Unending despair: women's access versus control over finances

Globally, women are demanding for equal wages compared to men, but in Pakistan, even if a woman is earning an equal wage, her right to her own income is mostly not recognised. At the most she is gifted a gold or silver trinket, which too is either pawned or sold in the market if the man requires money at any stage.
But if she is the wife of a landless farmer, her situation is worse. Her existence is merely to assist her husband who works for a feudal on a farm where he is indentured along with his whole family, including women and children. These women and children merely add to the number of hands the head of the household has- their wages and power is zilch.
Though financial independence varies between rural and urban women as well as educated, less educated and illiterate women. Workforce participation is the highest among women with no education or those who have completed secondary school, whereas women with primary school education remain the least employed.
Perhaps this is one reason that participation of women in agriculture is higher compared to the other sectors. In Sindh, where the feudal system is still present on a larger scale, women have no bargaining power, whereas in Punjab, where landholdings have been diluted, mostly due to inheritance laws, there is a bit of room to bargain for women. Nevertheless, women do not get to have their fair share in the produce in any case; and on top of that, are held back by social obligations, including the burden of being the 'family honour'.
Hanging onto this delicate thread called ‘honour’, many women are continuously deprived of their right to refuse to work for a particular landlord, often at the risk of abuse and even rape. Worst is the situation of women who are part of the 1.7 million bonded labourers.
Many peasants are paid with a share in the crop produce, with a minimal monetary compensation, which can be as low as Rs5 per 40 kilogram of sugarcane, or Rs5 plus three kilogram of tomatoes for a day’s worth of picking tomatoes at a local landlord’s farm.
Experts have claimed countless of times that this situation can be mitigated via land reforms and distribution.
In March this year, Sindh government has reportedly distributed 55,439 acres of land among 6,000 people in 17 districts, which included 4,000 women and 1,200 men.
However, there are cases where the Sindh government allotted land to some women farmers, who later were stuck amid court cases brought against them by landlords who claim the allotted land as their property. This disparity, despite that women contribute close to 60 per cent in the rural agricultural economy, is one of the major reasons of rural to urban migration, which has its own downsides within the urban development sector. Nevertheless, urbanisation has its positives too.
With rapid urbanisation, participation of women in the workforce is increasing gradually; but again, many women, whether they work in a village or a city, do not necessarily have financial independence.
Many women, who have migrated to the cities, work as either home-based workers or domestic help, having no worker rights. Categorised under undocumented economy, their situation is dismal, with women getting Rs10 for a chickankari dress worth Rs3,000 at a flashy retail store; Rs17 a day for peeling 10 kilogram of garlic; or working eight hours a day as a maid at some NGO worker’s home for food (if lucky) and Rs1,200 a month.
But from there, it is downhill since the power over these resources is automatically taken over by the male members of a household, making a woman more vulnerable.
Though there is a difference between women working in menial jobs, and those in the white-collar sector, the access versus control matter remains.
One comes across countless stories of women domestic workers forcefully being relieved of their income by a male member; or stories of women working as teachers, doctors, engineers who have to give up their right to their own earnings due to the manoeuvrings of their partners.
Data of women’s workforce participation shows the most disproportionate numbers compared to men, especially in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. But what is missing in the statistics is the information regarding how many of these women actually have power over the resources they generate or have been bequeathed via inheritance or any other means.
Between 2010 and 2012 the World Bank (WB) recorded female workforce participation of the total number of women in Pakistan at 24 per cent, which increased to 25 per cent in 2013, whereas male participation remained stable at 83 per cent throughout the same periods. This means female workforce participation in Pakistan has only been above Afghanistan within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Among SAARC countries during the same period, women have made up the lowest percentage of workers in Afghanistan at 15 per cent in 2010 and 16 per cent between 2011 and 2013. India has been slightly ahead of Pakistan with 29 per cent in 2010, 28 per cent in 2011 and 27 per cent in both 2012-13, showing a downward trend. The highest and most stable number of women workers has been recorded in Nepal by the WB at 80 per cent during the same period, followed by Bhutan at 66 per cent between 2010 and 2012, and 67 per cent in 2013. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, during the same period have remained stable at 57 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. Maldives is at par with Bangladesh and has a little more than double the female participation rate compared to Pakistan with 55 per cent in 2010 and 56 per cent between 2011 and 2013.
Though political parties talk of women participation in politics, and NGOs focus on women’s health, education, violence against women, and economic empowerment, the fact remains that financial independence of most women is a distant dream.
Economic empowerment of women is a game-changer in a staunchly patriarchal society. One of the most fundamental attack on a woman is deprivation of her financial rights, which is followed by food security, burden of extra manual labour, lack of reproductive rights and, more often than not, psychological battery regarding lack of financial means.

