Being born female carries a distinct birth-handicap in any patriarchal society. More so in societies anchored in centuries-old traditions of male domination backed up by religious edicts or ethos.
Pakistan is a prime example of such a male-dominated society where a female’s birth disadvantage manifests itself in myriad social and cultural practices. This is despite the fact that Pakistan has a unique feather in its cap: it was the first Muslim country to have a female PM. The erudite and eloquent Benazir Bhutto distinguished herself in more ways than one to do full justice to her gender.
But Benazir’s feminist activism is still dismissed by the denizens of traditional male domination in society as a mere aberration. The undisguised hostility of the old guard to Benazir—both as a feminist and as a political leader—remains unabated even after her tragic death.
The bottom line is that being a feminist activist comes with a hefty price tag in Pakistan. The most notable example of it is Malala Yousafzai, the intrepid girl from the picturesque valley of Swat, who has become an international celebrity in her own right since winning the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2014—when she was still a teenager. Today, at 22, she remains the world’s youngest Nobel laureate.
Malala, as she’s affectionately known to her world-wide fan club, shot to fame in 2012 when, as a 15- year-old school girl, she was brutally attacked by the Taliban and nearly died of her wounds. Rushed to the UK for emergency medical aid, she survived to tell the world her story. Her sin, in the eyes of the marauding Taliban, was that she advocated schooling and education for her gender in Pakistan’s tribal culture long marooned in a centuries-old time warp.
To those in the world advocating full emancipation for women and equal rights with men, Malala is an inspiring symbol of female grit and determination to not let their species be cheated out of their God-given rights.
However, there are still legions of her detractors and critics in Pakistan—both men and women—who fault her for exaggerating social inequalities and selling her soul to the ‘enemies’ of Pakistan. They include some pompous intellectuals who critique her for having become a pawn and poster-child to the west for personal gains and propaganda. Even her Nobel has been decried as a ‘reward’ for her servitude to the ‘agenda’ of Pakistan’s ‘enemies.’
Recently another young female activist, from the province of KPK—neighbour to Malala’s native Swat—has shot to prominence and burst on the international stage. The 33-year-old Gulalai Ismail—a prominent female activist promoting Pashtun rights—suddenly surfaced in New York last week, after her mysterious disappearance from Pakistan last May. The New York Times reported she was seeking political asylum in the US because her life could be in danger in Pakistan.
Whereas Malala had crossed paths with the hated Taliban, Gulalai’s nemesis is Pakistan’s security establishment—the so-called and arcane ‘deep state’ within the state—that accuses her of working for the ‘enemies’ of Pakistan. The charge sheet against her argues that she is actively associated with those sworn to breaking Pakistan’s unity and promoting secessionist activities among ‘misguided’ youths.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz (protection) Movement burst on Pakistan’s political horizon some years ago as an advocacy group of Pashtun youths; their manifesto argues that Pashtuns have been short-changed in Pakistan and demands restoration of their usurped rights. Gulalai, specifically, came into the limelight because human rights advocacy is still a rare phenomenon in association to women. Being a female activist still carries a stigma at the social level; a female activist runs the risk of becoming a bete noire with no recompense.
In November last year, the security establishment put Gulalai’s name on the country’s Exit Control List (ECL) to ensure that she wouldn’t flee to sanctuary abroad. She petitioned to courts against her ban and won. The Islamabad High Court ordered her removal from ECL. However, the court, feigning even-handedness, allowed the Interior Ministry to confiscate her passport.
Gulalai disappeared from the radar and became a known fugitive. The security hounds sniffed every nook and cranny in search of her but she eluded them, until she became prominent news after months of hibernation. She has refused to divulge any details of how she dodged those in hot pursuit of her, except saying that she didn’t fly out of Pakistan.
Gulalai’s dramatic resurfacing from the shadows after months on the run should be a cause of deep concern and embarrassment to her pursuers. Her triumphant reappearance in New York has all the elements of a major scandal in the making for Pakistan at a time when its plate is full on the foreign relations’ front.
It’s one scandal Imran Khan would desperately want to wish away. He has descended on the UN HQ on his much-ballyhooed ‘Mission Kashmir.’ Any adverse publicity from a Gulalai scandal could steal a lot of air, if not all the air, from his sails.
Karamatullah K Ghori
Former Pakistani diplomat
Email: K_K_ghori@hotmail.com