Saima Tariq , my beloved wife victim of "East Pak debacle". tragedy-Tariq Saeed

16th Dec was a sad day and known for "East Pak debacle". However, for Pakistani nation from now on it will be remembered for different reasons in general and for many of us in particular. The incident has hurt the nation deep inside which is evident from the response by the masses.
Saima Tariq , my beloved wife was one of victims of this tragedy. She had just joined the school on 5th Nov as teacher. She was an educationist and had taught for16 years in APSACS. On my arrival at Peshawar, Pakistan i was strictly against her teaching job and wanted her to pursue her higher studies which she was already undergoing at City University. In spite of my resistance she forced me change my decision and joined APS Peshawar in order to follow her passion of teaching and educating the next generation. She was a soft spoken lady with a very kind heart and extremely popular with her students (fact which can be confirmed by her students and colleagues).
 Now coming to the incident on 16th Dec 14, i have seen a lot of stories circulating on the social media with different versions (some facts and some not) and based upon rumours. The fact is she embraced shahadat with courage and stood up against these perpetrators for her students. What happened and how it happened is painful to pen down but the fact is she was burned by the terrorists. Beyond this i believe we should not discuss anything as it is painful for us the family specially when it is not based upon facts.
 I also saw people's remarks about the response being slow and all kind of criticism of security agencies. I want to clarify to every reader of this status that there are 84 schools alone within the Cantt premises let alone hundreds of schools in Peshawar. It is not possible to protect each and every school by the security agencies due to the lack of human resource. I am an affectee of the incident and still salute the wonderful response placed by the security forces in general and Army in particular. While criticizing we tend to overlook one fact that there were approximately 1100 kids in the school and over 950 have walked out safe and alive. Had it not been for the courageous response by my brothers in arms (being an eye witness and present on the spot) the loss could have been much much more. The SSG fought valiantly and took out each culprit. My sincere thanks to all of them who stood like a wall between the terrorists and 950 students saved. Let us all stop condemning the forces response and stand by them and appreciate them.
 If the aim of this attack was to terrorize us or scare us i must admit that then they (TTP) have chosen the wrong enemy. I may be grieved b/c after all i am a human and have lost a near and dear one but i am not scared and my resolve to fight them has multiplied many folds. I am proud of my wife's sacrifice and courage. She has not only made her family but whole nation proud and sowed the seed for change IA.

 Finally i along with my family want to thank each and every person including my family members, colleagues, friends, course mates, Aviators, General offrs, PTI MNA's, PTI MPA's, ministers, Ex CM of KPK who spared time to visit me and shared my grief. I also want to thank all those who couldn't join me in these trying times due to unavoidable commitments and called me or my brothers on telephone or messaged me for sharing their feelings. We are indebted to all of you for standing by me.

 Saima you have toiled your blood but become immortal (as stated in holy Quran) but you have made us hold our heads high. You will always be missed and remembered by us all.

Egyptian Judge Acquits Doctor in First FGM Prosecution

90% of women under age 50 have been mutilated in Egypt. Yet, despite a 2008 ban, no one has ever been convicted for performing FGM in Egypt.Sun, November 23, 2014

In what was hoped to be a watershed moment in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, the first-ever prosecution for performing FGM ended in an acquittal for both the doctor and the father who were accused of breaking Egypt’s 2008 law which banned the procedure.

Meanwhile, in Uganda, five people – both men and women – werefound guilty of participating in the mutilation of girls, which was outlawed in the country in 2010. The conviction, which came after a guilty plea by all the defendants, was a rare occurrence in Uganda, where previous arrests for the crime have been made but few convictions have been handed down. The five were given four-year prison terms.

The Egyptian case centered around Sohair el-Batea, a gifted 13- year old girl from a Nile Delta village who died in June 2013 after the procedure was performed on her by Raslan Fadl, a medical doctor and an Islamic cleric. Prosecutors charged Sohair’s father with forcing her to undergo the procedure.

Despite evidence from medical reports provided by Egypt’s forensic authority that proved that Sohair has been subjected to FGM, the judge in the case ignored the reports, according to Reda el-Danbouki, one of the lawyers involved in the case. Similarly, the judge ignored a decision by the health ministry ordering the doctor’s clinic to be shut down for violating medical practices.

Instead, the judge in the town of Aga, where the case was heard, merely wrote an acquittal verdict in the court ledger, giving no reason for his decision. The verdict was not announced in the courtroom.

El-Danbouki said he is planning to appeal in conjunction with human rights groups.

Meanwhile, Fadl’s clinic is still operating, according to the Associated Press, whose reporters visited the clinic last month. During the trial,Fadl blamed Sohair’s death on an allergy to penicillin.

