Adil Najam
As a rule, we try not to repeat posts too often. Sometimes, we feel that the message is either pertinent again or that the original may not have been seen by a new crop of readership. I am reposting this picture and this post, originally posted on this date last year, because the message is even more pertinent today than it was a year ago, and because I feel like I need to say it again.
For Pakistan, this has again been a year of struggles as well as achievements for women. It marked the assassination of Benazir Bhutto - clearly the best known Pakistani woman, whatever you think of her politics. It marked also an election that saw more women win on general seats than ever before in Pakistan. But there was more, much more, to the daily struggles and achievements of Pakistan’s 70 million women that we need to celebrate. Today, and everyday.
In the metaphor of the original post, the message is that we all are (not just women, but men too) crossing the road to better gender relations, but we ain’t there just yet. Not by a long shot. Read on, please, even if you have read it before. What follows is my original post from last year.
Today is March 8 - International Women’s Day. Today we wish to celebrate women in the fullness of what it means to be a woman in Pakistan. To celebrate their achievements (also here, here, here, here, here, here and here). And to celebrate their struggles (also here, here, here here, here, here and here).
I have thought much about how best to capture the meaning of this day. It seems to me that in many very important ways, this picture above does.
I have admired this picture by Jawad Zakariya (whose work we have featured before here and here) from the moment I first saw it at Flickr. I had been waiting, however, for the right time and the right context in which to use it. Today, I feel, IS that right time and right context.
There is both dignity and determination in the posture of this young woman as she tries to cross the road (Jail Road, Lahore). As in any good photograph, there are a thousand stories embedded in this one. The metaphor of ‘crossing the road’ is itself so very pertinent for today. So full of meaning.
For me, here is a woman who is not waiting for someone to ‘help’ her cross the road. She is not demanding any special treatment. Not waiting for assistance. Not invoking the chuvinism of the men around her. She is ready, prepared, even eager, to overcome whatever hurdles come in her way. She just wants to cross the road on her own; for people (mostly men) to get out of her way. That, ultimately, is what this day is about. It is not about seeking special treatment, special dispensations, special laws. It is about ensuring that women have what we men have always had. The ability to realize their own potentials. To rise to their own aspirations. To be able to cross the roads they wish to cross… on their own.
“I would also wish an international day for, but not limited to, the following weaker groups :
1. religious minorities,
2. agricultural slaves
3. child labour
4. poor people
5. married by force
6. kidnapped by the agencies,
7. manhandled by the police
8. educated in government schools
9. killed for someone’s honor
10. non english speakers
11. people suffering from load shedding, water shortage and public transports, etc. etc.”
Nimi, guess what? We do have a day, in fact a week…that we added just this year! It’s called Black Flag week…the problems you are pointing out are ALL consequences of a strangled judiciary.
Also, I don’t think having accommodations in banks, etc for women who would otherwise be kept from using them is “primitive” in any way. I wonder why the posters here do not see a middle-ground between the two extremes.
Also, you should proofread more.
Good Lord, “separate clubs, taxis, banks for women”?
when shall both genders get the chance of knowing each other and learn to work together in a society? Comme off it guys. Womens are nothing more than human beings. Giving them a sacred status is in fact a way of denying their basic rights.
Pakistani is no special among primitive societies. In such societies, stronger crush the weaker. Comparing the comparable, women are a weaker group, inside the families, to start with. This is above all a question of equality of human beings and then that of enforcement of the law. Mentanlities can be improved by the law to start with and can be sustained by the education.
Thanks God, there an international day for women, so that even in a primitive society like Pakistan, one would talk about womens’ struggle and the necessity of their equal rights. I would also wish an international day for, but not limited to, the following weaker groups :
1. religious minorities,
2. agricultural slaves
3. child labour
4. poor people
5. married by force
6. kidnapped by the agencies,
7. manhandled by the police
8. educated in government schools
9. killed for someone’s honor
10. non english speakers
11. people suffering from load shedding, water shortage and public transports, etc. etc.
Could someone please help me add more to this list?
Read “else he would not have started” as “else he would have started”
Nepoleon said that if u want a strong nation, give me strong mothers
ATif, I bet Nepolean would not have met any Feminist of his time else he would not have started a movement against them first.
On a related note, How Musharraf spread liberalism and empowered our women.
tinyurl.com/33m3z6
“What i see around me is no different story either most of the women in the country where i live are single by choice because they do’nt have time to raise a child and are not considerate enough to give up on a career just to look after a house and kitchen. I atleast see this as an empty life.”
Your family certainly IS liberal; they would not have named you ‘Ahmed’ otherwise.
Anyway, just because you realized that the workplace is not for you, does not mean that that’s true for other women as well. Also, if you’re not finding time for your children or family, really, whose fault is that? I mean, you’re saying that you should have chosen to not work, so to me that implies that you don’t need to work to feed yourself…so why are you working so many hours? or at all? I’m trying to see your logic…but I guess it’s like the WMD in Iraq.
“what i am trying to say is that islamic teaching and islamic way of life is best, “
I think you mean Wahabi instead of Islamic.
“However, why do we have to have a day for everything on planet except mankind itself”
Well, you have these days to draw attention to issues that otherwise would not get any attention; like MLK day in the U.S.
Anyway, I’m not surprised by your comment given your alias….[cough].
To the supposed “woman” Ahmed,
There is no country on earth where “most” of the women are single and childless–they are a distinct minority everywhere–even in Western countries 95% of women marry and over 85% bear children. So wherever you are living now, you are not expressing a truthful view of the social situation.
I still am convinced that the Ahmed letter is a fake and that it was written by a man. Shame on whoever did that.
Happy Women’s Day!