On March 8, International Women’s Day is observed all over the world with activists and governments renewing their pledge to fight for women’s rights. But, living as they are in an atmosphere of terror and violence, women in the NWFP and the tribal region are fast losing whatever rights and liberties they had been enjoying thus far.

This point was raised at a recent discussion, organised by women activists, in Peshawar, where participants agreed that civil society’s response to the impact of terrorism on women had been weak. In fact, because of the prevailing sense of insecurity in the province and its environs, most rights activists and groups have been silent. Many NGOs working on women’s issues in the NWFP have also kept a low profile, not daring to raise their voice even if they received threats or their staffers were kidnapped while on field visits.

Those who broke this silence have paid a terrible price. Take the example of Bakht Zeba, an active councillor and social worker. She was horribly murdered by militants in Swat for daring to criticise the Taliban’s suppression of women. Swat may be the hub of militancy now, but the Taliban are also knocking on Peshawar’s gates. In fact, they are already there.

Women in the provincial capital are in the grip of fear. They don’t know what to do as they are besieged by threats like the one hurled by an old man in the middle of the Shafi market. ‘Cover your faces or acid will be thrown at you!’ he yelled in the cloth bazaar that is mostly frequented by women buyers. His words were too much for a seven-year-old girl, who is now too scared to venture there with her mother.

Last month, local newspapers reported another horrific incident in the vicinity of the posh Hayatabad Township where two women were killed. A note lying nearby said they were not of good character. Such perceptions are all it takes for terrorists to malign and kill women and do their utmost to deny them rights like the freedom to choose, to movement, even to wear clothing of their choice. Women in Peshawar were just getting to know the meaning of emancipation that education and jobs had given them. But the current lawlessness and a growing Taliban mindset has reversed their progress on this front.

A woman no longer feels comfortable in public places even if she is properly covered or in a white chadar that is traditionally worn by NWFP women. It is now common to see women, even young girls, garbed in black gowns with veils or in a shuttlecock burqa instead of white chadars in Peshawar. “One can’t go out in the evening, or for a walk or shopping alone,’says a banker.  ‘Men stare at you. You wonder if the person is a militant or someone of that sort.’ Few women in the

tribal region or the NWFP have a problem with dressing conservatively as this area has its own customs and value system. But it is the imposition of a brand of Islam that deprives them of employment, education and a share in social activities that is stifling.

The majority of working women who have to venture out on a daily basis feel uncomfortable and insecure in Peshawar now. They are aware of the worsening law and order situation in the province and many are considering leaving the city as the best option.

The milieu is changing in other ways as well, contributing to the feeling of unease among women. Peshawar, which was a city of opportunities for educated and skilled men and women hailing from other districts, is now hosting a new mix of population comprising the internally displaced, mostly from socio-economically backward areas.

Coming from a cultural background where women stay inside their homes, it is something of a novelty for the internal refugees to see women going to school, colleges and markets.

Meanwhile, women and, of course, men in North and South Waziristan, Bajaur and Swat who have seen atrocities committed against civilians by the militants and the military have developed psychological problems, regaled as they are by doubts about their own doings to deserve such treatment in their own country. The use of tranquillisers among North Waziristan’s men to calm themselves in an atmosphere of violence and aerial bombardment is prevalent, although many men would not want to go public with it as they consider this to go against their values of valour and honour (ghairat). One can easily imagine the impact on the minds of women who have even less freedom.

In fact, women in the NWFP and the tribal areas are silent victims of the war of terror ever since the military offensive began in 2004 in South Waziristan. In private conversations, these women speak of their desperation and fears stemming from the conflict, but seem to find no solace, no answers.

The obvious conclusions are drawn when women in the NWFP, specifically in Peshawar, compare their lot to that of their more liberated sisters, who are free to wear and do what they like, in cities like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

It seems that no one can figure out who is behind the mushroom growth of the Taliban in this region. Why is it that Pakistan’s north is so much in the grip of this menace whereas this phenomenon is far less pronounced in other areas of the country? What is it that the Taliban want from the Pakhtun community that has been observing a specific lifestyle and set of traditions for centuries? Why do they seem hell-bent on wanting to propagate barbarity among Pakhtuns in the land of the Frontier Gandhi (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan)?

These are questions that appear to have no answers as the violence continues. As its worst victims, women of the NWFP and the tribal regions would want the ideals of March 8 to be translated into concrete terms so that Talibanisation is stopped and security of life and peace of mind restored.