“Of course there will be no stopping any doctor after this. Any doctor can do any FGM he wants now,” said Atef Aboelenein, a lawyer for the Women’s Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness.

Aboelenein, who was the first to find out about the verdict, added, “This opens the door for any doctor to perform the same procedure without fear of being held accountable and in absence of any deterrence.”

Sohair’s family initially filed a complaint with the police saying the girl had died as a result of the FGM that had been performed on her by Fadl, but changed their story during the trial due to a reconciliation agreement between the family and the doctor. In that agreement, the doctor agreed to pay 60,000 pounds (about $8,500) to the girl’s mother.

As a consequence of the reconciliation, the judge dropped the charge of manslaughter against Sohair’s father.

"It is awful that after what seemed to be strong moves towards a positive outcome, Sohair has not been given justice," said Suad Abu Dayyeh, a representative for the NGO Equality Now.

"The verdict is disappointing and it's a problem," said Manal Fawzy, of the Childhood and Development Association, an NGO that campaigns against FGM in southern Egypt. "Now it will be easy for any doctor to perform such surgeries."

Despite the ban on FGM in Egypt – a law which carries with it a punishment of up to two years in prison -- more than 90% of Egyptian women under the age of 50 have been cut.

FGM, includes all procedures involving partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is generally practiced on girls between the ages of four and 12.

FGM ranges in severity to the removal of part or all of the clitoris, excision of the clitoris along with the removal of the external genitalia and the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening. In the most severe cases, the procedure also involves the scraping of tissue surrounding the vaginal opening and/or the introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause tightening.

The overwhelming majority of mutilations worldwide are performed by untrained lay people with no use of anesthesia.

FGM is performed for non-medical reasons. It is a trauma that denies a woman a normal sexual life and condemns her to a life of pain. Short-term complications can include hemorrhaging, pain, shock and even death, while long-term complications include formation of cysts, problems with sexual intercourse, chronic pelvic infection, life threatening childbirth, a lower rate of survival to babies born to women who have been mutilated and a significantly higher rate of stillborn birth for women who have been subjected to the gruesome practice.

It is estimated that three million girls undergo FGM every year. The practice has long been regarded a critical public health issue by the World Health Organization and other national and international health organizations because of its harmful physical and mental effects.

Saudi Restaurants Begin Banning Single Women -Sumi Khan

Sun, November 30, 2014

Various restaurants around the kingdom have objected to 'shocking' behavior which includes flirting, smoking and using a mobile phone.

A Saudi Arabian woman on her cell phone. Saudi restaurant owners have begin to ban single women for objectionable behavior including use of a cell phone.

In another blow to women’s rights in the desert kingdom, Saudi Arabian restaurants have begun to ban single women from entering their premises. The ban has also been extended to  women not accompanied by a male guardian.

Signs in various restaurants around the kingdom have begun popping up announcing the ban. Restaurant owners claim that women in restaurants have been behaving in “a shocking way,” according to one blogger who supported the ban.

The objectionable behavior included flirting, smoking and using a mobile phone. Local media Al Marsad reported a typical remark written by one blogger who wrote: “She would come in alone and focuses on her mobile from which emanates loud music.  She then takes out a cigarette and upsets other guests who may call in the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. This could cause problem for the restaurant. So the best thing is to keep women away from restaurants unless they have a male custodian. That way the restaurant is not shut down because of the misbehavior of an adolescent or mentally unstable woman.”

Other disagreed, writing, “This is utterly ridiculous. This means that a hungry woman who wants to eat something needs a male custodian to enter a restaurant,” Harraq said. “This is so shameful. Such attitudes are not accepted from any Muslim regarding anyone, let alone a hungry woman who wants to eat something and who will sit in the family section of the restaurant. She is a human being and she has feelings and emotions.”

Speaking to Al-Hayat, one Saudi woman said that restaurants and cafes are the two of the main sources of recreation for women in the kingdom. "If they're going to ban us from entering restaurants, where are we supposed to go?" she asked, requesting that any restaurant that bans women should be boycotted.

Rights groups expressed outrage over this new phenomenon, which they said were illegal. “These signs are against the law and reflect the personal opinions of the restaurant owners,"said Khalid Al-Fakhri , secretary general for the National Society for Human Rights. "Restaurants should come up with alternative solutions if its customers are behaving inappropriately." Meanwhile, despite the requirement for women to wear burkas in public, sexual harassment of Saudi women remains rampant .

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s most dismal records for women’s rights. Women in the kingdom are forbidden to be in public without a male guardian. Most sports activities and professions are forbidden to them. Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.

