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PAKISTAN’S recent effort to host an extraordinary OIC conference in Islamabad on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was an admirable one in the context of its role in international diplomacy, especially when the OIC was founded in Pakistan itself. The focus on the humanitarian situation of the people of Afghanistan is critical; with a majority of them nearing starvation, a call for action was imminent and overdue.
However, like several times before, Prime Minister Imran Khan managed to make statements that were more controversial than statesmanlike. To suggest that something as fundamental as human rights and women’s rights are ‘different’ in each society, and to cover the Taliban’s callous restriction of women’s movement and girls’ education is irresponsible, especially under the oriental garb of adding the nuance of Pakhtun culture. There is a lot to unpack here.
First, even if this thesis is to be accepted, it signals a dangerous authoritarianism where the unfounded ‘cultural sensitivities’ of a few men are being imposed on an entire population without any consideration for the latter’s consent or will, and where there is a complete disregard for universal fundamental rights such as the right to movement, education and protection from discrimination that the Taliban regime continues to violate.
Second, the whitewashing of and using euphemisms for the misogyny of the Taliban’s terrible actions overlook the progress the people of Afghanistan had made in the past 20 years. It is disingenuous to paint two decades of the life of Afghans where they faced constant terror attacks from the Taliban as a tragic period of a country run on foreign aid, because a country and its people are a lot more than just that. The progress in education, the revival of the culture and arts that was trampled upon by the Taliban before as well cannot be undermined.
The Pakhtuns have a rich history of strong women.
Third, it is concerning that the PM would make such statements when his duty is to work to protect the rights of Pakistani citizens under a Constitution that outlaws a lot of the actions the Taliban are taking in Afghanistan, such as suspending girls’ education, restricting women’s movement without men related to them, banning music and torturing citizens. This will have an impact on rights in Pakistan as well, and the PM should at a minimum demand for all what citizens of his country are entitled to and have fought for.
Fourth, stereotyping Pakhtuns is both offensive and counterfactual. The Pakhtuns have a rich history of strong women with rights and the struggle for freedom rather than the patriarchal misogyny that the Taliban consistently impose and preach. Pakhtun culture is not synonymous with Taliban culture much as German culture is not synonymous with Nazi culture. Fascists and dictators do not represent people; they oppress them.
A Pakhtun woman Malalai of Maiwand fought a war to liberate the Afghans in 1880 from the British; a Pakhtun woman Meena founded the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan in 1977 to protect human rights, and a Pakhtun woman Malalai Joya spoke in the Loya Jirga in Afghanistan denouncing every criminal warlord in Afghanistan present there with bravery and was elected by the people of the country several times among other women.
When the prime minister compared the state of girls’ education in the tribal districts of Pakistan to urban Pakhtun cities vis-à-vis cultural sensitivities, he conveniently ignored the structural factors that led to this outcome. The former tribal areas that were merged with KP province in 2018 were kept away from development since the time of the British to create a buffer zone for the empire, and then filled with right-wing extremists during the Cold War through the connivance of dictator Zia with the Americans to fight the Soviets, and the protection of terrorist outfits there. Subsequent military operations meant security policy disallowed the construction of new schools while militants blew up the existing ones.
So it was not due to the agency of the locals that education suffered, but the state’s failure, which was apparent when activist Malala Yousafzai was attacked by the TTP when she spoke up against the restriction of girls’ education in Swat.
It is an embarrassment for all Pakistanis when justifications are made at the prime ministerial level for what can only be described as the Taliban’s draconian, misogynist and fascist policies. The Taliban do not represent Pakhtuns, but have actually undermined the hard work and intellect of Pakhtuns over the decades and painted a bad name for us. If the prime minister holds influence over the Taliban, he should use it to protect the rights of Afghans, rather than making mistakes that could cost Pakistanis their freedom as well.
We must resist this descent and never compromise on basic rights of all humans under the garb of culture.
The writer is director of Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rights.
Twitter: @UsamaKhilji
Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2022
