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| March 10, 2008 | Monday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1429 |
Looking for the ‘missing’
Pollen allergy season
Symphony of hegemony
OTHER VOICES - North American Press
SOUTH Asian oracy-based societies have a robust tradition of poetry and singing. Most of our folk poetry, for example, Baba Fareed, Shah Latif Bhittai, Bulleh Shah, Khushhal Khan Khattak, Mian Muhammad, Shah Hussain, is still recited with musical tunes.
THE Punjab governor has described education as the answer to terrorism. This sounds like a cliché, given the fact that so much has been written about education and the social ills that it staves off. There is, of course, no denying the fact that it is a vital weapon against scourges of many kinds, including a terrorist mindset. But when, despite plenty of sensible advice on the subject, there is no effort to improve standards, it becomes clear why the kind of education we have in Pakistan can hardly be considered as the appropriate tool. The statistics are telling. As opposed to the recommended four per cent, a mere 2.3 per cent of GDP is allocated for education in a country where only half the adult population is literate. Enrolment rates may be increasing but are offset by the population growth rate and high number of dropouts, which at the primary school level is a whopping 50 per cent — and considerably higher among girls. The decay is palpable: it has manifested itself in the poor conditions of the schools many of which lack even the basic infrastructure. Besides, teacher absenteeism and shortage are as discouraging for students as the poor training of instructors who are simply not equipped to instil the love of learning in young minds. The absence of community participation among parents has also caused the situation to deteriorate. Poverty-stricken parents believe that putting their child to work is infinitely more profitable than the dividends of the formal school sector. This general picture provides an insight into why education in Pakistan can hardly be considered a weapon to fight terrorism.
But, where education is concerned, it is not only its enervated state that is responsible for our failure to combat terrorism; it is also the content of what is being taught. Educational reforms have long been in the pipeline, especially after the events of 9/11. Before that — and the trend continues — a whole generation fed on obscurant ideologies propagated by madressahs emerged to wreak devastation in the world. Terrorism, in fact, became a part of education. However, it would be unfair to pin the blame on madressahs alone. The seeds of regressive thought have always been there in the national curriculum. The glorification of the armed forces and jihad, the subjugation of feminist thinking, the focus on religious and nationalist ideology and constant moralising and prudery continue to have their impact on malleable young minds. It is not the spirit of enquiry that is being infused in children; they are being subjected to dogmatic interpretations of whatever is perceived as the universal truth. This stunts their vision and leaves them open to negative influences. True, it will take years before even the basic steps can be taken to improve schools or to achieve high literacy levels. But there is nothing to stop the emergence of a more progressive curriculum that would open minds rather than lead them towards extremist thoughts.
MANY a law exists only on paper in Pakistan. Legislation without enforcement strips lawmaking of practical value and bolsters the belief that anything goes in this country. No surprise then that rules and regulations are flouted at will by those derive their power from wealth or political influence. Lower down the pecking order, land-grabbers, bandits and thugs operate with little fear of retribution in what is fast becoming a lawless land. But however unpalatable, such crimes pale in comparison with state-sponsored violations of the law. Take, for instance, the hundreds of people who ‘disappeared’ without a trace under the Musharraf regime. The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees the personal liberty of every citizen but this fundamental right clearly meant little to the state security apparatus as it went about picking up people because of their political affiliations or alleged links to militant organisations — in the latter case, either on their own initiative or at Washington’s behest. In flagrant breach of the law, no records were maintained of arrests and the detainees never had their day in court.
The state’s involvement in several of these disappearances is undeniable and nothing confirms its culpability more than the process, set
in motion by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, that resulted in the tracking down of a number of missing persons. After denying outright that the security agencies were holding anyone on the lists provided to the CJ, the government subsequently admitted under increasing pressure from the court that some of the ‘disappeared’ were indeed in official custody. Many believe that the CJ’s bid to hold the agencies accountable for their actions was among the reasons behind his original ouster from office one year ago this month. President Musharraf, for his part, insisted that the ‘missing’ were actually jihadis who had gone of their own accord to fight in other lands.
On Friday, an organisation ostensibly representing some 500 missing persons issued a fresh call for their release from custody. This paper maintains that it is incumbent on the state to either release all illegal detainees or frame official charges and produce them before a court of law. If anyone has been handed over to US authorities, all such covert extraditions must be brought on record and justified. We also demand the immediate release or production of the dozens of political workers and activists picked up in Balochistan and Sindh because of their nationalist leanings. Everyone is entitled to due process and no one can be denied the right to personal liberty.