Grieving Afghan mother's bloody revenge: 25 Taliban killed

• 
• 
  
• Reza Gul looked on as the militants attacked her son's police checkpoint 
• Flanked by her husband,son, daughter and daughter in law she led the fightback  
• The Taliban remain tight lipped about the attack  

Sumi Khan ,28 November 2014

Reza Gul (right) and her daughter Fatima killed 25 members of the Taliban after watching them kill her son. Source: YouTube

The incident happened early in the morning around 5a.m on November 17 in the Balabolok district, in the Farah province of western Afghanistan, near the border with Iran.

"It was around 5am when my son's check post came under the attack of Taliban," the mother, Reza Gul, told Afghan television network, TOLOnews. "When the fighting intensified, I couldn't stop myself and picked up a weapon, went to the check post and began shooting back."Her maternal instincts took over after seeing her son Safiullah lying dead in front of her eyes, after a gun battle with the Taliban. However, she was not acting alone: a number of family members, including her husband, daughter and youngest son, rushed along to help and provided her with ammunition.

"The fighting intensified when we reached the battlefield along with light and heavy weapons,"said Reza Gul’s daughter-in-law, Seema, according to TOLOnews. "We were committed to fight until the last bullet." She added that the intense fighting lasted a number of hours, with 25 militants left dead and others wounded.

Flanked by her daughter and daughter-in-law, the grieving mother took bloody revenge saying she had no choice but to grab a weapon, starting a seven-hour gun battle.'It was around 5am when my son’s check post came under the attack of Taliban,” Gul told TOLO News.'When the fighting intensified, I couldn’t stop myself and picked up a weapon, went to the check post and began shooting back.”Gul’s husband, daughter, youngest son and daughter-in-law accompanied the grieving mother in the fight, eventually taking out 25 Taliban insurgents.'We started a kind of family war against the Taliban,” Fatima, Gul’s daughter said.'The fighting was intensified when we reached the battlefield along with light and heavy weapons,” said Seema, the daughter-in-law.'We were committed to fight until the last bullet.”

 
The family battle took place by their home in the Farah province, one of the most volatile areas in western Afghanistan where anti-government militants are actively operating.

AN Afghan mother took on the Taliban killing 25 militants after witnessing her son being killed in a fierce gunbattle.Woken by gunfire, Reza Gul looked on as her son, a police officer, was gunned down by Taliban as he manned a village checkpoint.

A grieving Afghan mother took bloody revenge on the Taliban militants who gunned down her son, killing 25 and injuring five of them during a seven hour gun battle. 

Reza Gul watched helplessly as her son died while he manned a village checkpoint with his small team of police officers in the lawless Farah province.

But flanked by her daughter and daughter-in-law, she led a counter strike on his attackers killing 25 militants and wounding another five during a ferocious seven hour gun battle.

Scroll down for video 

Reza Gul (center), her daughter Fatima (left) and daughter-in-law Seema, killed 25 members of of the Taliban after watching them gun down her son

Fatima Gul, who also took up arms against the Taliban after her brother was killed during a Taliban raid on his police checkpoint in the Farah province

From left to right, Fatima, Seema and Reza Gul battled for seven hours against Taliban forces after they attacked a police checkpoint, manned by Reza's son 

Grieving Afghan mother speaks of moment she fought back

'I couldn't stop myself and picked up a weapon,' Gul told TOLO News. 'I went to the check post and began shooting back.'

Her daughter-in-law Seema added: 'The fighting was intensified when we reached the battlefield along with light and heavy weapons. We were committed to fight until the last bullet.'

She added that the combats zone was strewn with Taliban bodies when the fighting was over.  

A spokesman for the Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior told the agency it was a symbol of a public uprising. 

The Taliban is yet to comment about the incident.

Alongside other insurgent groups, the Taliban have escalated attacks across the country since the withdrawal of most of the US led forces from the country last month. 

Targeting, government, security and foreign installations, especially in the country's capital Kabul, members of the public have also been caught in the crossfire. 

Legendary folk hero Malalai of Maiwand

Malalai
Afghan heroine of Maiwand

While in Britain, no one has heard of her, in Afghanstan Malalai (or Malala) is a legend. Smaller facts in the story vary slightly, but although it is Ayub Khan who became known as the Victor of Maiwand, it is said that it was Malalai who actually saved the day.

She was a native of Khig, a tiny village on the edge of the Maiwand battlefield, and the daughter of a shepard. Both her father and fiancée joined with Ayub's army in the attack on the British on July 27th 1880 (which some say was also her wedding day), and like many women, Malalai was there to help tend to the wounded and provide water and spare weapons. Eventually there came a point in the battle where the Afghan army, despite their superior numbers, started to lose morale and the tide seemed to be turning in favour of the British. Seeing this, Malalai took off her veil and shouted out:

"Young love! If you do not fall in the battle of Maiwand,By God, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame!"

