The Plight of Rural Women in Pakistan

A very well written article. About a month ago, ABC News had an hour long show that was broadcast nation wide. The show was about rural women in Pakistan, who were raped, beated, tortured, burnt alive, for all kinds of reasons. It showed women that were on death row because they killed their husbands who had tortured them for years. It was very disheartening, needless to say that it also ruined the rest of the week for me. Since I have never lived in Pakistan, I have never really felt any pride in being a Pakistani, but never before have I felt disgusted and dirty about being a Pakistani. Pakistan is a nation beyond help. You said in your article that reading the Chowk gives you hope, but most of the people that contribute to the Chowk are Pakistani`s living abroad. Let`s face the facts, Pakistan is ruled by greedy, disgusting men who hide their bastardly deeds behind the cloak of Islam. Frankly I think Pakistan should be nuked!

Forwarded : About state of affairs of Pakistani women. makes for very Interesting and yet distrurbing reading...

Pakistani`s Women`s Lot (Unending rapes, abductions, beatings and

Harrassment)

By: Muzaffer Hussein

In the Pakistan of Fatima Jinnah and

Benazir Bhutto, according to government statistics, every day two women are

abducted, one is raped and forty-five or so severely beaten up that throwing

all modesty to the winds, lodge complaints with the police. On an average,

two women are burnt to death by lighted stoves either accidentally, with

self-inflicted burns or (mostly) deliberately killed.

A Pathan leader of the Frontier Province and self-styled associate of Benazir

Bhutto, Ms. Veena Hayat, was molested in broad day light by the son-in-law of

then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan; how far can the modesty of a common woman

be safe in Pakistan under the present administration, is an open question.

Pakistan today is a veritable hell for women because goondas (hoodlums) and

bad characters never allow them to live peacefully with honor and the

government goes on introducing laws that are loaded in favor of Moslem males.

A woman undergoing the horrendous experience of rape has the burden of

proving that the specific man raped her. And she needs four eye-witnesses to

do that according to the Islamic laws of the Sharia`. And in case she is not

able to prove beyond reasonable (?) doubt, the Hadood Ordinance, ever in the

eye of the controversy, has vested the government with arbitrary powers to

punish women in the name of the Shariat.

Here are some reports published in Pakistan`s Dailies: ``Some five weeks back,

Ameena Bibi was burnt with boiling and burning oil. While she was groaning

under pain and inflammation her in-laws pushed her over a burning stove.

Ameena was on fire screaming for help. But who was there to rush to her

rescue? Nobody. Ameena died a horribly painful death. Here Ameena was in her

death gasp and there her husband was fleeing on a bicycle to escape police

pursuit. When neighbors entered Ameena`s house, they saw there only ashes

left where once there was a vibrant living being. The remains were already

stiffened.

Ameena had arrived there as a bride 13 years ago. But so far she could not

conceive a child. As a result, on a daily basis, she had to go through a

session of physical torture for her crime of being a childless woman. The

wretched woman had to suffer, cool off after screams of pain and streams of

tears and then resign to a Moslem woman`s traditional fate.

Bride Burning vs. Heavy Mehr

The man, belonging to a society which grants its male members the privilege

of multiple marriages and who talks of talaq, in season and out of season,

would not consider releasing a so-called barren woman from the marital

obligation. If he released her, how could Ameena`s husband enjoy the male

privilege of wife- bashing? Some enlightened gentlemen advocate the practice

of talaq as an escape from the male tyranny. But when that talaq also is not

forthcoming and the woman is reduced to waiting her inexorable end, what

argument have these supporters of talaq?

The Daily Nawa-i-Waqt of May 26, 1993 has a report presenting this harrowing

tale - Halima could not bear her husband a child even after one year of their

marriage. Once when she was seated on a charpoy (stringed cot) her husband

stole on her, poured kerosene oil on Halima and burned her to death. Halima`s

only crime was that she could not bear a child within a year of their

marriage.

In both these cases, during police interrogation it was told by the in-laws

of the deceased that while the women were preparing meals, they had caught

fire from the burning stoves. But in due course the secret of their having

been burnt instead of being allowed talaq (or divorce), came to light. In

both cases, at the time of their marriages, each of the brides had demanded a

heavy mehr (or dowry) of about a hundred thousand Pakistani rupees from the

groom. If the husbands divorced them, they would have to shell out the large

amount as mehr. So they adopted the much cheaper way of getting rid of their

wives in a short time. The large amounts of mehr are registered in the

marriage papers (nikahnama). Though discourage the frivolous divorce it

certainly did, but it encouraged bride-burning as a cheap alternative and the

inordinate mehr amounts proves a fatal practice for the women. In fact talaq

and multiple marriages do not restrict the atrocities heaped upon the hapless

women, but on the contrary, aggravate the situation.

Widow-remarriage?

According to a report in the Daily Jasarat, Sahma, a girl of 19, lost her

husband. Some people approached the widow with an excuse of arranging her

second marriage. She innocently agreed. She was thereupon taken to another

town for the second marriage. But when she arrived in the town, instead of

entering a marriage pandal (a temporary shed meant for housing a crowd of

people) of her dream, Sahma was taken by the scoundrels to a brothel. They

sold her to the brothel madam for a hundred thousand Pakistani rupees and

vanished. (Let us not discuss here if Islam permits prostitution in

Pakistan!). The young woman was made of sterner stuff. She would not

surrender her honor even in the brothel. When her relatives finally traced

her to the brothel, she was beyond recognition. Her long hair had been

shaved; even her eye-brows were removed, presumably as a punishment for her

refusal to yield to the brothel-keeper`s customers. She was reduced to a

virtual skeleton, a far cry from the former Sahma. When her relatives lodged

a complaint with the police, the latter turned a deaf ear. Obviously the

police had received the ubiquitous hafta (or bribe).

