Table Of ContentW O M
Women of Pakistan
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Women of Pakistan
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?
Khawar Mumtaz and Farida Shaheed (eds.)
ERRATUM
The Publishers regret that on the
cover and title page of Women of
Pakistan Khawar Mumtaz and
Fari:: :3f!:1 n~i~r;:CUtf~o~~-pear
Zed Books Ltd
London and New Jersey
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Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back was
first published by Zed Books Ltd., 57 Caledonian Road,
London NI 9BU, United Kingdom and 171 First Avenue,
Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 07716, USA.
Copyright© Khawar Mumtaz and Farida Shaheed, 1987
Typeset by GCS, Leighton Buzzard
Cover design by Lee Robinson
Printed and bound at The Bath Press, Avon
All rights reserved
Brltilh Ubnry Cataloplna Ill PubUcatloa Data
Mumtaz, Khawar
Women of Pakislan:
Two steps forward, one step back?
I. Feminism-Pakistan-History
-20th century
I. Tille II. Shaheed. Farida
305.4'2'095491 HQ1745.5
ISBN ~232-280-4
ISBN 0-86232-281-2 Pbk
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Contents
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Preface
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Gloaary
X
Introduction 1
1. The Evolution of Islam in Politics 4
The Pakistan Movement (1940-47) 6
Post-Independence Developments 7
2. Pakistani Women in Profile 21
Women's Roles: Myths and Reality 23
Purdah, Power and Control 29
3. 1896-1947: A Period of Awakening 35
The Impact of Colonization 36
Education and the Women's Reform Movement 37
Women's Rights 41
Women in Politics 42
Women in the Pakistan Movement 44
4. Women's Rights and Organizations 50
The Early Years: 1947-58 50
Ayub Khan's Period (1958-69) 57
The Bhutto Era 1970-77 62
S. Zia and the Creation of WAF 71
6. The Veiling and Seclusion of Women 77
Islamic Dress 77
Obscenity 81
Dr lsrar and Women's Status 83
Segregating Women 86
7. Legally Reducing Women's Status 99
Hudood Ordinance 1979 100
The Law of Evidence 106
The Law of Qisas and Diyat 110
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Qazi Courts 114
The Crimes Ordinance 115
Ansari Commission's Report 117
8. WA F: Its Growth and Impact 123
The Beginning 124
Political or Non-Political 127
Islam and WAF 130
Outreach and Impact 133
Impact 137
9. Questions for the Future 143
Organization: Ideals and Imperatives 143
Towards a Theoretical Framework 149
Appendix I: Selection of Legislation 163
Appendix 2: Offence of Zina (Hudood) Ordinance, 1979 173
Appendix 3: Table of Institutions 179
Appendix 4: Charter of Women's Action Forum, Pakistan 183
Appendix 5: Female Agricultural Workers 190
•
Bibliography 191
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Preface
When, only months after the formation of Women's Action Forum, Zed Books
asked us to write a book on the 'embryonic women's movement' in Pakistan, our
responses were not exactly enthusiastic. At that time very little had happened to
merit recording or require understanding; what was just beginning to crystalize was
so fragile, yet carried so many of our hopes, that we dared not even breathe on it too
hard for fear it would disappear, much less itemize it for print. It was almost a year
later, having experienced a few ja/sas, a national convention and later a
demonstration (to which women responded enthusiastically and in relative
numbers) that we felt something was, indeed, happening on the women's front that
needed examining, interpreting and recording. Even then there was no way to
produce the quick, shon book anticipated by Zed.
We were neither journalists content to present a bird's eye view, nor academics
distanced from the events and concerned to examine a theoretical issue, but an
integral pan of the events we wanted to record. Juggling our lives between W AF
activities, professional work and family left little spare time in which to reflect and
note. In the initial years so much ofe achday(too much as those close to us were apt
to say) was consumed by the current issue, the immediate campaign, the latest
emergency, that writing could be done only intermittently over a period that
stretched into years. Long hours were spent debating the type of book that, in the
light of our own immediate experience, was needed-a discussion shaped by the
questions and concerns raised in and about W AF, as well as those relating to Islam
as a culture, a religion and as a political force. The case with which women's rights
were rescinded and subsequently the speed with which W AF was formed, acted and
spread, inevitably led to questions regarding the actors involved on either side.