This gave many of the Afghan fighters and ghazis a new resolve and they redoubled their efforts. At that moment one of the leading flag-bearers fell from a British bullet, and Malalai went forward and held up the flag (some versions say she made a flag out of her veil), singing a landai:

"With a drop of my sweetheart's blood, Shed in defense of the Motherland, Will I put a beauty spot on my forehead, Such as would put to shame the rose in the garden,"

But then Malalai was herself struck down and killed. However, her words had spurred on her countrymen and soon the British lines gave way, broke and turned, leading to a disastrous retreat back to Kandahar and the biggest defeat for the Anglo-Indian army in the Second Afghan War. Ayub Khan afterwards gave a special honour to Malalai and she was buried at her village, where her grave can still be found.
British sources, unsurprisingly, do not mention Malalai. Her actions may not have been noticed by any of the British, or they may not have seemed as consequential as they were to the Afghans. Afghan women are very rarely mentioned at all in the reports and narratives of the war (Hensman mentions that one woman was found among the dead at Ahmed Khel). Interestingly, it is the Afghans who provide some of the evidence for one of the other legends born at the battle of Maiwand, as it is from one of Ayub's artillery colonels that we learn some of the details of the famous last stand of the 66th, clutching to their company colours, in a Khig garden, where indeed the fallen bodies were later found to be lying.
As well as Malalai, there were many other factors in the Afgan's favour on that day, including preferential terrain and positioning, superior numbers, skilled use of outnumbering artillery, and perhaps some bad decisions on the British side of things. But certainly her actions were enough to turn her into a national hero where she is still revered today. Schools, hospitals and even a women's magazine have been named after her. It is also a popular girl's name, with Malalai Joya a rare female voice in post-Taliban Afghan politics.

Article by Garen Ewing ©2005. 

World's most titled aristocrat, Spain's Duchess of Alba, dies

Spaniards are mourning the loss of the Duchess of Alba, one of the country's richest women. The eccentric aristocrat had the world record for the most titles held. 

The duchess, full name Maria del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, passed away on Thursday at the age of 88. According to a family spokesperson, she died at her Duenas Palace in the southern Spanish city of Seville surrounded by family members following a short illness.
While her principle title was Duchess of Alba de Tormes, a complex series of marriages by her ancestors meant that she held more than 40 other titles, which according to Guinness World Records made her the noble with the most officially recognized titles in the world.
"She was born in high society yet knew how to walk among the people like nobody else," Fermin Urbiola, who knew the duchess personally and wrote several books on European royals, told the AFP news agency.The duchess was a relative of Winston Churchill and played with English royals when she lived in London during her childhood.

The duchess' coffin was brought to the town hall in Seville

Outspoken and unconventional
Cayetana, as she was known in Spain, featured regularly in the Spanish celebrity press and was easily recognizable due to her outspoken nature, distinctive hair and colorful dress sense.
She made international headlines in 2011 when, at the age of 85, she married a man a quarter-century her junior and danced flamenco at their wedding.
Her marriage to Alfonso Diez was objected to by her children, but before the nuptuals Diez renounced any claim to the duchess' vast wealth. A few months before the ceremony, the duchess divided up most of her estate amongst her heirs.
The Duchess of Alba has previously been twice-widowed. Her 1947 wedding to Luis Martinez de Irujo y Artacoz was described as one of the costliest in Spain. Following the 1972 death of her first husband, she married a former Jesuit priest, Jesus Aguirre, in 1978. He died in 2001.
The Duchess of Alba had properties across mainland Spain and on some of its islands and it was said she could travel the length of the country without stepping off her land.
She was named a Favored Daughter of the Andalusia region in 2006, raising the ire of a group of local farm workers who felt she did not deserve the honor.She is survived by her six children.DW

Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh: Looking beyond the MDG’s

Published: Monday, March 4, 2013

NEAL WALKER.

We have achieved major milestones, but much remains to be done, states NEAL WALKER.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) are coming to an end in 2015.  With the deadline fast approaching, countries are taking stock of their achievements to-date and working hard to ensure the next set of goals reflect core requirements of sustainability and equity. Inclusive and equitable growth1 cannot happen without taking into consideration the role of women — half of the world’s population — who are also economically and socially most vulnerable. It is crucial that the post-Millennium Development Goals, beyond 2015 (the “Sustainable Development Goals” or SDG’s) include, as a core component, women’s empowerment and gender equality.2

Bangladesh is an interesting country-case where major milestones have been achieved in women’s empowerment and gender equality, particularly in achieving parity in primary education. Yet, much remains to be done. For instance, over 60% of all women continue to face at least one form of violence during their lifespan. By looking at the country specifics, we are able to critically question how representative the MDGs are of the ground realities facing women in developing countries, and Bangladesh in particular. Why is it that Bangladesh has done well on gender-specific targets but the gender aggregates still show poorly?  The complexities that plague gender parity in Bangladesh exemplify the global challenge as well: the discussion on how to ensure the SDGs effectively address gender needs to start right now.

