Friday, April 10, 2009

Fake Video to Sabotage the Peace Agreement in Sawat by Zamurrad Awan


Questions in mind after watching such a fake video



• Does Islam allow any punishment to the women over any sin, in such an exposing way?
• Is it possible that after receiving these lashed, a women feel herself ok to get up and to move any place as has been seen in the video?
• If it really happened, didn’t the Taliban aware that they are being captured while doing such act, when we find them highly alert and organize in their all violent actions?
• The timing of sending such video is highly addressable as it was send when the peace agreement was in its way to be discussed?
• Can’t be West as a beneficiary of this video, who are already in search to prove Pakistan in respect of Islam an antagonist and fundamentalist country, where they think, there is no respect of any human lives?

Zamurrad Awan
Kinnaird College for Women, lhr
zamurredawan@yahoo.com

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Gender Biased Society of Pakistan (A Case-Study of Mukhtaran Mai) by Zamurrad Awan





Gender Biased Society of Pakistan
(A Case-Study of Mukhtaran Mai)

The status of women in Pakistan varies considerably across classes, regions and the rural/urban divide due to uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal, feudal and capitalist social formations on women’s lives. The Pakistani women of today enjoy a better status than most Islamic and Middle Eastern women. However, on an average,, the women’s situation vis-à-vis men is one of systematic subordination, although there have been attempts by the government and enlightened groups to elevate the status of women in Pakistani society.

Pakistani society is male dominated society where women are the centre of attention and life but this society also consider women as no more than secondary citizens which is perhaps due to the traditional; norms prevailing in the whole society. The role and status of Pakistani women in all walks of life has been highly undermined. Though over the years this scenario has changed and the awareness of woman’s abilities, her rights and her status has reached almost all parts of Pakistan which is a third world country. but this privilege of the right acknowledgment is limited as the majority of Pakistani women belong to the rural areas who work in the fields and in the industrial centre. It is a pool and virtually illiterate majority, which leads a life of physical hardship involving long hours at tedious chores for which there is neither compensation nor recognition. Most of these women bear the double burden of housework and outside work. Not only do these women have longer days than the rest of the family, but also being the last to eat, they eat less well and suffer from anemia and malnutrition.

The violence against women in Pakistan is dilemma of our society. Feminists and women’s groups in Pakistan have criticized the Pakistani government and it’s leaders for white washing the prosecution of women and typing to suppress information about their plight in the international arena. Skepticism and biased attitudes against women’s complaints of violence are common among prosecutors, police officers and medicolegal doctors in Pakistan. According to reports from 1990s, such complaints often delayed/mishandled processing and inadequate/improper investigation. The crimes against the women in Pakistan has its various forms like Sexual Abuse, Women Trafficking, Dowry abuse, Domestic Violence, Honor Killings, Marriage to Quran and many other form. After many ups and downs in the case The Lahore high court ruled on 6 June 2005 that the accused men could be released on payment of a 50,000 rupees ($840) bond. However, the men were unable to come up with the money, and remained in jail while the prosecution appealed their acquittal. Just over two weeks later, the Supreme Court intervened and suspended the acquittals of the five men as well as the eight who were acquitted at the original 2002 trial. All 14 would be retried in the Supreme Court.

The daunting step of a rural woman with an un-influential background is no doubt a source of inspiration for those women of Pakistan who never dares to break the barriers and bear the physical and mental victimization of their rights. Mukhtaran never stopped here; she was picked up by women national and international NGOs, and Human tights activist. She was nominated for many awards and souvenirs.
On 15th March 2009, Mukhtaran Mai, 37 years married to Nasir Abbas Gabol, a 30 years old police officer who was assigned to protect her as her case gained notoriety. She has been criticized for her legal marriage, when she reserved all rights regarding every decision about her life. That is totally her personal decisions, and it comes in to the personal liberty of one individual. She did lot of work for the development of her region despite of the reality that her region witnessed the cruel act of human history with her. A decent society is not easy to attain, it can only he achieved when the society has a deep sense of responsibility regarding its citizens and when the state ensure the personal privacy to its citizens. It’s the time to change the set pattern of society; in fact it’s the time to broaden our minds regarding the most sensitive issue of women rights. It’s high time now that we bear the brunt of the patriarchal mind set of our society, which make many women in relation with daughters, sisters, mothers and wives.

