By Ishtiaq Ahmed

Date:10-10-06

Source: Daily Times

As someone who hails from a rural area herself, does not pretend to be of elite background but is an academic, Dr Tahmina Rashid enjoys the advantage of being both an insider and an outsider

Dr Tahmina Rashid’s work, Contested Representation: Punjabi Women in Feminist Debate in Pakistan, is an outstanding contribution to the literature on rural women in Pakistani Punjab. She critically reviews secular and “Islamist” feminist perspectives on postcolonial societies, and argues that they do not focus on the relatively more vulnerable situation of rural lower and lower middle class women, the majority of the female population of Pakistan. Her book seeks to shed light on the situation of such women in Pakistani Punjab.

The study is based on extensive source material, which she collected from various government ministries and departments, women-related NGOs as well as private libraries of women rights activists. To all such material she has added deep interviews with women in the rural areas during her fieldwork. Such an undertaking must come from the innermost depths of the human conscience and indeed that is very much apparent to the reader.

The crux of her argument is that the situation of Pakistani women is best understood in the contest of the tribal and clannish/biradari (kinship lineage) structure deriving from the Islamic heritage with its origins in seventh century Arabia. She believes that while the Indian and Pakistani Punjabs share many historical and cultural features, the two are also basically quite different in so far as caste permeates the social structure of the Indian Punjab whereas in Pakistan, instead of caste, we should look for the role of the tribe and clan/biradari.

There is an excellent summary of the evolution (or rather regression of women’s rights) within the constitutional and legal systems of Pakistan. Not surprisingly the period of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (1977-88) is identified as the most hostile to the freedom, equality and status of women. Draconian laws such as Hudood, Law of Evidence etc were introduced during that period. Subsequent governments have so far done nothing to repeal them or run into political trouble trying to do so. She also presents an account of some of the progressive inputs from the state to ameliorate the sad plight of women, but argues that improving the situation of women has never been a priority of any government in Pakistan.

In her definition and categorisation of lower and lower middle class women, the author relies on economic indicators such as household income, education, health, work (paid and unpaid). She does not clearly draw a line between what is lower and what is lower middle class, but the main factor is that whereas lower class women are often illiterate, lower middle class women do attend school and are better aware of the world around them; they also realise that as Muslims they do have some rights. But they all tend to suffer systematic and systemic violence and harassment and are aware of their lower status in relation to men.

It is rather surprising that she does not dwell upon the peculiarities of the tribal-clannish/biradari structure of the Punjab. Although not identical to the Hindu caste system, it does represent strict social stratification and those at the bottom are referred to in contemptuous terms. She does highlight the pernicious role of some customs such as the burden of dowry and the evil practice of child marriage, both of which work to the disadvantage of poor women in general and rural lower and lower middle class women in particular.

In any event, Tahmina Rashid prefers to rely strictly on economic and educational criteria and that is a fairly reasonable research strategy. We learn that such women had some idea of women activism and women-based social movements, but most of them felt that such developments have not done much to improve their circumstances. While some felt that upper middle class women who appear on TV and sometimes visited the villages could never really understand the sad plight of rural lower and lower class women and were not interested in their situation, others were of the opinion that such women activists were sincere and wanted to help them but they were in no position to alter the patriarchal order that prevails in Pakistan.

Let me quote some of the things rural Punjabi women have told the author. About unpaid labour an interviewee say:

‘We are four sisters and four brothers. One of my sisters is married to a Tailor, the other three of us work in various houses as housemaids. My mother also works as a housemaid; after every three months we go back home for a couple of days for a vacation. My father does not work and all my brothers go to school, and all women in the family earn, while men get all the money and spend the way they want it and eat for nothing’ (page 232).

About rape an informant at a hospital told the author:

‘In this area rape ... is very common. Most of the rape cases go unregistered, but still 6 to 7 cases come to this hospital every month. Rape victims are not legally allowed to abort, so they have to look for other avenues for abortion, usually a mid-wife or a quack...Most unregistered cases when brought to the hospital have to be registered and the doctor has to give a medico-legal report to the police. Once the police is involved, it has its own implications, so people try not to register any case’ (page 247).

There are interviews on harassment, family matters, religion and social status. They make very interesting reading and help the reader understand the vulnerable position of lower and lower middle class women. However, the author has very wisely avoided presenting only extreme or sensational cases. This should be considered a strength of the research since the book tries to portray the lives of women in more or less normal circumstances.

In the conclusion she observes:

‘I conclude that in the absence of any linkages and convergence between various players and lower/lower class women, the gender development activities of the State and non-State actors as well as international donors and development agencies will not succeed in bringing about any substantial improvement in the condition and status of Pakistani women’ (page 272).

As someone who hails from a rural area herself, does not pretend to be of elite background but is an academic, Dr Tahmina Rashid enjoys the advantage of being both an insider and an outsider. She describes her own role in writing the book as that of knowledge-creation. It is a modest but very true claim indeed.

The writer is an associate professor of political science at Stockholm University. He is the author of two books. His email address is Ishtiaq.Ahmed@statsvet.su.se