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A Time for Redefinitions By Memoona Saqlain “

To witness a crime in silence is to commit it” (Christine Bell). The current situation in Swat is an
outcome of such a ‘silence’ by the women of the area. Sadly they are the ones who have suffered
the most. The already vulnerable women became helpless when they had to live outside the security of
their comfortable homes, give births to babies in camps without proper medical facilities and wait for food
and other necessities by standing in long queues under the scorching sun of the hottest months of
summers. They rightly asked the question, “What we have done that such a punishment befalls us?
” Swati people were very peaceful and quite content amidst the natural luxuries of their environ,
which not only accommodated them but each year hosted a large number of national and international
tourists too. Men, women and children worked together during the tourist season and earned enough to
spend the cold winters comfortably. Swati women, however, unlike those in other parts of Pakistan, had
to live their lives inside the four walls of their houses as the outside society has no role defined for them
yet and all they could do was to create handicrafts. Very few could actually get out to work because the
male dominance is more pronounced in the North Western Frontier province than in other parts of the
country. Their history shows that Swati women, right from the beginning of their lives learnt to subjugate
their wills to those of the male members of the family, be it a father, brother, husband or son. The men
folk restricted them to the boundaries of their houses and thereby took a charge of all the fundamental
issues pertaining to their lives. A woman could not go to a male doctor even if she was dying, a young
woman could not opt for a job other than teaching and in most of the cases even that was not deemed
fit for her and a girl child could not study beyond intermediate or in some cases graduation level.
Interestingly most of these restrictions were enforced upon women in the name of religion. Fazlullah got
hold of the minds and hearts of Swati people by exploiting this particular religious psyche and the status
of women being the objects in the custody of the men folk. His congregations were attended by men and
women alike. According to a resident of Batkhela, women were used to get so sentimental during his
lectures that they freely donated not only their children, money, jewellery and other valuables so that
they can earn themselves a place in heaven though, according to her, most of the times they did not
understand a word of his lecture because of the general tumult in such gatherings where children wale
and cry. However, the women led themselves to believe into his charisma and sometimes simply gave
more in donation to outdo another woman. Fazlullah accumulated a lot of wealth and according to one
source the daily cash collection in his account amounted to more than five million rupees. During this
whole build up period people willingly participated in Fazlullah’s activities and strengthened him by
following his teachings and even preaching to the doubters. Children were given into his religious
institutions mostly with religious fervour that also ensured an ease in the financial burden of the family.
Fazlullah had a free hand to mould the young minds into becoming the Taliban who later did not hesitate
to butcher their own kin in the name of Islam. The life for women became even tougher when their basic
human rights were violated by putting an end to their already small participation in the society outside
their homes. Fazlullah had live calls with people through his famous FM channel and congratulated those
men who stopped their girls/women from going to schools or work. If the whole situation is analysed in
the broader perspective then it becomes clear that women have suffered the most because they have not
raised their voice to the injustice that was being practiced against them. Why they silently accepted the
cleric’s reassurances of heaven by giving away their children in the name of Islam? Why they never
thought for a moment that the children they were sending away had a right to their love and protection?
They were alarmed only when their own children, now Taliban, forced them to unnatural human limits,
asked them not to shave their beards and flogged them for petty issues, set fires to girl schools and
markets. The monster kept on growing because it had found its roots in every house of Swat and if one
member of the family condemned Fazlullah Taliban another supported them. This conflict within the
houses spread into the society and things worsened so far that the government had to intervene through
military to finally put an end to this menace, which has not come to an end so far and the operation is
still going on. The most alarming thing is there are still people who ardently support Fazlullah’s
policies and they are present inside the houses, families and the community. Military operation alone
cannot undo the damage and bring Taliban to Rahe- Rast, the right track. The women have to reclaim
the territories of their houses to oust the Taliban from within. According to Sitara Bibi, a NWFP provincial
minister, they have planned for psycho-social therapy for the women for their rehabilitation in their
devastated houses. It is an opportunity for them to rebuild their houses on newer foundations as active
individuals because their previous submissiveness has given them pain and sufferance. The new house
has to serve as the ‘base’ upon which the whole ‘superstructure’ of the future society will
build. Earlier they had never thought of their households in these terms because the society did not let
them grow beyond their role as procreators, therefore, they never considered the possibility of turning
their houses into an institution for teaching the notion of respecting another’s fundamental rights of
life. Now as mothers they have to address these by teaching their sons to respect their rights of
education, health and work. They have to impress upon their husbands the need to plan their family
according to their means so that no one should ever take away their children. They have to prove it to
themselves and the whole world that they are more than silent objects and their souls can “cry out
… for justice”(Christine Bell).
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Time for Redefinitions
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Article focusing on the new role definitions for women in Swat