Lets finish the case of Mukhtaran with a thought provoking statement of an unknown writer “She’s not a feminist, she’s not an educated person, she does not have any personal politics. Yes, because of her own experience, she has an oppositional consciousness, but without really knowing why. She has a right to get along with her life”

by Zamurrad Awan
Kinnaird College for women Lhr
zamurredawan@yahoo.com

Problems of South Asian Countries by Zamurrad Awan & Yawar Hayat Shah


Problems of South Asian Countries

Pakistan
• Progressive Deterioration of Internal Security
• Terrorism/Extremism/Sectarianism
• Energy Crisis/Limited Energy Resources/High Dependency on imported Furnace Oil/Country wide Power Shortage
• Scarcity of Irrigation Water/ Water Crisis/Mega Water Reservoirs
• Food Shortage (e.g. severe flour shortage)
• Currant Account/ Trade Deficit
• Fiscal Deficit
• High indigenous and foreign debt
• Staggering Unemployment & Poverty
• Inadequate Health Facilities (e.g. High infant/maternal mortality rate)
• Exploitation of Women
• Violation of Human Rights
• No Agricultural taxation
• Droughts and famine
• Adulteration of Fertilizers
• Low growth rates in industry manufacturing and service sector
• Low per-capita income and HDI
• High Population growth rate
• High Defence Budget
• Lack of Foreign Direct Investment
• Frequent disruption of democratic governance due to military coups
• Dynastic Politics
• Absence of internal democracy in Political Parties

Bangladesh
• Frequent Military Take over
• Sharply polarized political environment
• Population Explosion
• Fail to reduce poverty
• Fail in delivery of basic services
• High illiteracy rate
• Low pace of development
India
• Human Rights Abuses
• Insufficient economic growth
• Political challenges slowing down the pace of economic development reforms
• Low per-capita income
• HIV/AIDS pandemic
• Environmental degradation
• High population rate
• Female infanticide
• Communal Violence
• Terrorist incidents
• Separationists and cessationists insurgencies (e.g. Kashmir, Mewos, Nagas, Maos)

Sri-Lanka
• Terrorist insurgency by LTTE
• 18 years old civil war
• Tension with India over Tamil issue
• Ecological Problems
Nepal
• Low per capita income
• High rate of poverty
• Bad governance
• Social injustice
• Distorted distribution f income, wealth and human capital
• Lack of social harmony


Zamurrad Awan & Yawar Hayat Shah

Monday, April 6, 2009

Responsibility of Media towards Ensuring Good Governance in Pakistan by Zamurrad Awan


Responsibility of Media towards Ensuring Good Governance in Pakistan


One of the most important elements of good governance in any country is the existence of free and impartial media which could make the access of common citizen possible to any happening or event. media consists of multifarious organizations such as Radio, Television, newspaper, web explorer, which serves as channels for a limitless range of conflicting views on virtually all issues, and which are frequently in competition with each other. In Pakistan, according to the All-Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), the total combined circulation figure for daily newspapers and other periodicals was 3.5 million in 1997. Print media included 424 dailies, 718 weeklies, 107 fortnightlies, and 553 monthlies. However, the Nation wide local access was established in Pakistan within one year, and by 1999 was available to 600,000 computers, 60,000 users by 3,102 Internet hosts. These figures expose the important role of media in this age of advancement. The primary role of the media is the dissemination of information, a process through which it provides the citizens of a country with information about the programs, policies and activities of the government and also serves a watchdog function.

Media is a vehicle which guarantees the free flow of information and ideas necessary for an effective functioning of a democratic society. Although media is not formally a institution of government, but it is considered as fourth institution of government machinery after legislature, executive and judiciary. As the matter of fact, media professionals are the representatives of the people but they are not been elected but they serve as an agents of the people in that they act on behalf of the people when they seek out and disseminate information on which the people need to make political judgments and other decisions that are important for their well-beings.

The case of developing countries in regard of media policy and practice is different from the developed countries. In Developing countries, the high rates of illiteracy and widespread ignorance among a majority of their populations about the most basic issues of national importance and unavailability of basic necessities does not let them analyze the routine policies of government. Thus the prevailing disorder in the developing countries demands high responsibility on the part of media to inform the citizen and to enlighten them about political, economic and social issues. It also has a responsibility to subject government policies, programs and activities in to scrutiny and to expose corruption, misconduct and incompetence in government.

Unfortunately, this is often difficult for many leaders to do. They see any demand for accountability as a challenge to their power and authority, as an attempt to control them. They view demands for transparency as an insult to their integrity, even when they are stealing the people blind. They see the media, which embodies all of these, as a nuisance, at best, and as an enemy, at the worst. They therefore devote their resources and energies to fighting these “enemies” who seek to introduce instruments or establish institutions of accountability and transparency. All that is required is for governments and political leaders to recognize that they have a batter chance of making progress and bringing development to their countries when they expand the pool of ideas available to them by allowing effective pubic participation in the governance process.

