs to be done by the government for genuine ‘gender-mainstreaming and empowerment’ of women in our country through the elimination of discriminatory policies and mediaeval practices. Instead of indulging in diversionary antics, which at times may be inconsistent with our religious and cultural value system, we need to focus more on coherent and concrete legal reforms even if we have to resort to reversing some of the existing policies and laws. It is the responsibility of the government and parliament to do so. We should be applying our energies and resources to plugging the gender gap in education, health and employment. It is in these critical areas that Pakistani women need to be included in the mainstream.
Those elitist women who are elected to assemblies or appointed to public offices need to present themselves as an example of austerity and simplicity eschewing at least in public their ostentatious and lavish lifestyle.
The key to our social problems regarding the ‘betterment and empowerment’ of women in Pakistan lies in comprehensive ‘legislative and budgetary’ packages to close the existing gender gaps in our health, education and employment sectors, and to remove all gender-based barriers in our legal system.
In the ultimate analysis, a nation’s interests and capabilities, its problems and disorders, and its operational approach towards ending the sense of socio-economic deprivation determine its health and inner strength.
In our case, the stability and survival of our nation will depend not on winning Oscars but on ‘the system and methods’ of our government, on our policies and priorities, and on our ability to redress our systemic fault-lines and socio-economic inequalities. Showing a healthy, peaceful and pleasant face is what will finally matter.