Drug-culture

Karachi, Lahore and Multan are the centers of the mafia crowd which

introduces the drug habit among college girls. Once they get hooked to

charas, ganja and heroin, the mafia gets these zombies to do their bidding

however illegal the errand could be. Last year a similar gang was apprehended

in Rawalpindi. An army officer`s daughter was ensnared by the gang in the

usual fashion. When the father of the victim came to know, he kept a close

watch on his other daughters and this resulted in the arrest of all the

members of the gang.

Rapes galore

In a village of Pakistan`s Gujrat region, a 13-year-old village girl on way to

the family farm was accosted by the police and subjected to an absurd

questioning. She was perplexed. She was then taken to a nearby poultry farm.

There the policeman and his three accomplices gang-raped the miserable girl.

Bazm-i-Niswan, a women`s organization, raised it`s voice against the culprits.

The police officials filed the case with the remark that on the day of the

offense, no complaint had been lodged with them. Not even 10 percent of the

incidents of rape that take place in Pakistan today are registered with the

police for obvious reasons.

Pakistan`s outlandish `landocracy`

Pakistan`s `landocracy` of the feudal landed gentry and the Wudehras form a

formidable force in the country`s political set up. Anyone who crosses path

with any of its members is made a deterrent example for others. A township

named Rahimyar Khan - what an ironic misnomer! - Rahimyar would mean a `kind

friend` - was witness to this axiom of Pakistan`s `landocratic` reign of

terror. One morning the landlord`s minions raided the town`s headmaster`s

house; they rounded up all the eight members of the headmaster`s family, tied

them up like cattle and then dragged them to the landlord`s courtyard. There

they were mercilessly belabored. The reason for all this was the landlord`s

suspicion that his daughter was lured by the headmaster`s son. The entire

population of Rahimyar Khan gathered around the `area` to `enjoy` the unique

rodeo show. Not a finger was lifted to stop the savage beating. This is but a

sample of the daily occurrences in Pakistan where landlords, rich monopolists

and Wudehras terrorize the countryside routinely, beat up women, rape young

girls, exploit them as bonded labor; the whole of Pakistan remains a silent

spectator to the atrocities perpetrated by these modern-day Minotaurs. Don`t

the law-enforcing agencies notice it? If miraculously a case does reach a

court of law, the law of the land being already heavily weighted against the

weaker sex, police act as cohorts of the landed junta; it doctors evidence to

save the culprit. The courts order so many adjournments that it becomes a

veritable punishment, not for the culprit but for the victim, to go through

the whole charade!

At every court attendance, the landlord`s goons threaten the victim to

withdraw the complaint ``or else...``. If the complainant persists in his

`heroism`, his wife and children ``would be taken care of``. Even judges are

not immune to the threats. Three judges who were fool-hardy enough to take

their judicial oath seriously and administer justice according to the letter

and spirit of the law, were tied up and brought to the market place and in a

rare display of the landlord`s henchmen`s cowboy skills, ruthlessly thrashed

before the gathered onlookers. It was supposed to serve as a deterrant to

those who might imagine that the law was above the `landocracy`. Pakistan`s

law and order situation is so fluid that lawbreakers are not even

reprimanded.

Now this situation has so deteriorated that Pakistani parents either marry off

their daughters even before they are of age or despatch them to relatives

living abroad. (Marriageable age for a Moslem girl in Pakistan, like in all

Islamic coutries, is nine). In spite of the top-to-toe veil, Pakistani women

are under constant threat of being deflowered by goondas (hooligans).

77% women are victims of woman-bashing

A world survey of ill-treatment meted out to women shows that woman-bashing

is quite common in Pakistan. Seventy-seven per cent of married women have to

suffer beating carried out routinely by their husbands. Talaq or divorce is

very common in Pakistan. Since the exodus of Pakistani job-seekers to the

Gulf countries, the number of talaqs has registered a giant leap. On return

home from the Gulf country, a Pakistani`s first step would be to get rid of

his old wife by means of the instant talaq and find himself a `brand new`

bride. Four out of six husbands divorce their wives or send them back to

their parents. The abandoned wives have to reluctantly seek divorce to obtain

their maintenance. Ever since the divorces have been registered through

family courts, the number of talaqs have shown a quantum leap. The practice

of triple talaq uttered in one sitting is no longer accepted as valid. The

dictators Ayub Khan and Gen. Zia, during their rules, had made several

changes in divorce laws. (Sharia` too can undergo reforms!) But still, in the

procedure of divorce, there occur several irregularities. Divorce involves a

serious problem of maintenance of the ex-wife and nurture of the children who

stay with their mother. After divorcing his wife the husband is generally

reluctant to keep his children under the same roof with his new wife. So he

lets them be taken away by his ex- wife. He agrees to provide for their

maintenance and really does so for a few months. But later, he ceases to take

any notice of their needs. This has created in Pakistan a growing generation

of virtual orphans. Deprived of parental warmth and affection, these children

often turn to crime.

