WILL BENAZIR'S RETURN MEAN A BETTER LIFE FOR WOMEN
Islamabad, 8 September 2007 (IANS)

Will the expected return from exile of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto mean a better life for Pakistani women or will they continue to remain shackled as victims of the state? The latter seems more probable, says a commentary published in Daily Times Saturday, pointing out that some 4,000 women had been killed in the name of honour in the last four years alone - just one indicator of the challenges that Bhutto faces if she strikes a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf that will see him continue for a second term in office.

"As a Pakistani woman, it is pertinent, therefore, to pose the question sadly lost amid all the hoopla of wheeling and dealing: does the imminent return of Bhutto to Pakistani politics promise a better life for Pakistani women?" asked Rafia Zakaria, an attorney living in the US, where she teaches constitutional law and political philosophy.

Tackling the question requires "grappling with the odious memories of shattered promises" that accompanied Bhutto's two tenures in power, the writer maintained, adding: "It also requires an honest appraisal of where Pakistani women... not simply the urban educated women, stand today in their quest for empowerment and equality."

Thus, "it is almost painful for many Pakistani women", especially those active in the Women's Action Forum from the late 1970s onwards, "to remember the ebullient hopes" with which they welcomed Bhutto's rise to power.

"Having fought tooth and nail against the imposition of the Zina and Hudood Ordinances by the military dictatorship of General Zia-ul Haq, these women, the veterans of the Pakistani women's movement, saw much cause for celebration in the election of one of their own.

"At the time, it certainly seemed that, with a woman at the helm, there was no way that laws institutionalising discrimination against women and using a politically manipulated and doctrinally unsubstantiated version of Islamic law to subjugate women could continue to exist," Zakaria stated.

What actually happened was just the opposite.

"Tragically, despite having ascended to the heights of being prime minister, in the eyes of the law, a woman's testimony remained half of a man's and scores of women continued to languish in jail under alleged charges of sexual indiscretions. Even as a woman led the country, the Pakistani woman remained shackled and imprisoned; subject to manipulation and abuse by the Pakistani state.

"So it is this saga of shattered hopes and unfinished promises that colours the memory of Benazir Bhutto for the Pakistani woman. Indeed, if she cares to win their hearts and minds, it is imperative that Bhutto take a moment to evaluate the challenges that confront the women of the country she hopes to lead once again," Zakaria maintained.

She pointed out that in the eight years since Bhutto left the country, "an even bleaker reality has come to define the existence of most Pakistani women.

"One particularly troubling development has been the alienation of a large number of women from the rights-based discourse of NGO feminism. This demographic, which statistics show forms a sizeable chunk of Pakistani women, lives in rural areas, is under the age of twenty-five and often hails from religiously conservative households.

"Vulnerable to the rhetoric of Islamist groups who attract them to their cadres under the guise of Islamic education, the exploitation of these women at the hands of religious extremists has dealt a resounding blow to Pakistani feminism.

"Illustrated in grotesque detail in the recent Red Mosque debacle, thousands of such women alienated from any other form of empowerment have heeded the call of Islamic fundamentalism that shrouds them in burqas and asks them to lay down their lives for a system that would further institutionalise their subjugation," Zakaria wrote.

In addition to these "relatively new forms of exploitation of Pakistani women", old virulent forms of abuse continue to perpetuate their own evils. In the past week, a case was reported in which a married woman was sold by her brother for Rs.120,000 to settle an old debt. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, over 4,000 women have been victims of honour killings since 2003.

"The organisation's trend analysis further shows how this figure grossly underestimates the true extent of these problems since such crimes go largely unreported. The tragic saga continues and a desensitised Pakistani public is daily treated to news of honour killings... and increasingly grotesque crimes perpetrated on females.

"All of which fail to garner enough outrage among the public to force any action by state authorities," the commentary states.

Will the crude realities of legal discrimination, social and cultural patriarchy and economic disenfranchisement be addressed in a meaningful way if Bhutto returns? Zakaria asked, and then answered: "Perhaps amid the secret deal-making negotiations, Bhutto can spare some time to respond to them."