KARACHI: Impressive performances and a meaningful discussion on portrayal of women in the media marked the national seminar on ‘Violence against women and girls and the role of media’ organised by Tehreek-i-Niswan at the Arts Council on Saturday.

Throughout the day different presentations (dance, drama, music video and a pilot episode of a TV play) were put up which the audience thoroughly appreciated. In between Dr Shershah Syed was asked to talk on women’s health issues against the backdrop of the health project that Tehreek-i-Niswan had undertaken. Dr Syed gave alarming figures of women who lost their precious lives during or because of pregnancy. He said the women that he was talking about ranged from as young as 16 and 21 years of age to the ones in their mid-forties. He said women were the ones who should decide for themselves when they should get married or have children. He blamed society and the clergy for not allowing women to be treated as human beings.

After that a music video was shown whose music was set to Fahmida Riaz’s poetry, followed by pieces from a variety of the Tehreek’s plays.

But it was the discussion, moderated by Sheema Kermani and Maliha Zia Lari, that raised some very important points which was probably the highlight of the day. Taking part in it, Tasneem Ahmar of UKS Research Centre recounted two cases involving women which were poorly reported by the print media. She said just when the print media seemed to change course the electronic media came to the fore. She said if one surveyed TV entertainment channels from 7pm to 9pm one would notice that issues such as love, marriage and divorce were associated with girls and women. She said the public should also be blamed for it because we tended to accept everything (her cheez ko sehtey rehtey hain). She said we ourselves had allowed attitudes, like considering daughters as a burden, to take root. She referred to a drama in which a rapist was shown in such a way that he gained ‘sympathy’. “All of that is in the electronic media, print media, in entertainment and in advertising. We as viewers are as much to be blamed as those who write, direct or act in such projects,” she remarked.

Seema Tahir Khan said viewers created ratings. She said she’d been advocating women’s rights and rights of the girl child. She said although the rating issue existed, she tried to come up with subjects on her channel where women could be seen contributing to society.

A young activist from Balochistan Jalila Haider said she’s a lawyer who’d been doing consultancy for the minorities in her province. She said there was no need to get despondent about the role of the media as it was the media which produced “one of the best TV serials” Udari in recent times. She said since ours was a capitalist society, profit-makers were bound to come in. She said we were also a bit of racists. She said she had yet to see a dark-skinned hero in a play whereas in real life our heroes were dark-skinned people. She said we were mentally trapped in British rule. She said we needed to break stereotypes. She said there were several issues in Balochistan, such as honour killings, on which no play was made.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Gullalai said unless the state took responsibility of the issues under discussion, things wouldn’t change. She said the capitalist system would prevail until the provinces came up with their cultural policies.

Replying to a question on extremism, Jalila Haider said the issue of Talibanisation in Balochistan was becoming “chronic”. She also mentioned the plight of Hazara people, especially the women who got widowed after the conflict, and lamented there was zero media coverage of them.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2016