Women empowerment

    The term Women empowerment refers to a process of social reforms for providing women the right to freely take part in decisions that may affect their lives. The importance of these reforms is highlighted throughout our history but these reformations were limited to worldly debate, secret societies, or activists who tried to raise voice against the repression of women's rights. These institutions achieved some great milestones in propagated and acquiring some rights for women, especially in the last century such as women's right to vote, represent, and preside. However, these struggles haven’t achieved an ideal stature for women's rights, but the progress seems promising. In the present times, it is a common understanding among people all over the world regardless of their nation, sect, or religion that women's rights shall be reserved, while gender equality shall be propagated. However, each region or religion has limitations to freedom that can be given to their community or believers of a certain religion and these limitations are for both men and women. Likewise, the culture and religion of Pakistan are quite contrary to that of the west and so are its limitations. These limitations are guidelines to differentiate the social reforms that are essential for the development of a country from those which pose danger to our national integrity.

    Pakistan has also played a crucial role in empowering its women through massive women's rights campaigns, with help of local activists, and by bringing legal reformations. The revision of the hudood ordinance 1979 in 2006 by the Women’s Protection Bill. According to the Hudood ordinance, a woman alleging rape was required to provide four adult male eyewitnesses. The revision of the ordinance by the women protection bill allowed rape to be prosecutable under civil law.  The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act (2010) was yet another milestone in empowering women. Unquestionably these legal reform shows Pakistan’s willingness to empower women so they can contribute to the growth of the country. Besides these legal reformations, a fixed quota for women is reserved in every government institute, while seats are reserved for women representatives in provincial assemblies, national assembly, and senate. Furthermore, Pakistan’s state religion Islam also entrusts women with great freedom and sheds light on the importance of women in society as said by Muhammad (SAW); It is the female who imbues principles and faith into the souls of the nation. The Islamic perspective on the status of women can be further determined in the following declaration of Allah almighty in the Quran;

“Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you…” (49:13)

At another place in the Quran, God clearly states that all humans are equal:

“To whoever, male or female does good deeds and has faith, We shall give a good life and reward them according to the best of their actions.” (16:97)

    Even though Pakistan's state system and religion promote women's rights and empower them, the situation of women in Pakistan is quite controversial. The women in Pakistan is susceptible to domestic violence, harassment, rape, and other violence. according to a statistical report, 32% of women have been subject to physical violence, whereas only 22% of women contribute to the national economy. These statistics clearly show the failure of the law imposing agencies such as the police to minimize this violence. However, the women's situation in Pakistan can not only be improved by imposing the law. A massive movement of social reforms that educate people on women's rights and women's empowerment is necessary to bring any considerable change in our society. Moreover, the greatest responsibility lies on the shoulder of women themselves. No reform or movement can bring about any change until and unless women themselves take a stand against the wrongs of society. They shall unify and strengthen them in such a way that if the right of single women is violated, every woman of the society shall raise her voice against the violence and shall not stop until justice is provided and violators are punished only then women of our society will be truly empowered.

 Also, check the related article on “Aurat March”.

Talibanization

 Taliban is a Pashto word that means a group of students. while this term is normally referred to different groups of Muslim religious fighters. Whereas, the process involved in the formation of such groups is called Talibanization. The origin of these groups dates back to the soviet-afghan war. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 by the troops from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government with its conflict with anti-communist Muslims. However, the real reason for the Soviet invasion was to gain geopolitical dominance in the cold war. The cold war is considered to be fought from 1947 to 1991 till the dissolution of the Soviet Union, between the Soviet Union and the United States. The term cold war was used because this war didn’t include any direct fight between them, rather they supported major regional conflicts. A thread of these conflicts was the soviet invasion of Afghanistan to which the United States retaliated by formatting and aiding Muslim mujahidin groups and establish Taliban regimes. The Afghan war lasted 14 years from 1978 to 1992 while fleeing from devastating conditions of the war about 2.8 million Afghans sought asylum in Pakistan While 1.5 fled to Iran. These waging wars didn’t only destruct Afghanistan but also led to the formation of different Taliban regimes which were later left rampant, the mistake which the United States and Pakistan realized many years later. Pakistan who once supported these regimes along with the US now faces its worst adversities after Afghanistan.