The Bangladesh Case
Bangladesh has always had a history of women’s emancipation since the days of Begum Rokeya to women’s active role in the war of independence and through today’s Shahbagh movement.  Strong administrative and legal structures,3 coupled with an active civil society have been the foundation for women’s movements, for the establishment of rights and the delivery of pro-women services. The country was also one of the earlier signatories of the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).4

Nationally, the Government of Bangladesh took up the ‘education for all’ campaign with a strong focus on girl children’s education.  The stipend programmes for girl children at first in the primary level and then for secondary and higher secondary levels are considered a global best practice that achieved dramatic results in gender parity of education.5

Also important, over the past four decades, the government has implemented targeted social safety net programmes with strong focus on vulnerable women and their families (Morshed, 2009).  The conditional cash transfers ensured girls’ education especially through specific interventions such as food for work in the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme.6

One of the major milestones in Bangladesh’s history in women’s empowerment was the enactment of the Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act in 1997 that provided for direct elections to reserved seats for women in local level elections.

The 6th Five Year Plan (2011-2015) of Bangladesh which is the national medium term development plan committed to transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, considers women’s engagement in political and economic activities as a cross-cutting issue with women’s empowerment as one of the main drivers of transformation (SFYP 2011-2015).  The 6th Five Year Plan coincides with the ending of the MDGs which provides the basis for stock taking on the country’s situation so far.

Looking at the SFYP on Bangladesh specific situation with the MDGs, the table shows that Bangladesh has achieved gender parity in primary education (Goal 2, Target 1 and Goal 3, Target 1) yet it continues to experience a sharp drop in the number of women entering tertiary education (Goal 3, Target 3.1c).  Women’s employment in non-agricultural sector is currently around 25% whereas the target is 50%.  In another instance, while Bangladesh had done remarkably well in reducing maternal mortality rate by 40% in the last nine years (Maternal Mortality Rate/MMR -194 in 100,000 live births) and is on track for the MDGs of a 75% reduction from 1990-2015, only 24% of all births are attended by skilled health professionals.7 It will be harder to bring down the figure further, without a more comprehensive approach to the problem of maternal mortality. The Gender Inequality Index is also reflective of these continuing challenges which ranked Bangladesh 112 out of 146 in 2011 index in the Human Development Report 2011.8

Based on the indicators, it is important to further explore why Bangladesh, an early achiever and doing very well on certain gender empowerment targets, is now moving at slower pace in critical growth triggering targets such as labour market participation and women’s education in tertiary sector.  Why is it that with strong pro-women laws and policies, a comparatively small portion of Bangladeshi women is joining local/national politics?

Educate a woman, educate a nation
Looking at the snapshot of the various South Asian countries and their gender-parity achievements, Bangladesh has done significantly better in comparison to its neighbours.

Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to achieve gender-parity in primary education. Achieving this milestone is a result of effective public policy, resource allocation and strong commitment from public and non-government sectors.

Yet, education has not been the ‘magic bullet’ we have long depended on to create a level playing field for women in the developing world.  As we see in the case of Bangladesh, social stigmas, gender-based violence and institutional barriers to entering higher education institutions and labour market constraints are holding women back from continuing with their education.

Through our various programmatic interventions as well as established literature, we hear accounts of “just enough” education for girls needed for the marriage market. Girls can be pulled out of school by secondary education for the fear of being “too educated” for prospective grooms (Amin and Huq, 2008). Sexual harassments of girl children on their way to school or at school are serious barriers to access to education.  In recent times, the alarming number of suicides committed by young girls shook the nation, questioning the safety and security of girls attending school and colleges.

Once in school, girl children are seen to miss out on school days because of lack of adequate toilet facilities. Very few activities are available to girl children in schools. Several NGOs are setting up youth clubs, creating spaces for especially for adolescent girls to take part in extra-curricular activities but these are located in specific target areas and not available to the full youth population of Bangladesh. In general, while government and other stakeholders have done an excellent job in getting girls to go to school, we have not created women/girl friendly schools and communities that would encourage and retain girls in school.

With the sharp decline in girls in secondary and tertiary education, we see a significant gap in the work force when comparing men and women and their employment opportunities and patterns.  While the country is heavily dependent on women’s participation in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector and majority of the micro-financing is going to women, the range of occupations available to women remains limited and gender stereotyped. The majority of urban poor women are engaged in the informal sector without basic healthcare or even earning minimum wage.  Rural women continue to support their families in agro-and/or non-agro productions that are usually deemed “fitting” by their spouses and families.  The next set of international goals therefore, would need to take into account of the non-economic factors that determine girl children’s access to education and women’s (limited) choices in the workforce.