Published in The News at: http://e.thenews.com.pk/newsmag/mag/detail_article.asp?id=10513&magId=10#sthash.2vk5s7RY.dpuf

In the name of politics: Dashing the Hague Convention

The commoners’ idea that politics is a dirty business would not be too far-fetched when talking about Pakistan; instead, it is as extreme as those wearing sharia beards. An Urdu saying, ‘pait mein daarhi’ (literally: having or growing a beard in the stomach; figuratively: having a hidden beard), was written for those running so-called liberal parties. It’s a fight out here, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has used the covert way to subvert Taliban, by targeting heritage at Sindh Cultural Festival. The planned fest is an unconventional example of how during armed conflicts, heritage sites might end up needing protection from overambitious politicians.

In a recent interview with Daily Times, Sharmila Farooqi credited PPP Patron-in-Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (BBZ) for his idea to host Sindh Cultural Festival. Contrary to PPP’s inability to hold local government elections in a short time, arranging Sindh Festival was not much of a big deal. Using government funds, of course, not only was the PPP able to publish all sorts of advertisements accompanied by their cute little Superman logo in newspapers, they even pulled off an electronic advertisement targeting the mango people subconsciously via a well-tailored Baby Zardari as future prime minister.

Not stopping there, the PPP launched on to the big idea of bringing on centre stage the Mound of the Dead or Mohenjo Daro. However, the controversial woman leader had said that though the festival would be inaugurated at Mohenjo Daro, the ceremony had been planned at a safe distance, keeping in mind international bylaws.

Mohenjo Daro is an archaeological site in Sindh which was built around 2600 BC to house one of the largest settlements of Indus Valley Civilisation. Being among the four river valley civilisations, it is a record of not just Pakistan and India’s history and ancient heritage but the entire world. One might even argue in favour of political parties using such locations as a trump card to gain say in the pluralistic Sindh, but only if such a stage was not being set right atop the historically neglected but important UNESCO site.

What currently has been planned “on” Mohenjo Daro is nothing short of a way to eradicate the material evidence of the rich and diverse culture of this land. When we think of war and its awful consequences, the deaths of soldiers and civilians as well as alleged terrorists are a reminder of destroyed futures. But in case of attacking historical sites, it becomes about wiping out history, its memory and our collective past. Exactly what the Taliban are accused of! In these circumstances, how can one support such callous neglect and destruction of our past, present and future?

In their book ‘The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq’, Peter G Stone and Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly ask why, after millennia of human conflict, have we not become better at protecting cultural heritage and if we can get better? They attribute it to three aspects: targeted destruction to gain political advantage; ‘collateral damage’ where it is destroyed as an ‘innocent bystander’ as fighting takes place; and destruction caused by the trade in illicit antiquities. Perhaps the part about “political gain” is well suited to the current scenario, albeit there’s a difference in weapons.

Mohenjo Daro at the moment is not under threat from an armed conflict, but from the political aspirations of one of the mainstream parties, the PPP. However, the rhetoric being used by the party that ruled the country for five years during the previous democratic regime reads “heritage is under threat, and the festival will protect it from destruction”. In BBZ’s words that we have to experience as part of our daily commercial dose: “Sindh Festival will make us aware of our existence.” And what better way but to replace weapons with stakes nailing the wooden stage and tapping heels in stupor atop 5,000 years worth of history.

The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (commonly known as the Hague Convention) is for protecting cultural property during an armed conflict. Perhaps they should come up with one called ‘Protection of Cultural Property Against Political Aspirations of Fledglings’.

One might remind BBZ that even the internationally acclaimed English rock band ‘Pink Floyd’ performed to an empty, ancient, Amphitheatre of Pompeii in Italy, respecting heritage by keeping the maddening frenzy of concert attendees at bay.

Pakistanis struggle understanding sexual violence!

As the Delhi rape victim dies in Singapore, Pakistanis continue to struggle with understanding that sexual violence is one of the major tools of oppression against women in general and minorities in particular. Especially some of the pseudo-liberals, for whom accepting the ruling elite as a culprit is too much of a big deal.

In the Sindh province particularly two dargahs/shrines are famous for forced conversions of young Hindu girls. Bharchundi Sharif, in Mirpur Mathelo, Ghotki District, Taluka Daharki and Pir Sarhandi, Umerkot District, Taluka Samaro. The 'gaddi nasheen' (or keeper of the seat) of both these shrines are supported and backed by Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

In case the reader is suffering from amnesia, the following are recorded cases of rape and forced conversions. There probably are hundreds which never came into the limelight. The girls were abducted, married off to Muslim men after forcefully converting to Islam. Their ages are anywhere from 13 to 18 years.

January 4, 2005: 18-year-old Marvi and 16-year-old Hemi from Kunri village in Umerkot District

March 3, 2005: 14-year-old Raji from Aslam Town Jhuddo, Mirpurkhas

September 2005: 17-year-old Kochlia, kidnapped and gangraped in Jacobabad

December 22, 2005: 13-year-old Mashu from Jhaluree, 20 km from Mirpur Khas

December 30, 2005: Qosheela's abducted from Ghotki

January 24, 2010: 14-year-old Kasturi Kohli from Mokrio village, Nagarparkar, who was gang raped by

Sharjeel Memon's goons. Yet another PPP leader. 