IT’S that time of the year again in Islamabad when hospitals and clinics are crowded with patients suffering from pollen allergy. Unofficial estimates put the number of people afflicted at 80,000 to 120,000. As has been the practice in the capital since spring 2004 when the Pollen Allergy Relief and Management Society (Parms) was formed and the first pollen allergy relief camp set up to help allergy sufferers tide over the pollen season, eight such camps have been set up this year. For the first time Rawalpindi also has one. Parms had also chalked out in 2004 a strategy in conjunction with the city development authorities to eliminate within five years the mulberry trees, believed to be the biggest culprit in pollen production in Islamabad. These were to be replaced with other less pollen-producing plantations. But strategy is still in the process of implementation. The city administration has had to counter resistance from the environmentalists. But there is always a way to please the pro-tree lobby — do what another capital city in the Far East has done. It has launched a Movement for Forests with Less Pollen to replace within ten years its massive pollen-producing cedar trees with a lower pollen variety.
In any case, until scientists are able to develop a vaccine that can prevent people from developing allergies — that some experts abroad are confident could be available by the mid-2010 — other measures are essential. These call for raising awareness and providing relief through medications which is still the best strategy to counter this annoying, and occasionally even fatal, health problem which thousands of people in Islamabad share with millions of people in the US, the UK, Japan, etc. Meanwhile pollen allergy sufferers in Islamabad, as with many elsewhere in the world, are eagerly awaiting a new cure for allergies that is expected to be out shortly. The new treatment involves pills or drops that dissolve under the tongue.
The popularity of poetry in South Asian cultures has several reasons. For instance it is easy to memorise a verse as compared to a chunk of prose.
Also poetry has the capacity of touching emotions and heightening the impact of a message. This is further enhanced when poetry is recited. We see a strong tradition of mushairas in the Indian subcontinent where poets would recite their poetry and people in large numbers would listen to them and express appreciation for their verses. The role of lyrics in movies in this region is pivotal and no film is considered complete without songs.
The popularity of songs in oracy-based societies of India and Pakistan make them a potent source of influence on the masses. This apparently playful entertainment is an important tool of hegemony. The songs have the capacity to construct, popularise, perpetuate, and legitimise certain stereotypes that help in the oppression of marginalised groups.
Songs, being an important constituent of social construction, play an important role in perpetuating gender stereotypes; the ones used in films are linked with women in different ways. A number of them have women dancing to their tunes and most are sung by women. In this way, these ballads play an important role in manufacturing the female image.
Let us look at the lyrics of some of the songs in order to understand the process of construction, perpetuation, and validation of gender related stereotypes. But before we actually analyse the lyrics, it is important to understand the dynamics of manufacturing gender. Gender, unlike sex, is a social construct which is made up by society. It is the society that determines roles, attaches expectations, and provides opportunities on the basis of gender. The division of male and female can be understood in relation to the binary system at work in our society. This system talks about day and night, strong and weak, and high and low. As far as categories are concerned, there is apparently no harm in differentiating them, but the real problem arises when one is considered good and the other bad.
This kind of labelling has its own politics where certain groups in society are permanently dubbed as weak and others as ‘standard’. The politics of categorisation always favours the powerful. Let us look at the lyrics of a song sung by pop singer Hadiqa Kiyani. The song is in Punjabi where a girl is addressing her beloved. She compares herself to a maid and calls her beloved a King. She considers her ‘real pearls’ as false and the ‘fake coins’ of her beloved as precious as silver. This song shows how power plays its role in justifying certain things and condemning others. A related aspect is the Gramscian notions of hegemony and ‘spontaneous consent’ where the marginalised group is conditioned to believe that their own culture, identity, language, and heritage are inferior as compared to those of dominant groups.
The politics of representation shows that men are described with reference to their achievements and women in terms of their physical features. This process of representation perpetuates some stereotypes. Earlier I mentioned the expectations from women cherished by our society. Some of the expectations include that a woman should be beautiful, young, tall, slim, and fair. For instance, songs in Indian films have heroes describing their heroines with different similes; in the movie Welcome there is a song, ‘uncha lamba tera qad’ that celebrates the height of the female beloved.
A very popular song, sung by Vital Signs is ‘Gore rang ka zamana’. (The age of the fair complexion) that celebrates the benefits of being fair and suggests that the preference of society for the fair complexion will never diminish. The singer even consoles the girl by telling her that she need not worry about anything because she is fair!
Afreen Afreen, sung by the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, admires the female form; it compares the body with a musical tune, moonlight, gardens, and first rays of the morning sun.