Saving every mother
The number of trained birth attendees and access to health facilities has increased significantly in Bangladesh with major reductions in maternal mortality. But we know that much of this achievement is because of non-medical interventions such as programmes of awareness for adolescent and women’s health at the grassroots. Access to better food and nutrients have also contributed to the decrease in maternal and infant mortality.

But a vast majority of mothers in Bangladesh are in fact below 18 years of age.  Early marriage is intricately connected to issues of safety and security for women and is still widely practised in Bangladesh both in urban and rural areas.  Strict laws forbid daughters to be married before the age of 18 but in the absence of birth certificates, girls are married off as early as 14-15 and become first-time mothers by the time they are 16-17.  Many young women understand their bodies and ailments for the first time through their pregnancies.  There is very little space for women to share their health concerns with either doctors or within their families which results in further complications.  There is a social issue of ‘modesty’ on the part of Bangladeshi women to talk to doctors, especially male physicians.  There is a serious demand for female doctors especially in the rural areas where women have little to no access to healthcare.

MDG 5 — Improved Maternal Health — does take into consideration the non-medical factors that determine the accessibility of healthcare for women in the developing world but it falls short by acting as a proxy for women’s access to healthcare in general.  Not all medical problems that women face are gynecological in nature.  Lower calorie and nutrient intakes of girl children and women due to certain household norms and practices lead to various health concerns that may or may not be related to maternal health.  Healthcare and services for women therefore must be looked at from a broader spectrum in the coming years, where women are given the space to freely share their health concerns and receive the proper care.  While restricting any discussion on women’s health to maternal health was important for a certain goal, in the post-MDG era, we must be able to address health care for women in a more comprehensive, well-being approach.

Women’s rights are human rights
As mentioned earlier, women’s participation in local level elections was perhaps one of the greatest milestones for Bangladesh.  We find a new generation of women elected officials who are now respected and seen as figures of authority in their local areas. Experiences of various programmes and projects show that level of corruption is generally lower in areas that have female local representatives.  Many of the grassroots challenges that women and children face are coming up in national conversations and policymaking process because of female representatives at the Union and Upazila levels.

In the last general election, out of the 69 female members of parliament (MPs), 50 were appointed through reserved seats and 19 directly elected, including the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition.  While it is imperative to ensure reserved seats for women in the national parliament, female MPs have voiced their concerns on the lack of election financing and overall party support.9 We find similar stories of work place discrimination from female officers, holding various posts in the government.  The rising number of female officers in the public sector is highly encouraging but lack of institutional support for their career development leads to demotivation, early retirement and delayed appointments to decision-making positions.

It is a general misconception that with the rise of women’s representation in public offices, there will be women’s empowerment for both the female representatives/officers and citizens.  There is a clear need for more women in public offices but without orientation on gender parity and the roles and responsibilities of each and every representative and officers at both local and national levels, women’s empowerment will be difficult to achieve and sustain in the long run.

On the flip side, while it is imperative for female (and male) representatives to know their roles and responsibilities as public figures, it is equally important for women in Bangladesh to be well versed in their rights as citizens to demand legitimate services from their political representatives.  Bangladeshi women are avid participants at national voting but often shy away from engaging in public and political debates, allowing their husbands to represent their concerns.  In this way, women remain separated from the public dialogues and the policymaking process, resulting in gender blind national laws and policies, and in many instances, is discriminatory against women.

In short, women’s political participation is at the crux of their rights as citizens and must be encouraged in the larger governance process of the country.

Beyond MDGs
Gender equality is a fundamental human right. It is also the most practical and effective means to move the country forward, towards middle income status, towards inclusive and sustainable development. There is much for the world to learn from the experiences of Bangladesh.  The visible changes in women’s political and economic participation throughout the country are proof of government commitment and to people’s aspiration to a more equitable society.  The grassroots efforts have enriched not only the local development agenda, but contribute to cultural achievements as well. At the crossroads of a new global approach to development, we have the opportunity to engender the goals we set, the targets we want to achieve, the changes we want to experience for a more equitable and equal world. I am looking forward to hearing a strong Bangladeshi voice on these issues, in the global debate to define the post 2015 world we all aspire to.

