Adil Najam
This photograph was published in Daily Times, January 12, 2009. The caption read:
“Women are not allowed in the market,” reads a banner displayed at the entrance of a market in Mingora. Taliban have banned the entry of women in markets and ordered the killing of women who violate the ban. Most shop owners have sold or shut down their businesses because of falling sales following the restriction.
What would have made this tragic depiction comical had the context been different is that from the picture this is clearly a textile and cloth market - the type of market where, in Pakistan, you would expect most customers to be women!
@Aamir Ali
Exactly thats my point. I am not a muslim but i know that Prophet’s (PBUH) wife was a well respected lady of her times. And IIRC she even was the first one to put forward her marriage proposal.
When women had so much freedom 1600 years back, why has the current situation so bad ? Why are females treated like they are there in Saudi and isn’t Pakistan becoming next Saudi ? My 1947 referece was due to the fact that 1947 was a significant point in Pakistani histroy and the clerics now are pushing this Islamic/Sharia rules refer Pakistan’s creation for Islam as their argument. Do not say that this is limited to SWAT only, God forbid, the next in number might be Peshawar, and then Islamabad.
@Adnan Siddiqi
As far as USofA is concerned you would also agree that women enjoy more freedom there than in Pakistan. Also one day they will have a Woman president and Pakistan, contitutionally can’t. I agree there has been injustice to females in all socieites but things are improving in India and elsewhere. In your country they are getting worse.
On a personal level i am sad about the things happening in Pakistan because i have grown up seeing Ptv in India(Nilaam ghar, ABC, Raahain, Night Rider etc, last year only i again saw Raahain again on youtube, Pa Basu rocks!!!) and can identify with most of Pakistan. OTOH I am not surprised by whats happening there. If someone can justify 1 million killings just to be called Pakistani rather than Hindustani, i just think worse is yet to come !!!
This depiction is a very sad state of affairs. Whereas the Taliban’s stand against the US is a praiseworthy act of courage, their ideology has real problems and is unworkable. Historically, Islam is known for liberating women but these people are harkening back to the jahilliyah where the society was male dominated and regressive.
I wonder what the so called army operation is doing in Sawat when schools, especially those of girls, are being blasted or closed and innocent people being butchered.
As to what is Islam, it is not the issue presently, as any thing can be proved if we search the plethora of islamic literature produced during the last 14 centuries. The question which we face to day is whether can we allow imposing any type of religion by force or terror as is being done in Sawat today. The sad thing is army has apparently failed to check the Taliban onslaught and this Pakiland, God forbid, is going to be turned into Talibani Afghanistan sooner or later as there seems to be no commited force to check it within Pakistan. In fact no body is even aware of the danger we are facing today except Althaf Hussain of MQM who has been raiusing the alarm since long.
I believe that this current article and the related stories coming out of Swat (defacing historic relics etc.) are of a more than a passing interest to a lot of people. It is especially so for us in India since the we share our country with 140 million fellow Indians who follow Islam.
I do gather from the posts that most people think what is happening in Swat is not Islamic but am interested in knowing what is the current thinking of educated muslims regarding women rights as interpreted in the secular, western societies. Are they equal?
What about other people who can be described as mostly good even by islamic standards but do not followIslam (such as me). Is there anything in the Koran that really says that people like me are less of humans? Are we ‘others’ less perfect than the Umma?
What about the rich and historic cultural achievements of muslim societies before they adopted Islam? (eg Pakistan, Iran, Egypt) Should they be deleted or can the nations be Islamic and still take pride in the achievements of their ancestors?
I am not asking rhetorical questions; I am interested in finding out how the majority of Pakistanis think since genetically they are closer to us Indian Punjabis than they are to say the Sudanese Muslims?
Do they feel this kinship too?
Jehangir, I think Islam has some beautiful ideas as well as some bad ones. The idea of brotherhood among men and the sense of community are ideas which I find very nice.
For the record, never once would I think of lecturing you that Islam is bad and other religions are good. It’s not as black and white as that. Please point out where I have said this. All I’ve said is that the claim that women’s rights were introduced by Islam is not true.
For those interested in talking about Hindu society’s flaws - its treatment of women, its caste system problems, dowry issues etc - I strongly recommend you visit one of the many websites devoted to those subjects.
I visit this board to discuss Pakistan and issues relating to it. CAn we please stick to those?
I keep repeating: On this Pakistan-related board, can we please leave India or Hinduism etc out of it? Hinduism is not a perfect belief system and has many problems, no doubt about it. This is not the forum to discuss them.
Let’s focus on the article at hand and claims being made about Islam vis-a-vis women’s rights.
@Arjun
You may have read about Women in Islam at some website, that doesnt apply to every Muslim country/community in this world. In Pakistan, a woman’s testimony is equal to that of a man, and in Pakistan women have full rights with regards to work, education, inheritance and voting. That is why the Taliban is seen as a problem in Pakistan.
But sitting in India, you will not know any of this.