A number of songs present woman as an object which can be displayed and appreciated on the basis of external features. John Sheppard suggests that, “as reflections of the male desire to control the world, women themselves must be controlled and manipulated. This is accomplished by means of their isolation and objectification. The conceptualisation of people as objects decontextualised from social relations implies the possibility for uncontested, unilateral control”.
The politics of representation runs much deeper as dominant groups paint the marginalised groups with their biases. The detailed view of politics of representation can be seen in Edward Said’s book, Orientalism. In the case of songs, almost all major song writers in India and Pakistan are male. They represent women from their own perspectives. The ironic aspect is that the biased representation of women by lyricists is executed by female singers and actresses.
Male behaviour is promoted as standard and is thus considered natural. Any deviation from it is looked down upon. It is interesting to note the insistence of dominant groups that other sub groups should act according to the standards set by them; a song in the Indian movie Hum Tum, “larkian kyun na jaane kyoon larkon si nahin hoti? (Why is a girl not like a boy?) may ask an apparently innocent question but reflects a deeply embedded desire of dominant groups to bring others into submission. The song also promotes notions such as ‘girls think a lot but understand little’.
Besides lyrics, the actual picturisation is also biased and represents women as objects of display. This situation needs to be changed. The change can be initiated at different levels; through family, educational institutions, the judiciary and media. There is a serious need to challenge gender related typecasts. Song writers must take a fresh look at the situation and instead of following age old analogies and imagery, try to construct new idioms – idioms that are free of sexist innuendoes.
The writer is director of Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences at Lahore School of Economics and author of ‘Rethinking Education in Pakistan’.
shahidksiddiqui@yahoo.com
Talk, but no peace
The New York Times
THERE are a few certainties when it comes to the Middle East. One is that Hamas militants will do anything to sabotage Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Another is that Israel will retaliate against serious assaults on its people. And a third is that without measurable improvements in the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians, a few spectacular acts of terrorism can derail even the best-intentioned peace talks….
If there is any hope of salvaging the effort, the United States, Europe and Arab states must move quickly to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas … Arab nations … must help the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, pressure Hamas into halting rocket attacks against Israel. The United States must persuade Israel that there is no chance of lasting security until Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza, see more benefits from peace than revenge. That means no further expansion of settlements and finding ways for Palestinians to move about and work.
That’s going to require a lot more creativity and hands-on diplomacy than we’ve seen so far. Even in the midst of last week’s bloody fighting, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could only manage a two-day stopover in the region. Her only accomplishment: persuading Mr Abbas to resume peace talks with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Thursday’s killing of eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem will make the going even tougher….
After Hamas took over Gaza eight months ago, the United States and Israel decided they would boost Mr Abbas and his moderate Fatah faction while isolating Hamas and Gaza. But Israel didn’t do nearly enough to strengthen Mr Abbas, and the crushing economic embargo on Gaza only feeds furies there and on the West Bank. It is increasingly apparent that Israel cannot be at war with some Palestinians and try to make peace with the rest.... — (March 8)
Cynical PQ bid
The Toronto Star
GREAT news, everybody. It’s safe to vote for the separatists now. They no longer promise to hold a referendum after the next election.
That’s the message the new Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois hopes voters will take away from a move by the PQ executive this week to rebrand the party by “suspending” its 2005 policy commitment to hold a referendum as soon as possible after an election. The PQ’s 500-member National Council will be invited to rubber-stamp this policy rollback on March 14-16….
This course correction arises from the crushing defeat the PQ suffered last March, when referendum-averse voters handed the party its worst drubbing in almost four decades. It ran third, behind Premier Jean Charest’s unpopular Liberals and Mario Dumont’s Action Démocratique party.
Instead of courting political suicide by leaving the PQ tied to a referendum ball and chain, Marois hopes to cut free. The PQ intends to campaign on its latest plan to get Quebecers behaving as if they already are independent.
The party promises a “sovereignty manifesto”, a provisional Quebec constitution, and a “Quebec citizenship”, whatever that might be. It will demand more powers from Ottawa and seek more clout in international organisations….
Yet welcome as any PQ retreat from a referendum is, Quebecers would be imprudent to take it at its word. The PQ came close to shattering the country in the 1995 referendum by drawing a bogus link between the idea that “Quebec should become sovereign” and the notion of “a new economic and political partnership” with Canada. That sleight-of-hand swelled the vote for secession.
Before Quebecers cheer the PQ’s conversion … they should ponder what, exactly, the party is up to. In fact, Marois isn’t saying she won’t hold a referendum…. She’s just saying she won’t be held to holding a referendum. Basically, she is trying to have it every which way. — (March 7)