Edhi Foundation

Edhi Foundation is a wellknown charitable organization that admits such

children in its `homes` and nurtures them, but the Islamic government is

totally unconcerned. It has no direction, no interest, no enthusiasm to

eliminate such harmful customs. In Pakistan, this epidemic of talaq is

attributed to what is called the `Dubai disease`.

In an Islamic society there is no scope for women to take up employments. The

Pakistani social milieu is not tolerant to women who seek employment outside

their homes, nor are there any facilities for working women. Lahore claims

three hostels where working women can live; Karchi has nine. In Pakistan only

3.11% of the women are educated. Though primary education is compulsory, the

society or the government has no control over it. Most women are taught in

madrassahs (clergy-controlled institutions) imparting religious lessons. This

training has no scientific basis. A majority of the madrassahs are conducted

either in a mosque or in waqf (Endowment Trust) premises. The largest number

of such madrassahs are in Punjab. In Balochistan and the Frontier Province,

girls are provided hardly any education. They are married off prior to their

age of consent. This severely affects their physique. They are already old

and anemic before they can attain their youthful figures. Many contract

different wasting diseases and wait for their release from the miserable

existence. This is the end of many of the compatriots of Miss Fatima Jinnah

and Ms. Benazir Bhutto. For the Fatimas and the Mariams of Pakistan, youhtful

life is an unapporachable mirage.

The following is a disturbing account of true news, related to this article. This is for people like Sapoot-E-Pakistan who advocated, humourfully, that village girls should be given judo and karate lessons in self defence. Its only via pitiful, abhorrent actions like the father of this rape victim, who killed ihis dishonoured daughter, that the poor, repressed victims of feudal abuse, and subjugation try to take their shame away, which is caused by the tyrannies of these vultures of our society.....

OKARA: An ashamed poor man killed his young daughter after she was
raped by the son of a local landlord in village Mupalka, near here
yesterday. The poor man presented himself before police after the
murder.

Aslam, a poor potter, told the police that Sabir Ali, son of a local
landlord Wali Muhammad and his three accomplices forced their entry on
gunpoint into his house in the night and kidnapped his daughter. He
said his daughter was taken to the Haveli of the land lord where
Sabir`s three accomplices stood outside on watch out.

Aslam said when he and his brothers went to rescue his girl,
accomplices of Sabir opened fire at them forcing them to turn back.
After raping the girl Sabir let her go home, Aslam told the police.

``I saw my daughter going towards home after losing her honor and I
lost my temper``, he said. Aslam said he hit his daughter with a sharp
hoe and killed her on the spot.``

Re : Sabrina

I think i would, perhaps agree partially with your views about a writer wanting to write for himself first and foremost. But the reasons for this could be many, perhaps the most important one, catharsis of one`s own conscience. Yes, writing does help one to become more organised in presentations, and the subsequent discussion helps in finding one`s erroneous arguments, and gives one latitutude to gauge the feedback of his writers. In fact it develops ones faculties for an ability to think and analyse, the situation, with a view to finding a solution, or at the very least helps one better in the art of public speaking..... But the collective good is there for opnes` readewrship, in that they gain from one`s thought processes for free, and get a perspective, and perhaps a reason to do some self analysis, by the yardsticks mentioned in a a critical review by any author...

Regarding your point about not singling me out, thanks for being kind to mention it. Perhaps this is where you thought i was addressing your criticism!!! NO, the reason for my writing the earlier reply, was a ``commitment of honourable words``, for myself. The bigger pictuure being that at least a majority of us, can have a rough plan while learning new arts, sciences, technology, literature, and getting on with our jobs here, with a view to how we can finally contribute to that former land, once our lust for money, a better social standing, a better future for our kids is ensured!!! Selfish yes, Unrealistic, Indeed Not. Its only after one is satisfied with one`s vision of what he needs on a personal basis, can one look at the bigger picture and contribute to the betterment of one`s country. I would not be spending on average a few hours a day, here on Chowk or elsewhere, writing informative articlesd, if i ws starving or being persecuted in my country. Priorities change as a result of ones hardship factor in life...

How can you generalise that nothing good is being done for the communities abroad, by the better off Pakistanis. Perhaps its best that such assistance is provided by conscientious people, in helping others, in a non-comercial manner i.e withoput TV Camera and crews, like it happens in Pakistan..There is a lot of suffering for the Pakistani Immigrants on the lowest rung of society in the west. I feel the well to do abroad can actually fulfil their dream of sdoing something positive right here, in the West, byt lending ahelping hand, as far as say educating a poor pakistani kid, at a good school, or say, helping in providing a better job for a pakistani worker, or at the very least stand up for a colleague, if he is being discriminated against at work, on the basis of his lower standing in the company as opposed to our...

But thats something we fail against, miserably. As we are a nation who likes to gloat its sucesses, and the others failures, perhaps we are not singular in that respect, but condemnable as it is, we can rise above our complexes about ``status``, and ``image``, and do some selfless work, for the betterment of the plight of the poor expatriate worker. How about that?

Re: Rehan

I never said it was useless to post enlightening articles on the Net. It is beneficial to a great many people who have internet access. This is great outlet for personal growth. Now, I merely wanted people to keep things in perspective-ie, do not get all high and mighty with dreams of how the individual through his writings is affecting change. Nor is he doing his public service duty for his country. He is not. He writes for himself first and foremost. That may once again seem mean, but I think that is true.