Parallel to this ran the question of whether Islam's relevance to politics in general
and women in particular was only temporary, created by an unelected authoritarian
government seeking legitimacy through religion, or whether there was a deeper
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lSSUe.
Our search for understanding led us to history where, after the 1857 War of
Independence, Islam emerged as an important factor in the political·consciousness
of Muslim Indians. The last decades of the 19th Century also mark an identifiable
beginning to Muslim's women's consciousness. If this seems a remote beginning for
a book on women in Pakistan there is, nevertheless, a continuous process aligning
forces and defining movements that foreshadows the events of today. A number of
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Women in Pakistan
women in today's movement are third or fourth generation members of families
which have been active on the women's front since the turn of the century, and the
political parties advocating an inferior position for women from within Islam were
formed before independence. The accusations levelled at W AF ( of being un-Islamic
and Westernized) are only the latest manifestation of an old tussle between
conservative religious groups and those women - and men - who demanded greater
rights for women, usually in the context of a wider political struggle. We felt it
necessary, therefore, to include a chapter on the evolution of Islam in
politics- starting with 1857 but emphasizing post-independence developments
that places today's events in an historical perspective.
As, from scattered facts and footnotes, we pieced together the history of women's
struggles for their rights and their involvement in politics we realized that no record
of this exists. Because as a nation we tend to view ourselves ahistorically, we felt that
it was important for women active or interested in the women's movement in
Pakistan to be informed about Pakistani women in general, and to be able to see
themselves as part of a continuous process which, however unacknowledged and
unrecorded, is part of our people's history. To provide such a record we have been
meticulous in detailing both WAF activities and all others about which we have
found information. Yet, despite our efforts, this is only a first reconstruction of the
women's struggle and even today we continue to receive information which could
not be incorporated. •
Our priority being to inform and to record the events which, from today's
perspective, appear important, we have been able to raise only some of the issues
confronting the movement in Pakistan. We hope, however, that this first effort will
encourage other Pakistani women to explore further and add to the questions
raised, to agree with or refute the ideas presented, but most importantly to write on
the women's issue in Pakistan so that a deeper understanding can be evolved.
We would like to thank all those who made this book possible: those who have
participated in the struggle for women's rights whether in a public or personal
capacity; W AF and other activists throughout the country, and our sympathizers;
and the 30 or so women who, responding to the initial call in Karachi, made W AF
possible. But we would like to acknowledge especially the original Working
Committee of W AF Lahore- the women with whom, for so many intensive years,
we shared our joys, sorrows, thoughts and trepidations, with whom we quarrelcd
and argued and grew, who individually and as a collective helped in the
understanding of women's issues, resistance and struggle in Pakistan. This does not
mean that W AF members will necessarily endorse the ideas presented here, which
are only the opinions of two of its activists, but one of W AF's strengths has been its
ability to accommodate different viewpoints.
We would also like to thank Robert Molteno of Zed Books, without whose
continuous enthusiastic encouragement this book would neither have been started
nor finished; Abbas Rashid for being a sounding board, devil's advocate and
general help in discussions on Islam, ideology and politics; Shirkat Gah for the use
of its files; all those whom we interviewed inside and outside WAF, particularly
lsmat Iftikharuddin, Dr. Mubashir Hassan and Miriam Habib; and Anna Gourlay,
our editor in Zed, for her work on the manuscript. Lastly, we would like to thank
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Preface
our families who have had to put up with our frequent absences and unavailability
because of this book (in addition to those caused by work and W AF), and have
done so with considerable humour, even the youngest who could never quite
understand what this 'more work, mother' was all about.
Khawar Mumtaz
Farida Shaheed
•
IX
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