Archive for the ‘Political Empowerment’ Category

International Women’s Day 2009: celebrated in style and grandeur with an impressive panelist of 12 leading women from all walks of life. A special heartfelt prayer for all our sisters in F.A.T.A: the fate of whom are in the hands of misguided miscreants. Answers to questions such as, who is a woman of substance and what should be the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day etc. are sought by an enlightened audience of young women. 

Let us all come together on one platform and strive to become compassionate and strong women, who can not only hold their own but can in fact contribute towards ensuring a healthy, balanced and peaceful society. 

On-Air: Wednesday, January 28 {7PM, 3AM, 12PM (PST)}

Women’s representation in the political landscape of Pakistan has been a subject of much debate. Today when women are seen more than ever in Pakistan’s political arena, one strives to understand what role they play in overcoming the crisis faced by the nation - are they mere spectators in their parties and assemblies or vocal participants in designing and shaping the policies and administration of the country? Today not only are we confronted with unsettling political instability, escalating extremism and terrorism, economic meltdown but also extremely fragile foreign relations. I invited Pakistan’s leading female parliamentarians, each representing her party: Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami National Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), and Jamat-e-Islami.

The 5 ladies were asked what role they played in rising above party politics and proposing solutions to overcome national issues. Representatives from the opposition were critical in the debate for they should ideally be offering an alternate government but are they busy doing that or burning the midnight oil in destabilizing the current government? The women were asked if they were recommending developmental packages to be introduced in Swat and FATA, to overcome the psychological damage, post traumatic stress disorders, premature births, and emotional complications in the local residents of these areas. Also, whether they had looked into the contents of the Shariah Regulation proposed to the central government to check if there were any clauses which exploited women’s rights or violated basic human rights. Where men might lose focus in the power struggle amidst the quickly dissolving coalition government are women brining the desperately needed sensitivity and direction to the table?

It was disheartening to see the female parliamentarians being unable to detach themselves from their respective party mandates and politics. It seemed they were unable to speak in the capacity of being a woman with the opportunities and power to bring change in a country riddled with innumerable problems.

All this and more in a heated debate where one out of five female parliamentarians was honest and candid enough to admit that maybe she wasn’t doing all that she could be…

On-Air: Monday, November 10^th 2008

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, women representation in the parliament increased in 2002 General Election, surpassing the world average of around 15%. The debate over this increased representation in the form of a fixed number of seats for the women, has initiated many a debate over the pros and cons of the quota system. What does the figure 33.3% signify? Does it truly empower women? Strictly in context of the socio-political dynamics of the province of Balochistan, are the women mere puppets at the mercy and dictation of their male counterparts - most of whom are their politically influential husbands and relatives? Do they have the political will, the know-how, the power, a clear ideology?  Critics highlight the transfer of development funds and bulldozer hours by these women parliamentarians as a proof of the lack thereof - when technically speaking a woman parliamentarian’s constituency should be the entire province.

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