The tribal areas of Pakistan such as FATA and neighboring undeveloped areas of Pakistan which formed borders with Afghanistan were the haven for the Talibanization. These areas didn’t have a definite form of government, lacked government institutes and educational facilities were limited to madrasas. Deprived of basic education they lacked in a basic school of thoughts, determining right and wrong and the true essence of Islam. These conditions favored the Taliban regime in embedding their school of thought in locals of these tribal areas. Soon these regimes took over madras and deviated these locals from the true essence of Islam by promoting Jihad against their own fellow Muslims, giving fatwas to promote their ideology, and banning everything they considered against Islamic values. The teachings of Islam were molded to support their naive ideologies and then taught to students in madrasas. Soon these regimes strengthened and developed a sizeable military force. However, Taliban regimes in Pakistan were not solely self-established but had considerable support from Afghani Taliban regimes and funded by India. The motive of the Afghani Taliban after the soviet-afghan war can be termed as a deviation from their purpose and greed for power but latter regimes who are supported by adversaries of Pakistan have more dreadful motives such as propaganda against Islam, destabilizing Pakistan, and propagating the image of Pakistan as a terrorist-supporting country.

World opinion largely disapproved of Taliban social policies in Afghanistan. However, the threats imposed by these Taliban regimes to the rest of the world were not completely intercepted until the 9/11 incident. This incident has turmoil effect on the whole world, while deeply affecting the Islamic world by devaluing Islamic image all over the world. The then leader of al-Qaida Usama Bin Laden was accused of different terrorist attacks against American interests. The Taliban’s refusal to extradite bin Laden to the United States following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, prompted a military confrontation with the United States and allied powers. The US started military operations in Afghanistan against Taliban regimes, considering their terrorist activities and threat posed to world peace. However, the terrorist activities didn’t remain constrained in Afghanistan but posed a greater danger to Pakistan. General Pervaiz Musharraf then president of Pakistan realized the nature of the threat imposed by these terrorist regimes to the public and launched military missions in FATA and adjacent areas to relinquish terrorist hold in these areas. These missions were effective in eliminating almost all Taliban regimes, restoring peace in most of the areas. However, Pakistan had to pay an unprecedented price for this peace, costing thousands of lives, economical losses, and most sadly it has cost Pakistan a tremendous number of developmental opportunities

Future of democracy in Pakistan

    Democracy is the right of people to elect representatives to govern them. The term democracy is beautifully elaborated by Pitkin in his saying “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Pakistan also follows a democratic system and is a constitutionally democratic parliamentary republic headed by a president elected indirectly through the senate, national assembly, and provincial assemblies. Pakistan is a federal republic with a bicameral parliament consisting of two houses; the senate and the national assembly. Senate considered the upper house has 104 members which are indirectly elected by the provincial assembly. Senate is made up as follows: 14 open seats, four women’s seats, four seats for non-Muslims and four technocrat seats indirectly elected by each of the provincial assemblies (i.e., 88 seats in total); eight seats directly elected from the federally administered tribal areas; and four seats directly elected from the federal capital, to include one woman and one technocrat. Whereas national assembly is a compromise of 342 seats, 272 of these seats are filled by direct election from single-member constituencies by universal adult suffrage, 60 are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. The prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the national assembly. Pakistan also has four provincial assemblies which are directly elected with 371 members in Punjab, 164 in Sindh, 124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 51 in Baluchistan. In each assembly, 20% of seats are reserved for women and 2-5% for religious minorities. The federally administrated tribal areas are divided into seven agencies adjacent to Afghanistan with unique governance systems.

    A democratic system is a complex system that is dependent on various public institutes and has some key characteristics that play important role in defining its democratic nature, for instance, free fair elections, the role of media, education, the judicial system, freedom of expression and religious freedom and tolerance. Pakistan despite being a constitutionally democratic country doesn’t depict the absolute picture of democracy. The crumbling democratic system isn’t a new story but has deep historical roots and its future also doesn’t seem promising. The free and fair election has always been an issue in Pakistan's electoral system as every election has been termed either rigged by the losing party or accused of military involvement and at some occasion, the democratic system has been overruled by introducing Martial law.

    The military of Pakistan has always played an active role in Pakistan’s politics and is termed as the establishment for this very reason. Pakistan has spent decades under military rule. The tradition of imposing martial law was set by Mirza when he overthrew a government by abrogation of the constitution. After mirza martial laws were also imposed by other military officers. These officers were Zia ul Haq, Ayub Khan, and Pervaiz Musharraf. However, martial law was always imposed considering the deuterating condition and increasing public unrest in the country but it is against the constitution and vision of Pakistan to overthrow a government by undemocratic means. These coups de military have not only weakened the democratic system of Pakistan and have slowed our democratic institutions from evolving. Moreover, the involvement of the military in civil affairs has adverse effects on the country’s relations, trade, and image among other nations. In the future, Pakistan has to establish boundaries at the constitution level that define powers of both military and civil institute. The civil institutes shall be strengthened and military powers to over through a government or involvement in civil matters shall be limited. However, a legal framework governed by the judicial system shall be introduced that legalize upsetting a government due to concerns involving national security or military involvement to resolve such issue under certain parameters.

