Taliban & Women of Tribal Areas

Taliban & Women of Tribal Areas

Now a days Pakistan is preparing to define the parameters of talks with the Taliban, but here some questions and concert are missing about Tribal Area’s women. The specifically the question of women in the FATA has so far been omitted from the discourse in the mainstream of Pakistani media. During the past tenure FATA has largely been limited to drone attacks martyrs versus non-martyrs, the US led war or our own war military operations and the subsequent displacement of large number of internationally displaced persons. The human side of this war especially its gender effects is rarely discussed in Pakistani media. The miseries of women in FATA because of mass migration internal displacement, rape abuse and killings in this war have received little attention our sympathy. No help is available for women widowed or sexually abused, and their children semi-orphaned during this war.

Women and the children in camps and different villages are traumatized but because of conservative cultural norms and traditions, they cannot seek help or counseling. Women are less likely to share their burdens however and have learnt to dull their feelings and remain silent.

the Taliban’s foremost ideological agenda seemed to be annihilation of educational institutions by the Taliban were coupled with girls being banned from attending schools. There are news reports that the remaining schools were taken over by the army as base camps. According to a FATA official nearly 500 schools were bombed in recent years. With less than three percent literacy rate among FATA women the destruction of infrastructure and forcefully stopping girls from going to school has further affected the lives of women in one of the poorest region in the world.

The education sector suffers from bombing of schools by the Taliban, the health sector has also had a major setback in the targeting of polio workers in the region of Pakistan. The already non-existent health infrastructure in Federal Tribal Areas has 50 hospitals of its estimated seven million population. There is one bed for every 2500 people as compared to 1500 in the rest of Pakistan. For a population of 1890 only one doctor is available and a mere 45 percent of people have access to safe drinking water. The Taliban banned women and children cannot visit health clinics, thus affecting their health and wellbeing. During Taliban sharia rule in Afghanistan, many women died of minor ailments because of their restricted mobility and the added restriction that women could only by treated by female doctors. The Taliban control in FATA has created a system that runs parallel to the one already operating albeit dysfunctionally, making it more oppressive and further subjugating women in the region. The recent development of talks with the Taliban and the subsequent demand of Taliban imposed sharia ignored the question of women. In fact they ignore the lives of people in FATA. Does this means that the impending imposition of officials sharia will replace the old system operating in FATA. Will imposition of sharia with state blessing acknowledge the basic rights of women/ will women’s right to education, health care and free movement are ensued?

All these basic concerns of the women  in FATA who are already burq-clad, have restricted mobility and are suppressed in the name of patriarchy should be addressed if we want to talk about durable solutions in the region. Women become the worst victims of war and the biggest stakeholders of peace. How does our country expect a return to peace when women, who are already a part of the marginalized system, will be further persecuted with state blessings rule and their treatment of women are visible next door to us. Ignoring the question of women and their stake in the possible imposition of the Taliban version of sharia in FATA in our dialogue with the Taliban  rule and their treatment of women are visible next door to  us. Ignoring the question of women and their stake in the possible imposition of the Taliban version of sharia in FATA in our dialogue with that Taliban is criminal neglected and one that our liberals are quit about since achieving peace is a desperate priority for the state. Recently the senate passes a resolution asking the government to protect the rights of women and minorities in the peace talks but how is that resolution extendible or binding on the government when FATA outside the jurisdiction of parliament?