|
|
|
January 15, 2002
ARTICLES: Celebrating womanhood
THE new year brings with it new hopes. This is specially true for the oppressed who are looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. But they know from their long experience that emancipation will not be theirs without a struggle. To drive this message home three feminist groups have, as in previous years, brought out diaries for 2002.
They are not so much as a work of art or a publisher’s labour of love that these diaries will be cherished — though they are beautiful and excellently produced. It is their message which makes them so valuable. The underlying theme is peace, non-violence and struggle. These are any woman’s, as well as many men’s, dream.
Simorgh, which is a Lahore-based women’s resource centre conducting research and publishing books on women’s issues, has produced an elegant diary featuring verses from six poets, namely, Zehra Nigah, Kishwar Naheed, Fahmida Riaz, Ishrat Afreen, Attiya Dawood and Nasreen Anjum Bhatti. As the foreword states, these poets “broke with the traditional forms of Urdu poetry” to gain “entry into a space which was dominated by men in terms of language-use and metaphor”. Simorgh says through their works it is acknowledging a debt that is long overdue.
The powerful verses selected are a testimony to the “oppression inscribed in our silence” which is now trying to break free. There is Zehra Nigah complaining to her mother for restraining her in her struggle to liberate herself.
Kishwar Naheed’s imagery and comparisons draw a parallel between a woman’s suffering and the male pleasure from it.
Fahmida Riaz speaks sardonically of the woman’s silence which is how society likes her to be.
Attiya Dawood reveals a woman’s inner strength, which has not been portrayed, in these words:
Kali for Women, the feminist publishing house from India, has dedicated its diary this year to the women in Kashmir — Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others - who have been caught in the grip of conflict. Kali writes, “Once represented as a veritable paradise on earth, Kashmir now features in the media almost exclusively as a land of violence, with images of guns, curfews and death predominating. Women are represented mainly as victims, weeping for their loved ones, caught between the State and militancy, victims of rape and violence. These images wipe out their long histories of struggle, their involvement in art, literature, poetry, their bravery and courage and their deep commitment to a life of dignity and humanity for themselves and all around them.”
In this diary, the very different work of two women, a writer/translator and a photographer/artist, has been combined to bring out images and words that testify to a different reality. Neerja Mattoo, retired principal and head of department of English of Women’s College, Srinagar, a Kashmiri Pandit remains committed to peace and has been working on new translations of the Kashmiri poet, Lal Ded. A fourteenth century mystic poet, Lal Dev still remains popular, and is oft-quoted among Kashmiris, Hindus and Muslims alike, to express feelings such as love of their land, its valleys, mountains, flowers and streams. A mixture of verses, couplets, sayings and riddles, Lal Dev’s vakk comments on her own life and search, critique society and religious institutions.
The other woman to feature in this diary is Sheba Chhachi, whose photographs taken over a period of time in Kashmir try to reach the heart of darkness - and light - wherein lie women’s different experiences of the long years of conflict.
A longterm chronicler of women’s movements in India, and a creative artist, Sheba Chhachhi spoke to women across a range of classes and communities, and photographed them in an attempt to bring the many realities of Kashmiri women to public attention.
The 2002 diary produced by UKS, a research resource and publication centre for women and media in Islamabad, has dedicated its diary to women of Pakistan struggling against violence. Its aim is to expose and document the prevalence of gender-biased violence, which Tasneem Ahmar, the spirit behind Uks, considers to be an important step towards gender equality. She writes in the foreword, “Today, the women of Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of whom are victims of domestic or other violence, need more support than ever before.” She calls for a more fearless approach.
Beginning with nine newspaper editorials condemning violence against women - two from Dawn — the diary carries excerpts from various publications such as the HRCP Newsletter, Newsline, The Friday Times and the Beijing women’s conference report. There are translations of poems by Zehra Nigah, Fehmida Riaz, Attiya Dawood, Ishrat Aafreen and Kishwar Naheed. The last says:
It is we sinful women/ Who are not awed by the grandeur of those who wear gowns/ Who don’t sell our lives/ Who don’t bow our heads/ Who don’t fold our hands together.
It is we sinful women/ While those who sell the harvest of our bodies/ Become exalted/ Become distinguished/ Become the just princes of the material world.
The diary concludes with a 12-page chronology (1947-2001) which is testimony to the long road the women of Pakistan have travelled in the last five decades.
A simorgh diary 2002
PO Box 3328, Gulberg 2, Lahore-54660 Tel: 042-5757195
Email: simorgh@brain.net.pk
Kali diary 2002
Kali for Women, K-92 Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi-110016 Tel: 91-11-6864497, 6964947
Email: kaliw@del2.vsnl.net.in
UKS diary 2002
#10-B, Street 13, F-8/3, Islamabad Tel: 051-2255348
Email: uks@comsats.net.pk
|
|
|
|