In present times when media and mass communication instruments are so developed that every person has access to it, these devices play an important role in developing thoughts, ideas, awareness of general problems, educating people, and informing the point of view in the general populace. Most importantly mainstream media play an active role in the politics of a country by introducing politicians (public representatives), their point of view, and motives to the general populace. The agenda raised in media and information delivered by these institutes plays a pivotal role in creating public opinion. These opinions are of great importance specifically if the future of a nation depends upon them. However, these institutes are also used as a political instrument to gain political benefits such as the use of misinformation or rumors to devaluate political rivals in the public eye or supporting certain ethnical groups and other alike organization. This unethical use of media and the influence of a certain group on these institutes manipulate people's opinions, thus sways democracy from its true nature. Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating issuing channel licenses for the establishment of the mass media culture, print and electronic. However, this institute has little regulatory authority over international social media applications such as youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, etc. While the influence of these apps on people has grown exponentially over the past few years. Alike other media devices these apps are actively used by individuals and organized groups to form an opinion in the general population. However, restricting these apps to minimize misinformation is not a solution rather every individual is responsible for the content they publish and shall only form an opinion derived from information provided by a reliable resource.

    Education is the utmost essence of a democratic nation. Education is not only essential for a country to attain technological advancements but is important to develop consciousness about a general problem concerning the normal population of a country. The democracy itself is a result of educational struggle starting from philosophies of Plato in the creation of an ideal form of government to present-day scholars still educating themselves and the people to improve democratic institutes. An educated person can derive a better opinion from the knowledge he has about the problems his country faces, thus making a better decision while casting his vote. However, the education system of Pakistan lacks components that are important in developing consciousness, while Pakistan’s whole educational system is based on cramming words rather than understanding and realizing their true meanings. An educational system that helps people realizing the true nature of their problems and helps in developing their consciousness is necessary for establishing a truly democratic country. The media is also responsible for educating their people by introducing programs that raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among the people.

    The judiciary is the branch of government that administers justice according to law. Our judicial system is a key aspect of our democratic way of life. It upholds peace, order, and good government. Citizens look to the judiciary to uphold their rights and governments look to the courts to interpret laws. In a democratic society, a judicial system is an independent institute that keeps in check government institutes, prosecutes criminals, protects rule of law, and ensures the supremacy of law. It safeguards the rights of the individual, settles disputes per the law, and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship. whereas if a judicial system of a country is influenced by any institute or individual, the country cannot be termed as a democratic country. The judicial system of Pakistan is also a separate institute; however, it is not completely pure from influence, while the slow process of courts in hearings and prosecution make it impossible for the normal populace in attaining justice. An example of the delayed dispensation of justice is the case between siblings Islamuddin and Noor Jahan in which Noor Jahan was given a rightful share in inheritance after 25 years while both parties have already passed away. Reformation in our judicial system is necessary that ensure timely justice without any influence to establish a truly democratic country.

    The essence of true democracy is freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and adequate representation of minorities. Constitutionally Pakistan promotes freedom of expression and religious tolerance. However, no substantial efforts are made in the reformation of laws promoting religious tolerance while freedom of expression that is the constitutional right of a Pakistan is not always allowed to practice. freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed to all citizens of Pakistan albeit with certain restrictions that include ‘glory of Islam, law, and order, and national security’. These restrictions have often been exploited against different groups of people such as minorities, journalists, human rights activists, etc. It has been observed that exploitation is resulting in piling up of cases, like blasphemy missing persons, and targeted killings. A thorough assessment showed that there is a dire need to address ambiguity about certain clauses in the Constitution to avoid any exploitation.

    Pakistan being a constitutionally democratic country has not been able to develop and evolve its democratic institutions to their true essence due to military involvement and influence of a certain group of people on civilian government and its institutes. However, if we want to establish ourselves among the democratically developed countries, we need to reform our governmental and public institutes such as the judicial system and educational system while ensuring the rights of every individual are well reserved. Moreover, it's essentially the duty of every individual to educate himself and others as it is the only way to raise awareness among the people to fight for the survival and implementation of democracy in our country.