It’s Malala vs the Taliban

We get so overwhelmed by distractions that are served by the popular media in its coverage of politics that it becomes difficult to make sense of what is happening to us as a society. And in politics, too, the focus remains on the surface of things and on chasing news into the realm of entertainment. The latest example of this obsessive engagement is the spectacle that was staged on Thursday when the Senate elections were held.
Meanwhile, we did not know much about the progress made in the war against terrorism and extremism that, we were told, is a matter of life and death for the nation. More than two months after the launch of the National Plan for Action, we do not have any details about what has changed. There is hardly any serious debate on measures that are dictated by the goals set by our leadership. Incidents are reported but the big picture is missing.
One reason I feel bothered by these thoughts is that today is the International Women’s Day. Writing a column that is to be published on this occasion, I have a legitimate excuse to highlight the plight of the ordinary women of this country. Normally, this is a ritualistic exercise. That is how international days on any specific theme are celebrated. But then I thought: shouldn’t the empowerment of women be an important point of reference in a war against extremism and militancy?
So, this is the first eighth of March after the sixteenth of December last year. It may not be very obvious but I venture to relate the struggle for the emancipation of women to the larger campaign for peace and rule of law in Pakistan. This would also mean that our rulers must readily attend to the task of improving the status of women in the context of the National Action Plan.
But before they make any speech on how committed they are to defending the rights of women, they would do well to take stock of the situation that exists on the ground. In this they will need the assistance of experts who have worked in this field and then do some serious thinking. Here is one assignment that demands a meaningful shift in the collective mindset of the people. The challenge is to make a conservative society more enlightened and more modern in its outlook.
Come to think of it, this should be the purpose of the National Action Plan. Otherwise, how would they deal with the monster of extremism that has invaded the minds of a large section of our population? Women, like religious minorities, have to be defended against primitive passions that afflict some parts of our traditional society. We cannot build a prosperous, peaceful and progressive society without empowering our women. This is one lesson that history has taught us.
I do not need to portray the persecution and injustice that the women of Pakistan have to suffer, irrespective of the advances that have been made by a small minority in the modern sector. Incidents of honour killings present just one aspect of the overall situation. But the principal area in which the struggle for the empowerment of women is to be waged is education.
I am reminded of the great symbol that we have in this respect in the person of Malala Yousafzai. In fact, her example certifies the connection that exists between extremism and education for girls. One wonders if our rulers had thought of this link when they sat down to define their strategy to deal with terrorism after the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar on December 16. Apparently, they have not been very mindful of the sociological dimensions of the war they profess to have initiated.
Malala’s example becomes so much more instructive when you realise that she is not as well admired and loved in her own country as she is internationally. We need to understand this phenomenon to be able to decipher the character and condition of the Pakistani society. But the contradiction that she represents is stark and simple. It is Malala versus the Taliban.
In that sense, those who denigrate Malala and see her amazing rise to fame as a western conspiracy are siding with the Taliban – whether they are conscious of it or not. I know that some individuals among the intelligentsia are also not well disposed towards Malala. However, the point I am making is that Malala as a champion of girls’ education and, consequently, the emancipation of women, is antithetical to the Taliban worldview. Hence, suspicions about what she stands for certify the presence of extremist views in our society.
If our rulers are sincere in their resolve to root out extremism from Pakistan they would do well to properly explore the equation that exists, mostly in a generic sense, between Malala and the Taliban. It should serve their cause if they honour Malala’s example and initiate a massive drive to educate girls, particularly in areas that are dominated by tribal and feudal customs.
This would be only one aspect of the larger battle that is to be fought against the dominant mindset of the people. An example of what it might entail is reflected in the controversy that is raging in India this week on a BBC documentary about the gang rape and murder of a student in New Delhi on December 16, 2012. Ah, what is so ominous about this date? Well, that incident had shaken India and the debate now is on the remarks of one rapist, sentenced to death, in an interview recorded in the prison.
Though the documentary is banned in India by the courts, it was shown in the UK on Thursday and India has now served legal notice on BBC. The rapist said: “A decent girl won’t roam around at nine o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy”. Naturally, this documentary – titled ‘India’s Daughter’ – has prompted intense debate in the media and there has been strong criticism of the ban.
In a discussion, director Leslee Udwin said that her film “tried to show the disease is not the rapists, the disease is in society”. Likewise, critics had underlined that the issue to confront is that men in India do not respect women. It has been noted that the film highlights the regressive mindset of some men in India and it needs to be debated. But I am more concerned about what we, in Pakistan, need to debate.
The writer is a staff member
Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com