Until the time when you lot got together and decide to do something, anything at all, I will still think along the lines I said before.

Maybe you should get togther and form a Chowk club? Raise money for schools-buy computers?

Prove me wrong then. I`ll be glad if you do.

Oh btw, Asim I was not singling you out....

Re : Our Selfishness and Greed!!!!

How much is enough, for somebody? Indeed such a question can lead to an existentialist debate accomplishing nothing in spite if jewels of arguments supporting either side.

Indeed here, one sees a lot of intelligent men and women of my country writing about thought provoking ideas, and it does touch one to see such sentiments expressed, but the next question is the one which i find very difficult to answer. Where to from now, and what can we do about the miserable state of affairs?


Its the lack of action and honourable words, which create a dichotomy in any discussion about the betterment of a debilitated society such as ours. I am not criticising others, i am merely criticising myself, for having seen all that i write about, and having left it behind, in order to pursue a better, and more promising finanicially and ethically rewarding life.. but wait... i have the weight of such burdens often pulling my chest, when i try to sleep at night, in my warm comfortable bed, seeing my wife, already asleep, breathing softly next to me, all peace an slumber... Its at moments like this i am not at ease with myself. A thousand images flash by my side. The poor beggar boy,handicapped, barely 6, clutching his bowl saying, as we wind up the automatic windows of our new car, ``bhai gee, thori madad kur do, mein ne din bhar se nahin khaya``, the poor girls, the respectable peon not letting anybody see the big boss, a government officer, unless and until we cross his palm with a piece of paper, seeing the look of disappointment on the young educated minds of today, unable to get a job, having a family to provide for, young pretty girls, with sadness in their eyes, as yet another possible suitor backed away from accepting them, just because her father was not ``industrial`` enough to provide ``him`` with a microwave oven, as well as a suzuki 800, the reprehensible treatment of women specially in the rural areas as third rate citizens of a 4th world country, the rampant abuse and mistreatment of women under the immoral shelter/banner of islam, the shambles of the education system of such a country, the supposed tolerance of others who happen to be different at an all time low, the persecution of religious minorities, the use of child labour, and so much more...



yes, indeed where is one to start rebuilding a nation which has gone from conception to the dark ages in a mere 5 decades...Indeed i can excuse myself from it as i am the lucky one who got away, the one who is looked up to by his family in pakistan as being capable, and highly itelligent, allegedly, that he made something out of his life. I am not so suRe at times...particularly late at night when the stirrings of the norwegian insects at night, cause me to think while lying unasleep.....

And it is then i make my resolutions to do something positive, something ``practical``... Yes, to become financially independednt to go and start a business there... but when will i have enough money!!! yes indeed, i want to get a nice house, a nice Audi A6, i want to send my kids to the best public school in UK, and later send them to US to the IVYleague coleges, and take vacations to the exotic places the world has to offer,., where is all that funding going to come from?... when will i have achieved all my objectives... when can i safely return to pakistan, for not being shot at for expressing sentiments such as the dissatisfaction above... As to the loaded question, how much is enough, i don`t have a rough and ready answer, but i am hanging on to that thought and am confident that one day, i shall wake up and my mind will be made about doing the ``right`` thing, and returning back, inspite of everything....

To others i might just be rambling on, indeed perhaps i am, but i am getting my resolutions written here on the printed word, so that i may not forget them one day, such that the chowkwallahs will hold me accountable to these words, to which i have to abide, indeed if i am ever to be called a gentleman. Perhaps more of us need to at least have a plan to do something...

Perhaps then we can all answer within our heart of hearts how much is ``financial and intellectual security`` is enough for us?, and then start to think about the people, and the images that flash by us sometimes, in moments of self-analysis, about the land that had so much associtaion with us, and to which we ultimately shall owe for having given us the wings to fly away for better climes....

For some all this might be humbug, but then each one can have his or her own view about self reformation and hence contributing to the overlal picture, while even living here in the west. For i see the same intolerance between pakistanis, here too, and the same despicable treatment of people who we happen to have given protection to, ......

Regards


Asim

P.S For some it might be the fashionable thing to talk about, in between coffee breaks at work, for others, perhaps it is an insignificant way to remind oneself about one`s origins, one`s roots, one`s place back home... Realism and honesty about our emotions, varies from individual to individual...Perhaps ``HE`` alone knows what actually transpires beneath a compassionate facade, in somebody`s heart of hearts!!!

Thank you GSM. That was exactly what I meant.

Sabrina, I am on to you on this one. Lots of oohs and aahs of the esoteric kind! We can all feel good about opening our hearts and minds on chowk but as you so rightly pointed out: how many of us are heading back with a one-way ticket? And how many folks have access to internet in Pakistan itself? It is sort of a tamasha with something to talk about during coffee breaks. That`s about all there is to it!

Re: Rehan.

perhaps, i was being mean...talk without action just gets me that way, sometimes. what happens after the exposes on the Net other than personal awareness? how many of you are heading back?

Re : Sabrina

Rehan,

I dont know by what token, Sabrina claims that expose such as the ones i have written, glorify Pakistan!!

I was pondering on tackling the same issue which you have handled so very well. Good explanation, and well worded. But what I am highlighting is our complacency at thinking us to be removed from any such misgivings that Pakistan has any such problems, as highlighted.