***

1.Equitable growth that takes into account of inclusiveness, is a concept that encompasses equity, equality of opportunity, and protection in market and employment transitions (Growth Report, Commission on Growth and Development, 2008)
2.This article draws from paper presented by Kwak, S. and Siddiqui, S.Beyond 2015: MDGs, Gender and Education in Bangladesh, International Conference on Gender Equity in Education: Challenging Issues and New Vision, Seoul University, June 2012
3.Strong formal structures do not necessarily mean strong government – Bangladesh has strong institutions but weak government system
4.Bangladesh became a signatory to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984.
5.Chitrakar, R., Overcoming Barriers to Girls’ Education in South Asia: Deepening the Analysis, UNICEF 2009
6.http://home.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/liaison_offices/wfp190321.pdf (30 May, 2012)
7.MDG Progress Report, 2011
8.Explanatory Note on 2011 HDR Composite Indices: Human Development Report 2011 – Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future For All – Country: Bangladesh.

http://hdrstats.undp.org/images/explanations/BGD.pdf

9.The Role of Female Members of Parliament in Ensure Good Governance, Key Note Paper, Transparency International Bangladesh, March 2009

Neal Walker is United Nations Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh.

Last Modified: 602 days ago

Najma:The Woman who faught Back

Often self-inflicted wounds are the toughest to recover from. This is the story of one courageous woman who suffered in silence, fell to the depths and turned her life around.

Najma gasped for air, desperately fighting against the crushing weight of the pillow pressed down by someone who she had dedicated her life to: her husband.

No one heard the muffled cries for help, her hands and legs which had been kicking frantically, stopped struggling after a while.

Najma’s husband, Zahid, released his weight from the pillow and checked his wife’s wrist for a pulse, satisfied, he left the room.

But he had left too soon and perhaps, also, underestimated his wife’s will to survive.

Najma regained her consciousness, dazed but fully aware that she had survived another murder attempt. This wasn’t the first time he had attempted to kill her. Just days before this incident, Zahid had poisoned her food.

It wasn’t until she had vomited several times and was taken to a nearby hospital by a neighbour, that she realised what had happened. As doctors pumped her system clean and gave her the details of the contaminant, she lay on the hospital bed contemplating how to escape the endless torture.

“Because of the poison my chin dropped completely and it took months for me to recover,” said 43-year-old Najma while pointing to her face in an old picture.

She had started seeking counseling, and even taken a neighbour in confidence. But there was no clear way out of her misery. Although laws exist, victims of domestic violence rarely get legal protection in Pakistan. Some of the victims do not approach the authorities because of societal taboos attached with such issues.

Najma shows a picture of herself before her burns. -Photo by Muhammad Umar

“My husband said he could not believe how I managed to stay alive even after these attempts. Then, he tried to psychologically push me to the extent that I would take my own life.”

Najma was married to her cousin Zahid Iqbal at the age of 12 after her father's death. In the first few months with her husband, she realised that Zahid was unwilling to support her, both financially and emotionally. She became wary of the little care and love her husband showed her and went into depression. In the absence of an emotional and moral support, Najma sought comfort in her younger sister.

"We were eight siblings and I was closest to the younger one, our bond grew even stronger after my father's death so much so that after my marriage, I took her in with me.”

Her sister was there to fill the emotional gap, but the question about how the house would run without any finances was left unanswered. Zahid started forcing her to look for work, beating her when she returned empty-handed.

Najma ventured out in the streets of Kharadar looking for any kind of work that would make her a few rupees. After weeks of toil, she found a wholesaler in Lee market who gave her the task of making tassels.

"I earned Rs 15 for making a dozen tassels. I was desperate for work so I was ready to do anything," she recalls.

In this time period, Najma gave birth to seven children; two of whom died due to malnutrition and one because of cancer. With the deaths of her children, Najma clung on to her work, toiling day and night to make enough money to feed her children.

But in the midst of fulfilling her roles as a mother, wife, and the family's sole breadwinner, Najma did not suspect what was happening in her own household until one day she was locked up in her room by her husband.

This was the day she had decided to tell him she was expecting their eighth child.

“My husband locked me up in the bedroom with my children. He and my sister, Musarrat, were both together outside the whole night,” she said recounting the day she finally realised her husband and sister's true intentions .

“The next day Zahid said he was going to marry my sister too. My baby sister whom I had loved dearly. He wanted to keep us both in the same house.”

What followed was a series of heated arguments, often ending with Najma bruised and beaten. The news of the possible marriage quickly spread through the Lyari neighbourhood. A few concerned neighbours tried in vain to intervene in the matter.

“The elders in the neighbours approached Zahid and told him it was not possible to marry both sisters, even Islam does not permit it. But he denied everything to them, saying he considered Musarrat to his own sister,” said Najma, recalling how things went from bad to worse.

“When I realised what he wanted, I decided to send my sister back to my mother’s place but he was enraged. He would not let that happen. My mother was alive and yet she didn’t help in any way to save my marriage. It was as if everyone had plotted against me.”

Zahid knew he couldn’t marry Mussarat while Najma was still alive; he sought murder as the only option. The two murder attempts soon followed, yet Najma survived and lived on for the sake of her children.

