Farzana Ali khan
There is a line in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: “Frailty thy name is woman.” which hints at the fact that women are really feeble creatures. Shakespeare has no doubt depicted all the goods and evils themes in his plays in the 16th, 17th century which we can witness today but his concept about women has turned out to be wrong.I was supposed to write this article yesterday on Women’s International Day but i never observe the day as i am not a feminist but against gender discrimination for sure.
A change in society is improbable as inadequate educational facilities for girls and the low level of industrial development make life difficult for women while stringent laws make Pashtoon women (in particular) less visible. As the biggest number of Pushtoons are residing in Khyber Paktunkhwa province of Pakistan and Afghanistan thats why the pashtun women are more exposed as feeble creature compared to those belonging to other castes.Although women have always been considered weak but as compared to men, it is only the physical/biological difference that has undermined women’s role in the society despite the fact that women have always proved their significance in almost every sphere of life.Being a Pashtun i would prefer to share my own experience of having born into a typical middle class Pashtoon family.
I do not remember any special events taking place when I was a child, but it does not mean that I had no childhood. Being the youngest sibling, all my family members have showered their love on me.None of my sisters studied beyond graduation but due to the lady luck always been kind on me I have won the credit of being the first female of my family to have acquired university education, that too in three different subjects — English Literature, Business Administration and Law. Had my elder brother late Adeel Khan and my brother in law not supported me financially as well as morally, my accomplishments in the field of education and profession would not have been possible.
Honestly speaking but despite being a Pashtoon woman I haven’t faced much difficulty in achieving what I wanted to, still there are a few incidents that have made me feel a bit uncomfortable in one way or another but they havent affected my life as badly as as the other women from rural and tribal areas particularly.
There is a famous saying in Pushto about the status of women in society “Da Khazey Zey Ya Kor Dey Ya Gor Dey” which could be roughly translated as there are two places for women — one is her house and the other is her grave.Many Pashtoon families in the KP are extremely conservative — gender discrimination and violence against women are among the main causes. Male members of a Pashtoon family are always considered superior to women, irrespective of age, being the bread-winners; while women are considered a commodity – only there to perform household chores.The stringent laws in society make Pashtoon women less visible.
Inadequate educational facilities for girls and the low level of industrial development make life difficult for women, and change in society improbable.Gender discrimination is an integral part of Pashtoon culture. As soon as a mother conceives, everybody wishes for a baby boy.A majority of parents do not send their daughters to school which makes it impossible for women to liberate themselves.
One other tradition is that after reaching puberty girls must wear the hijab or observe purdah, and not socialise with men except their father, brothers or close relatives.Girls have no say in their marriage. Marriage between cousins is preferred so that family property stays intact. A refusal to do so is considered disobedience and against the family honour.On the other hand Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is very high in Pakistan and higher in Pashtoon society. To address the issue of the status of women in this part of the world is an uphill task. The root causes being a patriarchal society, poverty, illiteracy, cultural and religious constraints.In rural areas 90 per cent of women work in the fields whole day with their male family members who keep a strict eye on them in the name of honour.There is a need for vocational training and educational institutions for girls and women, to address these issues. Better facilities at health and maternity centres are also important to improve the present day status of women.The ultimate goal of emancipating women can be achieved by making them financially independent so that they can have their say in decision-making in their domestic matters.Besides, there is a need to conduct a gender audit of each state institution in terms of assessing women in the leadership role, equal resources, and opportunity as an equal citizen, we must set the goal to accomplish the unfinished agenda of having strong legislation to eliminate child marriage, law for domestic workers, women’s equal rights of citizenship as guaranteed in Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
-The writer is a senior journalist and an IVLP alumni. She can be reached at farykhan@gmail.com
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