Kudos to AA, and the ``Sex Everywhere`` article for taking my intentions several steps further, in trying to wake up the people of Pakistan in accepting the obvious heinous crimes against women, and so graphically as well.Rest assured AA, did not write that ``controversial`` article for self aggrandizement either, its juts to bring home the severe hypocrisy we tend to abide by, in saying we are a fair people in our dealings with women..... NO Sir, we are not.!!!!

AS i have said time and time again, if there are not any articles written to highlight the wrong we are doing, our collective conscience which is already comatose, would wither out of the coma and into the valley of death, very quickly...and then for sure, the basic principle of ``out of sight, out of mind`` will guide our future interactions, since we cant see the problems to register their effect on our conscience any more, then there are no problems. Incorrect Logic or self complacent explanation!!!

Kind Regards

Asim

P.S I have no trouble or complexes in being accepted in my ``country of work``, but being a realist and a humanitarian by virtue, of my family, my upbringing, my value, my ethics, and my education, perhaps like millions of others, here on chowk, i realise the infinite wrong that is being done by those in power over those who are at the bottom rung of poverty....

Re: gsm

It is one thing to write and pontificate and enlighten the mind, quite another to say that all this ``talk`` will result in action especially from persons in faraway lands removed from Pakistan except in their hearts. Will this be merely another outlet for trumpeting the patriotic nationalistic feelings while action is by way of mouth? I only wonder if people lack some form of acceptance (imagined or otherwise) in their new place of residence that they have to keep glorifying their place of births. Just wondering...

sabrina.

Asim, appreciate your taking the time again. You are truly a sincere person who truly and passionately cares about his country. Wish we had
more human beings like you in this world. Look
forward to more of your writings here ....

Re : GSM

Dear Sir,
Your observations are noted!! Perhaps you are right there is a fair bit of criticism of our country, but i feel that defining a problem can only lead to finding a solution. Pakistan is most certainly not Rwanda, but is still afflicted by so many lifethreatening diseases, such that if no diagnosis is made at this late stage, (50 yrs on...), and no suitable remedy is procured for its ailment, it might be a lost cause...in the not too distant future..

It is singular in the respect of so many wrongs being committed in one country, without much being done to rectify any of the wrongs. If you see the apathy and ``don`t care`` attitude we have incarnated ourselves with,there is a reason for it. Its not we are not conscientious people, or that i do not have pride in being Pakistani, its just that i have little to be proud about it...Please do not get me wrong, i had written about the wrongs of our country, yes, indeed my previous two articles too dealt with certain wrong aspects, but they were written with a view to waking up the conscience of our own hearts, to do something to change our perceptions and views.

Nobody can deny that we have gone backwards in the arena of human rights, womens rights, treatment of children, corruption, moral decay of society, greater feudalistic hold on power, abandonment of true rpogress in the name of education, and many other fields, just to name a few. I as a young Pakistani, feel truly dejected by the state of affairs, no doubt like the millions of other young Pakistanis, abroad who have the vision and the energy to do something about it, but whom nobody pays any attention back home.. After my higher studies, io went back to Pakistan, to get a job, on one condition from my father, that he will never do any sufarish for me, and that My Education and expertise in my field, should be my sufarish!!. Sad to say, i did not land a job, at Wapda, or at other private electronics Firms in Lahore. I wa however offered a job, by a kind man, an educcated zamindar actually from Multan, whom i met at Lahore Airport, while was taking a flight out of Pakistan. The gentleman got talking with me, and asked what i was upto, and on telling him my frustration, he offered me 20,000 Rs/month to fix his electrical machinery in his village, not asking me a single technical question...but i could not envisage living in Multan, and working with machinery, when i had studied Custom VLSI Circuit design and fabrication/Telecommunications/Power Electronics etc..

So i was very bitter, that i had gone abroad on my own expenses, and got a reasonable education, yet, my country does not want to benefit from me knowledge. I did not even make it to interview stage with Wapda!!!

Before i digress too much,,,,let me say, yes there are positive things about Pakistan, and yes, we need to have maybe more of those to balance out the deficit here on chowk... but perhaps the chowk, a microcosm of its own, actually reflects the chaos, the frenzy and despair and hopelessness of our people and our country. It merely reflects the current problems in vogue over there. Reality is harsh, surreal and sultry imagination about the good in everything is hard to come by, in these troubled times.... Wish i could be more positive. In fact the purpose behind my articles is to some extent a personal catharsis as well, the feeling that at least i have got it all off my chest...

Rest Assured, not all my future articles will deal with such portrayal, its just that, when one starts to do something constructive, one has to see what is actually something which needs correcting, and then focus on it...I do not clai9m to have the answers, but i am counting on some of the chowkwallahs to come forward and enlighten us all with their insight into the solution arenas for our country...including yourself. Perhaps GSM Sahib you should pick up the pen and write what you feel is good about our country.....

What is good in my view might differ from your view, and i would be interested to hear what you and the others have to say about it. Perhaps we can have a cumulative exercise under a separate heading where all people can interact, and say something good about our country, a few lines, a paragraph.. how about that? I am going to suggest it to Umair..to call it ``Our Pakistan``, Just so that we do not all lose perspective of what we actually do have!!!!

