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?