In respect to Pakistan, the1973 Constitution provides for its citizens' fundamental rights, one of which pertains specifically to the Press, Article 19, Freedom of Speech:

Every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, commission of or incitement to an offense.

This particular article guarantees the freedom of expression and freedom of the press, but it also talk about the "reasonable restrictions", so that the check could be made on the given freedom of individuals as well as of organizations to avoid any encroachments of rights. The media history in Paksiatn exhibits the bitter realities that whenever the military take over the rule, media had to face certain restrictions. In 1963 the Press and Publications Ordinance (PPO) came into being containing the harshest of laws curtailing freedom of expression and the progressive development of the media and leading to the March 1969 relinquishing of power by President Ayub Khan to General Yahya Khan who imposed martial law. In 1977, General Zia ul Haq ousted Bhutto from the prime minister position and once again imposed martial law under which abuse of journalists became public rather than covert. Journalists were flogged in public at Zia's whim. Not one single law or regulation of any progressive character was created during Zia's rule. In 1988, Benaiz Bhutto as a successor of Zulfiqar ali Bhutoo became a first Women Prim Minster of Pakisatan, She brought with her a new phase of liberalism toward the mass media laws and regulations. For example, Bhutto's government allowed government-controlled radio and television to provide daily and well-balanced coverage of the speeches and statements of its opposition in news bulletins and current affairs programs. Because the print media reaches such a small percentage of the population, this change had a significant impact on the pubic, but was returned to the old, one-sided coverage after only four months because of pressure on Bhutto by her party, the Pakistan People's Party. Specifically, the Ministry of Information no longer required issuance of permits to import newsprint and allowed a free and open system of importing newsprint at market prices.

In1997, when Pakistan Muslim League (N) came in to power , Sharif used many heavy-handed methods to deal with journalists who dared to criticize his government. He put tremendous pressure on independent journalists, using both covert and overt means of retribution. In 1999: General Pervez Musharraf overthrows Sharif, suspends the constitution, and declares martial law; government agents raid the country's most influential newspaper, Jang, because it was too critical of the government. On 1st March 2002, Pakistan electronic regulatory authority ordinance was promulgated to regulate broadcast media in Pakistan, which was further criticized as it put restrictions on the freedom of broadcast media.

Its worth mentioning here that somehow or the other, the media is somewhere neglecting its positive an effective role to inform the citizen and its now become a tool to harass the viewers regarding the particular happening or event. To expose the dead bodies, to show the blood shed to a large scale can not give the public a food of thought in fact it prevail chaos and disturbance in society. The Television channels are being high jacked by the political parties, the journalist are writing for the particular political parties, the impartiality of the media is begin effected by such policies. The Pakistan peoples party came in third time rule after the general elections 2008, and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani in his first address on 25th March 2008 to the parliament showed his willingness towards the freedom of media by declaring the Pemra ordinance null and void which was implemented in Musharaff regime to put the jinee of Media in the bottle. In this regard the role of former information Sherry Rehman can not be over looked who did not only allow media to record the regular proceedings of the parliament session but only resigned as she was not being discussed in some decisions related to her ministry. In such situation the media has an imperative role of not only the provision of quick and unbiased information but also to educate people socially and politically. The pessimist role of media being observed now a days, as electronic media isn’t reluctant to show the undressed dead bodies with blood which is no doubt a psychologically a bad effect on the minds of people. It’s the true fact that the people who watch television and who expire web belongs to every age, it is against the dignity of human being to expose violent actions resulted in the form of massive lose of lives in such a inhuman way. No developed county allow to on air such kinds of videos on media. Though the free media is one of the important element to ensure good governance but media need to be well aware of its responsibilities and it should not be allowed to disrespect humanity under the cover of freedom of expression.

Reference:

1. Owais Aslam Ali. Pakistan Press Freedom Report 2000. Available from http://www.oneworld.org.

2. Sarah Chaudhary, Voice of the Nation in Nation:Sunday plus,Vol.25,November 2007, pg 18

3. "Country Profile: Pakistan." Facts on File News Services. Available from http://www.2facts.com.

4. Jabbar, Javed, and Qazi Faez Isa. Mass Media Laws and Regulations in Pakistan and a Commentary from an Historical Perspective. Singapore: Asian Media Information & Communication Centre, 1997.



Zamurrad Awan
Lecturer
Kinnaird College for Women, Lhr
zamurredawan@yahoo.com