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Pakistani women: The politics of
subjugation
By Aijazz Ahmed
ISLAMABAD - From the day in 1955 when a group of
female students took down the Union Jack from where it
had flown over the Punjab Assembly and replaced it with
the Muslim League flag, women have played an integral
role in Pakistan's political development as a nation.
Fatima Jinnah, sister of Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
the founding father of Pakistan, was the first woman
candidate to contest a presidential election, and
Benazir Bhutto was the first woman to reach the office
of prime minister. She was, in fact, the first-ever
woman prime minister of any Islamic state.
Today, the tradition of participation of women
in Pakistani politics continues. More than 379 female
candidates have filed as candidates for reserved seats
in the October 10 general elections, while an almost
equal number are contesting elections for various
provincial assemblies. Under Pakistani law, 60 seats out
of 332 in the National Assembly are reserved for women,
while in the Provincial Assembly 128 out of 728 seats
are set aside for women.
Apart from the reserved
seats, a large number of women have also filed to
contest general seats in both the national and
provincial assemblies. In all, the number of female
candidates in the upcoming elections is touching the
1,000 mark - the largest in the country's history.
Pakistan's election commission has given the
go-ahead to 38 parties to contest the national and
provincial elections. All the parties have been
allocated an electoral symbol - vital to help illiterate
Pakistanis among the 72 million registered voters
identify who to vote for. The vote is the first national
poll since President General Pervez Musharraf came to
power in a bloodless military coup in 1999.
But
political participation has nonetheless failed to
translate into respect for the working women of the
country. From Begum Rana Liaqat Ali Khan to Benazir
Bhutto to Zubaida Jalal, every woman political leader
has vowed to restore the rights of the women. But
unfortunately this slogan has not transmitted into
reality. Women are still being treated as second-rate
citizens, loyal subjects who exist only to fulfill the
wishes of the all-powerful men.
Even though a
sizeable section of Pakistani society remains
democratic, liberal, secular and tolerant, in a sense
Pakistan is still hanging at the crossroads of the 18th
and 21st centuries. While contemporary nations are
passing though the information and satellite ages,
Pakistan remains mired in medievalism in its treatment
of women.
For the most part, the women who
participate in Pakistani politics belong to the elite
classes of society. Only the Bhuttos of Larkana, the
Daultanas of Vehari, the Sharifs of Lahore and other
longstanding landlord families have managed to elect
female family members to assemblies. Down among the
lower classes, the story is different. Women are not
allowed to cast their votes in almost 30 percent of the
country, and around 60 percent of Pakistani women remain
largely uneducated, existing only to serve their
families and feed children. No amount of political
activity has succeeded in changing this fact of
Pakistani life.
And sometimes the treatment of
women is far worse. Some women political activists were
treated in an inhuman way during the Islamization
process of General Zia ul-Haq. At that time, dozens of
women political activists were subjected to lashings,
rapes and other atrocities by the police.
Men
and women under the constitution and Pakistani law are
equal citizens of the country, but the practical reality
is very different. "Women are the depressed class in our
male chauvinist society, and that is the reason they
have been deprived of their rights," says Chouhdry
Ikram, president of the High Court Bar Association
Rawalpindi. The intent of the law is the same for men
and women, but all too often the implementing authority
is corrupt, oppressing and immoral, he said.
Partly the low status of women is a function of
a traditional social construct. The female students who
took part in Pakistan's liberation movement were
accorded great respect and honor, but after Pakistan the
nation came into being, they tended to dissociate
themselves from politics because of the social structure
of the newly born state.
Then, male members of
parliament tied the hands of Benazir Bhutto in the
restoration of women's seats, said Begum Shehnaz Wazir
Ali, former advisor to Benazir Bhutto and now a
consultant to the World Bank. But today, every Pakistani
institution is responsible for the situation, said
Nahida Mehboob Elahi, a women's activist and prominent
lawyer of the Supreme Court and High Court. No isolated
effort can bring women toward independence or make them
a partner in decision-making. It will take an overall
drive to change society, with the development of quality
education for both men and women, she said. Only the
concerted effort and political struggle of the
lower-class woman worker can improve the situation.
"We hope the increase in the number of women
parliamentarians will improve the situation for all
women," Nahida said. Rashida Dohad, an NGO activist,
opined that an increase in women in the assembly will
ensure a corresponding increase in the proportion of
women casting votes.
Fazlan, a street woman who
works as a construction laborer, said that no Benazir or
Kulsoom Nawaz can change women's fate. "Only God can
help us. Poverty is the main curse, and without
eliminating poverty, you cannot change any thing. We
need meals for our families and that is the only dream
for us. What we would be the difference if we cast our
vote? Nothing. Everything would remain the same."
In truth, the situation will only change when
women from the lower and lower-middle classes come
forward and represent their sections at every level.
Otherwise, Fazlan will die without seeing her dreams of
prosperity come true.
(©2002 Asia Times Online
Co Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
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