Is this Asma’s Pakistan?

At a ceremony that was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Asma Jahangir was posthumously awarded this year’s prestigious UN Human Rights Prize. Also on Tuesday, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its ‘Global Gender Gap Index 2018’ which placed Pakistan as the second-worst country in terms of gender parity.

What does the juxtaposition of these two stories tell you about the status of women in this country and the potential they have to change it? It could be said that it is merely a coincidence that the global recognition of Asma Jahangir, a matter of pride for Pakistan, overlapped with a report about women that inspires an opposite reaction.

But I feel that there is journalistic justification in bringing these two stories together to underline issues that relate not just to gender equality but also to a broader concept of social development and justice in a society that is constantly under attack from intolerant, orthodox elements. Besides, there have been other reports this week about girls’ education in some parts of the country.

Another reason why I have chosen this subject for my column is that the present political situation is very inflammable and perhaps we can do with some distraction. A deadly confrontation is building up and some crucial developments – or judgments – are likely in the coming week. Tomorrow is one such D-Day.

This will also be the week when, on Thursday, Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary will be observed and is bound to be a very emotional moment, particularly for the supporters of the PPP who have to contend with the travails of the party that are associated with the dubious role that Asif Zardari has played. A kind of denouement seems just around the corner.

Irrespective of the pressures that partisan political affairs put on popular conscience, I have generally attempted to take up other issues that are rooted in our moral, cultural and intellectual deprivations. The state of human rights in Pakistan has always demanded attention and the situation has continued to worsen.

One measure of this decline is the status accorded to Pakistan in various international surveys and assessments. Our social indicators, in defiance of the boastful pretensions of our rulers, remain abysmal. The irony here, as exemplified by the two stories I have connected at the outset, is that from these conditions have emerged some gifted women who are role models for other countries. Like Asma Jahangir in the field of human rights and justice. And Malala Yusufzai for the education of girls. History was made by Benazir Bhutto when she became a woman head of government in a Muslim country.

Anyhow, we have a reason to celebrate the life and work of Asma, whose untimely death in February this year was a loss greater than has generally been acknowledged. She was one of the recipients of the UN Human Rights Prize, received by her daughter Munizae. The UN press release said: “Many in the global human rights movement remember Jahangir as ‘a giant’”.

How does Pakistan remember her and what was the official appreciation of this honour that surely projected a positive image of Pakistan? Isn’t that a diktat for the media: project a positive image of the country?

A co-founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and a leading lawyer who struggled for marginalised people, Asma was a long-standing prominent member of the UN Human Rights Council’s special procedures system. She had also served as UN’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. However, in her own country, she was sometimes attacked and threatened.

Now let us take a look at the WEF’s report on gender gap in which Pakistan is ranked 148 out of 149 countries. It does seem a bit unfair and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari has rejected the statistics of the report as “incorrect”. Speaking in the National Assembly on Thursday, she said talks were being held with the Forum to set its record straight.

Still, the report is not a work of fiction and must have been based on some valid indicators. We just have to examine the reality of our existence to see where we should be located on the global scale. According to the report, four Muslim countries are worst performers in the world where the number of women holding managerial positions is the lowest: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan.

There are aspects of the WEF report that I would not go into but we should note that Pakistan is the lowest-ranked country in South Asia. This is something for our rulers to ponder. In so many other areas, other South Asian countries are moving ahead faster than us. This is very serious because we view ourselves as a major South Asian power, possessing, as we do, a nuclear arsenal.

Educating girls is universally accepted as the most effective method of building a progressive and prosperous country. This is certified by examples of countries like South Korea. Where does Pakistan stand on this scale? Again, Malala is a celebrity for the whole world, as a champion of the cause of education for girls. Hers is a fairy-tale story we should be proud of. But Malala would not be welcome in Pakistan, which is a tragedy that cannot be put into words.

As I said, there was also some reference to girls’ education this week. I read an editorial on a report on the state of girls’ education in the seven districts that make up the former Fata in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It said that 79 percent girls drop out in the early years while 50 percent drop out in the middle and secondary years. There are other statistics that are no less dreary.

It does not seem to matter at all that Article 25-A of the constitution proclaims that the government has to provide free education to all children from the age of five to 16. The number of children who do not go to school is another statistic of our shame. And this does not mean that the ones that are going to school are really being educated. Girls dominantly outnumber boys in this deprivation.

One problem for which we will never have a remedy is that children grow up and become adults and have their specific needs. So, do we dare to ask this question: what will be our status in a global survey when our children, mainly girls, have grown up in the darkness of ignorance and poverty?

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com