She didn’t think of separation as an option, with the fear of living with the stigma of divorce for the rest of her life and having nowhere else to go.

Tempers had risen, frustration and helplessness was evident in all members of the household and then came the breaking point.

Najma shows her burns. -Photo by Muhammad Umar

Falling down

Najma’s body was bruised from the endless beating. When the screams for help faded, a newborn baby’s cries issued from the bedroom, but Najma was oblivious to it. A six-year-old boy sat huddled with his three siblings in the corner, staring at their mother, speechless and transfixed as she doused herself in kerosene oil. A matchstick burned, the oil bottle crashed on the floor as a fresh wave of screams pierced the night.

What should have been a happy occasion turned into a living nightmare.

“When Zahid heard about our eighth child, he came home furious. He lashed at me; I thought he was going to beat me to death. After he left I thought this was it. I did not want to live anymore.”

She set herself on fire.

The neighbours came to her rescue as her screams erupted and took her to the hospital.

But it was hardly the treatment that her severely-burned body required.

Even days after she returned from the hospital, she was subjected to more torture at the hands of Zahid.

“I was bandaged from head-to-toe. But even then, he pounded me till my bandages were ripped apart. He told everyone that I had a questionable character and that the child wasn’t his.”

The newborn died when Najma couldn’t feed him because of her deteriorating health.

“Six days after my son’s death, he divorced me and threw me out of the house.”

Fighting back

It came as no surprise to Najma that no one was ready to give her shelter or the custody for her children. Two of her children were sent to Lahore to their paternal aunt’s place, and the other two were taken by Zahid to Hyderabad. Their house was sold.

With no roof over her head and no money, Najma resolved to banish her haunting past and get her children back.

“I knew I had made mistakes in my life by not standing up, by continuing to live with my husband for 11 years and for trying to kill myself, but I also knew I had to fix my life. God wanted me to live.”

Najma continued to make tassels, the raw material were her only luggage.

Najma shows the different steps required to make a tassel. -Photo by Muhammad Umar

She would sit on the corner of the road for hours a day, intertwining strings around electricity poles till a tassel was formed. With the little money she saved, she would spend it in buying sweets in bulk and selling them door-to-door on minimum profit.

“I made tassels during the day and at night I would knock on doors to sell sweets. Many refused to even open the door because of my visible burns. I even worked as a maid for a while; I did everything I could so I had enough to travel to Lahore to take my children back.”

She would sleep under the open sky at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine, or under fruit carts at night.

But Najma had not fully recovered from the burns and bruises. Strangers came to her aid more than her blood relatives ever had.

“There came a time when my body was covered with insects. I had worked too hard and my burns had not healed. A man at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine saw my condition and financed my entire surgery at Aga Khan Hospital.”

Her survival was on zakat and free food at the tomb, saving up every penny to take a bus to Lahore.

"She has to be one of the bravest women I know. For a woman to go through so much, in our kind of society where men are apparently always right, this is indeed something to be proud of. After suffering so much physical and mental trauma, I don't think even men would have recovered. She even gave her children an education," Abdul Malik, Najma's neighbour says.

Family reunited

It took Najma two and half years to earn enough money to travel to Lahore and get her children.

“I saw ami walking in the lane where we were playing and could not believe my eyes. I told my brother and we ran towards her,” said Hina, Najma’s only daughter.

It was soon evident to the mother that her children had not been treated well.

“My son’s arm was burned and my daughter face was covered in lice,” Najma recalls with contempt.

The children along with their mother went back to Karachi and took a house on rent in Lyari.

“The landlord was unwilling to give the house because I was alone and without male supervision. I promised him I would pay the rent on time, even if it meant starving myself.”

Najma often only had a day’s meal but her life was slowly getting back on track. She enrolled her children in school. An unexpected visitor also came soon afterwards. Her son, Rizwan, who had been taken by his father to Hyderabad, ran away and came to Karachi looking for his mother.

Zahid had remarried in Hyderabad to a woman who later divorced him and he now lives alone.

Najma, on the other hand, got her daughter married to a young worker, who she had met in Lighthouse market. She is now living with her children, their spouses and grandchildren in Sultanabad, away from the memories of Lyari.

Najma with her grandson. -Photo by Muhammad Umar

Her ailing health continues to trouble her, along with limited income to educate her children and grandchildren.

As a result of her own misfortunes, Najma has taken it upon herself to instill a sense of independence in the women in her neighbourhood. She generously trains and equips other women with the skill of tassel-making.

“I have started to make small colourful balls that are put on clothes on Rs 5 for 100 along with the tassels. I will continue to work till I can,” Najma says.

As a group of women gather around to hear her story of resilience, it becomes apparent that Najma's destiny was to survive and inspire others.Source:Dawn