September 11, 2011: 29-year-old Dr Lata Kumari, Jacobabad

February 24, 2012: 17-year-old Rinkle Kumari's is a high profile case, where her abductor, turned husband Naveed Shah is given support and provided immunity from the law by Mian Abdul Haq aka Mian Mithu, PPP MNA from Ghotki.

March 3, 2012: Asha Kumari from Jacobabad

The recent case of two minor-girls, age six and 14, who were raped in a PPP constituency, Umerkot is not a rare occurrence. Sexual violence is often used as a system to harass, intimidate and force conversion to Islam in Pakistan. There are countless cases in Sindh where children belonging to the oppressed Hindu minority have been sexually assaulted, raped and then refused justice. And in order to further humiliate them and their community, if they are of marriageable age, and unluckily survive the brutality, they are married off to the criminals who perpetrated the crime.

December 4, 2012: A 6 year-old minor, daughter of Munwar Meghwar, a labourer from Ghulam Nabi Shah, Umerkot District was abducted from the street in front of her house and sexually assaulted. The child stayed at the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital till December 11, from where she was later shifted to Karachi for better treatment.

December 23, 2012: 14-year-old schedule caste (Bheel) Hindu girl from Chachro (FIR no 61/12 u/s 354 Pakistan Penal Code. Complainant Bheel against three accused)

This is only the tip of the ice-berg. Rape and forced conversions both are interlinked in case of women who are of marriageable age. As per the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) around 20 to 25 Hindu girls are being forcibly converted to Islam every month in the southern Sindh province on average. How many are being raped and disposed off due to lack of usability in marriage is another topic. The role in all this of the feudal-rulers is absolutely obscured intentionally by the ruling elite and their henchmen in media and judiciary. While the common public continues to perpetuate rape culture and apologia in the name of religion, there is a dire need to spread awareness and bring these issues out in the open.

Please raise your voice against sexual violence. Join a protest in your city for the cause, or if you cannot, at least take out 2 minutes of your time and sign an online petition. Remember change cannot be brought by merely talking about it. 

Petition for the 6-year-old child - http://www.causes.com/actions/1714231?recruiter_id=180300099&utm_campaign=invite&utm_medium=wall&utm_source=fb


Petition demanding Government of Pakistan and HRCP to atop Child Abuse and Abuse of Power in Sindh Province, Pakistan - http://www.change.org/petitions/government-of-pakistan-human-rights-commission-of-pakistan-stop-child-abuse-and-abuse-of-power-in-sindh-province-pakistan

Umerkot rape cases: Where's the outrage Pakistanis?

While the Indian public is up and about regarding the Delhi rape case, Pakistanis are busy questioning the 'authenticity' and 'intent' of people who are bringing the Umerkot rape case in the public eye. In Pakistan rapists getting support from the ruling elite and their liberal mouthpieces, is a very common occurrence. Rather this is one of the feudal legacies of our country, to rape and watch. And while we are talking of legacies, let’s not forget another, oppressing minorities. 

The recent rape cases from Umerkot, a Pakistan People’s Party constituency, are the perfect examples of both our feudal legacies, sexual violence against minor-Hindu-girls. It is one of the worst weapons to silence and oppress people, be those women, children or religious and ethnic minorities. In Umerkot, a 6-year-old girl-child was raped by a Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) worker and a 14-year-old minor raped by influential men from the ruling PPP. (Read more details here)

Interestingly, the issue is hardly getting much attention since there is too much important stuff going on. First being the death anniversary of Benazir and second, continuing the Bhutto dynasty politics via Bilawal Zardari. Among all this are certain pseudo-liberals, for whom talking about the rape case is a method to malign the PPP.

Perhaps for them the case of Shahzeb Khan is also just to malign feudalism? After all, the feudal Bhuttos are the saviours of Pakistan. And with feudalism comes the ‘responsibility’ to oppress people, and help the ones who oppress (yes the oppressors and not the oppressed are protected where feudal-politicians-with military support run so-called-democracies). What do you plan now? Twist the story and claim it was a love match? (Rinkle Kumari) Or go the Sharjeel Memon way? Or simply make the lives of the families of victims hell, so they actually end up self immolating themselves. While you sit in your drawing room and spew shit on social media? Being in office does not make PPP exempt from criticism. The ruling PPP seems to enjoy perpetuating, supporting and even breeding rape culture.

And last but not the least. A question for all the 'staunch' patriotic anti-Indian Pakistani-Muslims and 'liberals', where is the outrage that you pretended at the Delhi rape case? Or is the rape by Indians more of a rape compared to rape by ‘Muslim / Pakistani men’?