Kind Regards

Asim

Asim, thanks for taking the time. I still believe that the cases you cited (personal or hearsay or
newspaper accounts) are isolated cases, which one finds in ANY society. If ET ever visits our planet and reads few of the papers and watches the nightly news, ET will form a negative opinion also. I read articles here on chowk by you and others and all I see is the bad side of Pakistan.
I believe that there are a lots and lots of good
things about Pakistan which should be written about also. THERE OUGHT TO BE A BALANCE! I believe Pakistan has more good than bad. You are
an excellent and perceptive author, Asim. How about writing ``What is RIGHT about Pakistan``?

Same goes for Islam bashing and education bashing
and other bashing that goes on here on chowk about
poor wretched Pakistan. Pakistan is no Rwanda but
it is being portrayed as such when there is no
balance in the articles published here on chowk.

Re : General Comments

Firstly, i would like to apologise for the late delay, in responding to the various readers interactions, primarily due to my having been offshore, on account of my work, for the past week or so.

I would like to thank all of the readers who had taken the time to reply and to discuss the subject, so far, both the ones who had positive things to say, and also the ones who disagreed in principle. Of course a discussion can never be healthy if there is agreement all round, it merely amounts to a yes, yes scenario, leading nowhere positive.

My intention,as highlighted before in writing here on chowk, was to focus on the numerous points which need attention in our society, if we are to ever come out of the dark ages we happen to be complacently living in.. Its human nature to ignore or forget the normal, but the paranormal or surreal has a great impact value, and if that supposed paranormal event/place/story also has the element of truth, it affects people, perhaps in some way to change their attitudes or look twice at accepted norms/institutions/events/taboos/dogmas etc, with some trepidation, and in an analytical vein. People like me, who speak about the ills of my country are often labelled Pakistan bashers, but i am content with neing labelled as such, than to live with a guilty conscience of seeing wrong being done, and turning away from it, without at least verbally condemning it.... This is the islamic way if one can not fight evil by force, one should at least condemn it, vocally or in the final stage in one`s heart...

The current article was to highlight in some way the status of rural women in Pakistan, not that the general status of urban women, is any better. However, I feel, that there is a growing awareness of urban women about their rights, and resolves to better their standing in the community, primarily due to the emphasis being laid, recently in middle classes about the changing role of women in our society, as possible economic workers. Education of the women in middle classes is being paid attention to, now, not necessarily by the governement, but by the so called broadminded and liberal families, which view a professional skilled woman, as supporting her husband economically as well as in the traditional sense, and also ends up perhaps being a better mother (debateable?) Hence the market value for such prospective girls for marriage etc., goes up.... as the boys family in fact see the girl as an added asset in terms of the economics of the relationship...

Of course, the emergence of urban women, from the ``char-diwari``, and into the male dominated workplace, has some severe repercussions and problems, and is worthy of a separate article altogether. Perhaps some professional skilled Working lady here, on Chowk should grit her teeth, and maybe dive headlong into the supposed perception, treatment, and problems of working women, by the male colleagues, in Pakistan. I feel perhaps Bad Girl, with her courageous stance about ``growing pains/posture aesthetics`` ( :))ought to write such an article. Bad Girl are u upto such a challenge??? (providing you are working... of course.. :))

But I felt that Ok, women generally are the second class citizens of Pakistan, but what about the rural women, they are even a step lower, or maybe two rungs lower in the hierarchy of things. Power goes from Allah, to Politicians, to contractors, ordinary men, to urban women, ...rural women, in Pakistan.

I shall try to give my two cents worth on various points presented by the worthy readers..
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Re : BG

It is not courageous on my part to write about the zamindars son, in retrospect!!! What would have been courageous was to have condemned him and many others like him, openly and verbally at Aitchison, and trying to talk sense into him, and for saying how would he have felt to be the father of the poor girls he had ``supposedly`` made pregnant. What if it had been his sister who had been the victim of such an ordeal? It is no surprise as to how he would have interacted!!!!

Village women are simple, as pointed out by Mr Amin Saleh as well, because of not knowing their worth, not having an identity, not having been given any importance to, and finally for not having any education!!!. They are simple because they do not know how to react when an influential man makes lustful, unasked for, advances to them, for fear of being ostracised and labelled a ``loose woman``, and later killed on grounds of having destroyed the honour of her family. Who is going to hear their plea for mercy, truth? Who will be her defence attorney in a system, where one requires 4 witnesses for ``sexual impropriety``. One can not surely have an audience of 4 people when such acts are committed and so the law can not help her.Genetic fingerprinting ,DNA fibre testing, and other such forensic medicine advances are yet esoteric in Pakistan, as is even the availability of normal medicine in remote areas of Pakistan. And who would foot the bill of her legal and medical expenditure?surely not the peasant farmer whose soul, whose body, whose all material possessions are directly or indirectly the property of the zamnidars!!

As an aside, One would think those women most probably had not seen Billy Crystal`s movie ``When Harry met Sally``, where Meg Ryan displays her expertise in ``faking`` an orgasm, as it was exactly that skill the colleague from my school wanted to see when he was engaged in the sordid abominable act. and yes, village girls are simple to not put a mask when being brutally violated, or to be even aware that some women in the west can make ``Faking it`` an artform of epic proportions!!!! Not that a women being raped in the west would put up a good show either!!!


Re : Temporal

You are right with your analogy. Indeed one does not know how to react to all the wrong being done, and often one is in a stupor, or as the Americans love to say ``one is in Denial``, and yes, it is not a river which flows through Egypt :) Sorry!! had to mention it!!! Yes Pakistanis are in Denial!!!

