PESHAWAR: As the International Women’s Day is being observed across the globe, Almas Khanam, a young embroidery artist and sculptor from Malakand, has asked parents to provide equal opportunities to girls to enable them to bring out their hidden talent and play due role in the society.

“Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not short of anyone. Men are required to believe in strength of their daughters as they do in their sons. Provision of equal space for girls would enable them to contribute to the society,” she said.

In a brief chat with this scribe here on Sunday, Almas Khanam, a resident of Dargai in Malakand, in connection with International Women’s Day being marked on Monday( today ), she said that it was the utmost responsibility of parents and elders to encourage girls by creating equal space for them. She added that women could do wonders if provided with opportunities.

Almas Khanam asks parents to encourage daughters to show talent

She said that scores of her art pieces were destroyed due to non-availability of art gallery. She also sought free scholarship for pursuing career in fine arts to realise her dream as it would help her promote the soft image of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the country at large.

Ms Khanam, a first year intermediate student, has recently made headlines in national media when she was shortlisted for the event ‘Hamare Heroes’ at Pakistan Super League (PSL) held in Karachi where she was given a cash prize in recognition of her unique talent. She was born to a family where her father and six brothers had already been practicing poetry, music, and painting.

“I was fortunate enough to have been born in an environment where I just needed a spur. My entire family stood behind me and enable me to do impossible things in the shape of my art. Embroidery on sieve is my lone natural gift,” she claimed.

She said that her father was her ideal as he had given her the freedom to pursue her dreams. She expected other parents to do the same. “I use simple cotton threads to weave portraits of noted personalities on a fine mesh strainer and also mould their sculptors from mud to pay a tribute to them for their contribution to society and humanity at large,” she added.

Recipient of Fakher Pakhtunkhwa and Bacha Khan Peace awards, she has crafted portraits of Khushal Khan Khattak, Bacha Khan, Malala Yousafzai, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Ahmad Shah Abdali, Hamid Karzai and a few others. She said that she had gifted most of her art pieces to art lovers while a few artworks went to Bacha Khan Markaz.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2021