The wisdom that we lack
The last couple of days have been spent watching the VVIP traffic move in front of the office. FL had arranged the Women Conference thing in order to do god knows what, next doors. So both days, the no parking street actually had the whole police force of Islamabad enforcing the no parking. While people walking on the road were told to get out of sight, and traffic was stopped miles away in all directions. Then came the moment that all were waiting for, sirens screaming, about 20 or thirty unmarked cars with black windows, came and went in all directions. Reminded me so much of our beloved warlords and dictators abundantly found in the third world, all fearful of their lives being lost while fighting the war against the enemy.
I am digressing here. Anyway, the two day international conference came to an end, and FL made his usual bold statements, the NGOs are bad-mouthing Pakistan, rape happens everywhere, why should Pakistan be singled out, and we are doing more for women than anywhere else in the world, yada yada yada. And my favourite woman, the Special Advisor to the PM, made the usual gestures. They just don't get it.
My dear FL, the problem is not rape itself. There are sick bastards everywhere in the world, and violence against women is very commonplace. What makes Pakistan special is the fact that some of these rapes are sanctioned by a parallel legal system, accepted by communities in which they happen, as punishment for petty crime. This is something which can only be changed by enforcing the law, and this is what the whole outcry is about, to raise awareness that breaking the law is going to have consequences, to let the women know that they can't be treated like this and they shouldn't feel threatened by going to the law after something like this happens to them.
In the meantime, another woman was raped, the whole thing was covered up and the woman escaped to the UK. And when she makes a statement where she is out of reach, FL says, "I am not with you out of Pakistan". Another woman, who was arrested because she showed up at the parliament, supposedly to seek help for finding her husband, gets raped by the police. What is going on here? I don't profess to know exactly what transpired, but the whole system is rotten. And FL, putting the gag order on NGOs and everybody else, is not going to help. We have to make sure that every woman in our country knows that she has rights and can't be treated like property.
How do we ensure that all citizens including women understand what their rights are? By educating them, by making a legal and law enforcement system that doesn't scare them more than the crime against them. By removing people who feel that "women should shut up and seek justice from god" from places of power and responsibility. Stopping MM from going abroad and talking about it, is not going to help.
This is the wisdom that we lack, and by the signs of it, we will not have it in the near future.
I am digressing here. Anyway, the two day international conference came to an end, and FL made his usual bold statements, the NGOs are bad-mouthing Pakistan, rape happens everywhere, why should Pakistan be singled out, and we are doing more for women than anywhere else in the world, yada yada yada. And my favourite woman, the Special Advisor to the PM, made the usual gestures. They just don't get it.
My dear FL, the problem is not rape itself. There are sick bastards everywhere in the world, and violence against women is very commonplace. What makes Pakistan special is the fact that some of these rapes are sanctioned by a parallel legal system, accepted by communities in which they happen, as punishment for petty crime. This is something which can only be changed by enforcing the law, and this is what the whole outcry is about, to raise awareness that breaking the law is going to have consequences, to let the women know that they can't be treated like this and they shouldn't feel threatened by going to the law after something like this happens to them.
In the meantime, another woman was raped, the whole thing was covered up and the woman escaped to the UK. And when she makes a statement where she is out of reach, FL says, "I am not with you out of Pakistan". Another woman, who was arrested because she showed up at the parliament, supposedly to seek help for finding her husband, gets raped by the police. What is going on here? I don't profess to know exactly what transpired, but the whole system is rotten. And FL, putting the gag order on NGOs and everybody else, is not going to help. We have to make sure that every woman in our country knows that she has rights and can't be treated like property.
How do we ensure that all citizens including women understand what their rights are? By educating them, by making a legal and law enforcement system that doesn't scare them more than the crime against them. By removing people who feel that "women should shut up and seek justice from god" from places of power and responsibility. Stopping MM from going abroad and talking about it, is not going to help.
This is the wisdom that we lack, and by the signs of it, we will not have it in the near future.
posted by Xoff at 9/09/2005 08:06:00 AM
2 Comments:
and what might that be?
dang, am not thinking straight. but of course, FL=Fearless leader, our president, and MM=Mukhtaran Mai. But you would know these abbreviations if you read all of my posts ;-)
how are you? heard you are back in the big city, write some time
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