You are right about the Pardesi Pakistanis, but often one feels strongly about something positive to contribute, but our interaction is only ``superficial``, according to the loyalists. They are right, but at least the definition of a problem can lead to a solution. But with an attitude like there is nothing wrong with ``their`` Pakistan, i feel is not the solution. They say, if one is not part of the solution, then one is part of the problem.


RE : Mansoor

I hear your sentiments about inheriting a class-conscious strict hierarchy from the departing British. But it is our fault for having propagted it to such extremes that currently, perhaps only 5% of the elite of the country consume 90% of the country`s resources...(my perception of Pakistans balance of share of wealth amongst its population)Perhaps if one has a figure on such a statistic I would be glad to know..Maybe i am being too naive and generous in the above....

You are right that we have to be good Muslims, but remember that even islam can not save us from ourselves. An education, specially a wordly one is imperative to survive, in this ever changing highly competitive world. Even the best of minds decay and ferment away if not nourished by basic necessities as food, shelter. So Islam is not the answer to all things. sure iot tells us a lot about how we should manage our means and to conduct us righteously. The path leading to corruption and decadence is very narrowly separated from the one leading to a correct, moral way of life. The difference between the two is limited by the basic amenities for life, like food, clothing, shelter. If I am out of a job, and on the streets, and i see my family starving and my poor kid sick with disease, no amount of Islamic knowledge would be my saviour. What good is it to feed my hungry family, and so if somebody offers me a job, no matter how criminal, or morally reprehensible, i do not know how long can i hang on to my morally correct upbringing and my honour, and keep refusing to do it. I have my threshold factor just like anybody, and Maslows
principle of hierachy about the need for basic entities will eventually force me to throw away my honour, my morality. Sure enough i would be a fallen man, not because i was inherently bad, but i was a victim of my environment, sure my self esteem would be zero, but at least i can see my family is not going to die of starvation. Survival of the fittest is a great theory, Natural selection does take its toll, on those who fail to reform or change....

In fact the islam being followed by the Talibans is an example of reprehensible and indeed not even remotely conected to the tolernace and respect Islam tries to promote, in my view. The type of fanatic Islam in Pakistan, is perhaps the reason of such much sectarian hatred and violence, based on different jammat and sects..

Indeed one can show by ones own example. But i mam afraid that people with a conscience are few, and the other types have the market cornered!!!!


Re : GSM

Your criticism and your disbelief in the example i had given, is duly noted. Of course you failed to see the bigger picture. I am not, god forbid condemning all zamindars, for such heinous attributes and practices, and if within your heart of hearts you know you are not what this article was all about, and that you or your family has been kind and instrumental in trying to provide education to the poor peasants in your village, or trying to promote health awareness, specially, about fertility and family planning, and if you look at a peasant as another human being and not a slave, and if you look at the urban women of your village and give them the respect and reverence they deserve, then indeed you are to be congratulated for your singular, fairmindedness and human empathy for your fellow man.

What i am trying to highlight is that such practices do go on. I do not have a eye witness record of such activities, and have not done a full documented case study for Times Economic Supplement Annual, or anything like that, but i can still claim wrong doings do happen based on the mellowed down news one hears in the newspapers. Indeniable as it is, feudals do have the utmost control of their subjects...So if you treat your people differently, then Allah bless you, and if you dont, then please still consider changing your ways, AS I dont believe Allah would have allowed us to treat any of his creations in the abominable way some of us treat them...

You mention ``Sure, there are problems in any society...`` but a lot of them in our society stem from the feudalistic hold in the rural areas. Remember Bhutto and company and many other distinguished politicians have amassed gazzilion acres of land, and in a poor third world country with little or no industrial development, land is power!!!! Remember that, the next time you go visit your lands, and see how long it takes to travel by land cruiser from one end of your land to the other, and then for comparison go past your peasants land, and see how much is the difference in time required to go past his!!!

Re : Amin Saleh

Thanks for giving credulity to my claims, and for discussing with GSM the Dawn article.

Indeed its people like us, who have the ability to perhaps think in an unbiassed manner and are open to suggetsions to personal reform and individual development who can fight to have the voice of these repressed segments of our community be heard, who have no option but to remain in pious silence, as they do not have an agency to have their silent anguish and internal screaming be heard.


Re : Saima Shah

Thanx for the encouragement. Its not a big deal to say that women are being mistreated in the land of the pure, its the next question which haunts me, what shall we do to tackle it. Personal reforms was mentioned elsewhere and the ability to lead by exmpale is one thing, but one can not reach out to those repressed souls, due to the lack of education and the awareness of these women about themselves. Like i said in my article, decades of abuse, mistrust, lack of self esteem have conditioned these women to accpt their fate, and in the process have fallen below the threshold of pain, where it registers sharply in the brain. Fighting prejudices are difficult even in my job, in the west, with a foreign qualification and a bradminded approach to life, and i feel frustrated at concepts like the proverbial barriers to promotion in a colour-driven western society, but imagine if you will the plight of these women, who have, as you rightly point out, got to stand by their men, even if they abuse them, or beat them, or expect them to generate 10 kids for lack of doing anything better for recreation....hence procreation without planning!!!! for e.g

Re : Usman Qazi

I felt it was well understood, a priori, which women i was referring to in my title. The women belonging to the elite landlords are of course treated infinitely better as scompared to the peasnat women... for starters no one can even look at or approach them as they are heavily guarded so the question of them being even remotely put in a position of being even remotely impromprious (is there such a word :), does not arise.....They might have some other type of problems.... who knows...the working of a landowners complex mind...


Re : Anita Zaidi

Thanx for the encouragement!!Fluffy romantic dramas are acceptable providing they dont become the norm in the name of entertainment. Yes inded there is little entertainment and it does offer an esacpism of sorts. But why cant thye have a boy and girl story along with a moral and problem highlighting theme as well. thats what i had the criticism for. Why cant they have a womens discussion group programme where women can come and discuss their problesm with say educated specialist women, like yourself, in the capacity of a doctor, or say a social worker.What i dont want to see id programming, with tax payers money solely for competing with ZEE TV, in its glamour, in its portrayal of girls as sex symbols, whereby every Pakistani girl in middle class household sits glued to the TV trying to see the TOP TEN countdowns, and pretending to be the heroine. I know a lot of young womens education is being affected by such intrusion of indian propaganda

Maybe this can be extended futher and help lines can be setup where they can talk about taboos, or misconceptions about contraceptions, or domestic violence. at least in urban areas for womens hotline, say, where one can get advise in complete anonymity.

In a rural environment, i wonder how much time these women have to even see TV, though, what i was trying to say was that maybe better coverage of the plight of women, on PTV might trigger some reformist action groups with a cause for getting donations or charity for betterment of the cause of rural women, in addition to getting to lots of educated people who are sensitive and care about such problems, but have hardly ever thought of such a problem due to the tediousness of ones own life to have time to spent worrying about others...thats all..

Rehan Rizvi

Your review of the problerms and their solutions indeed are worth noting, and very commendable. Perhaps you should write a foolowup article taking the salient points you have written and giveing it body and shape so that these ideas do not get buried here in the replies section. and can be read as an individual article, for later chowkwallahs too.

I respect your realism about the utopia known as land reforms. it is never going to happen. Who in their rightg minds would let go of the Hen which lays the golden egg? I dont think the hold of feudalists over the government is ending any time soon, as well, but there is always hope....

you are 100% right, people are immoved by such revelations any more, in fact the sensitivities of people are so dulled after hearing so much graphic and wrong, that thye have merely adjusted their thresholds for registering shock, by several decibels upwards, such that very few news and other items get discrimnated past the high levels.. Maybe its right and maybe its wrong. For me its wrong because, like with a radar, we can adjust the false alarms threshold to a high level, such that these incidents do not distract the attention of the radar attendant, but there is always a possiblity that the sign of impending doom and destruction from a real threat would be overlooked as mere noise on the screen, moments prior to the big explosion...

Attitudes of the ruling classes i feel can not be changed... its an uphill struggle. So we are as always caught etween a rock and a hard place, as land reforms are not possible, attitudes difficult to change.. the onlky thing we can change is the educational factor, suchg that the peasants sons and daughters can break away from the slavery with education as their main weapon, and try to make themselves the useful members of a growing country... The answer to most of Pakistans problems can be solved with just three words.

Education, Education, Education...

Rehan you thought you were rambling on :), I hate to think what would you call my ``brief`` interlude here...

Re : Salco Hussain

Thanx for your encouragement. Please send it to as many friends as you can...




This is because these landlords know that they rule on the ignorance of the peasants, they rule on the insecurities of the peasants, they rule on the abject poverty of the peasants, and they thrive by telling their subjects that there is no way out, save for the poor folks to continue in their forefathers steps and be their legal slaves. Education however can be a great equaliser, right? Education opens up opportunities for these miserable lost sould to become free of the shackles of bonded labour, and fly away for better climes and places. Eduaction wil ultimately make the peasants stand up in front of the jaggerdar, to ask about his rights, his value, his claim to the land, his claim for justice, and other such unpleasant sordid business. Hence, while the landowners son goes to Oxford or Harvard, to be groomed for taking the ultimate qualifications to rule and oppress his bonded property, or maybe the entire nation, the landlord tries to have the schools shutdown or get the poor master kicked out, ...

Has anybody ever wondered why does the landowner pay impotance to his wards foreign education, when he is not going to require 1 zilionth of his academic credentials to engage in enlightening discussions with a peasant... Well its because, one has to be smart to be ahead of the game, for if some educated and conscientious inspector from the government came forwrds with claims for their land under, land reforms appeal/discussion, their ward would know the legal mumbo jumbo, and the good command of English, to send any lawyer/political camapigner packing and howling.

Kind Regards

Asim

P.S Umair, my commiserations for using up this much disk space. Maybe I should refrain from interacting too much, as you would then have to increase the disk quota, as you intially feared!!!

Asim, thank you for narrating your personal experiences. Like everything else in life, when describing unpleasant realities, you will find doubters among your readers because your experience in necessarily anecdotal. Nobody has bothered to systematically collect any data. Yet, that doesn`t negate your experience. I wonder how many of us would admit to knowing someone who was raped in Pakistan, incestous or not, and the crime went unreported. I certainly have.

I must take issue with something you say though. You criticize Fatima Surriya Bajia, and fluffy, romantic drama as being useless to our society. I disagree. It is good harmless entertainment. A few minutes of escapism. How much entertainment does PTV provide anyway - how much entertainment do the masses have access to? Life cannot and should not be 100% serious, 100% of the time. Some time should be reserved just for plain, simple, good-hearted, fun!

AZ