You don’t get to use the words “subjugated”, “patriachy” or “mad bad religious establishment” very much any more.
However the case of Pakistan’s rape laws allows the use of such startling adjectives to be used in full force with little irony.
The failure of the Women’s Protection Bill in Pakistan is a loss for every woman fighting for her right to safety, to justice and to a life that is free from violence.
The proposed bill was aimed at repealing the “Islamic laws” instigated by Pakistani dictator Zia-Ul-Haq in 1979 which stipulate a woman must provide four male witnesses to an act of rape for prosecution.
The failure to provide these witnesses can lead by default to a conviction for “zina”- or “illegal sex”. However under classical Islamic jurisprudence it was “zina” that warranted such impossible evidentiary standards. The idea being that “zina” though morally disapproved of, was not the concern of the state, but a private matter for individual conscience.
The hodge podge application of streams of secular and sharia law in Pakistan which collude together in impossible illogic has led to tragic and almost farcical circumstances like the prosecution of a blind girl Safia Bibi for “zina” after she failed to prove rape.
The 2002 case of Mukhataran Mai a woman who spoke out after being subject to a gang rape on the order of village elders also received international attention and highlighted the struggle for the rights of women in Pakistan.
The movement towards amending the legislation or “hudud ordinances” reflects a growing educated class in Pakistan who are questioning the role of the conservative forces using divine sanction to enforce tyranny on the powerless.
In particular the alliance of the religious establishment and feudal elite who lord over the “no-man’s” areas of Pakistan- ensuring a public- in particular women- live in denial of their rights and are prey to their whim and intimidation tactics.
The recent shooting in August this year of reformist sheikh Manzoor-ul-Hassan- the head of the liberal Islamic think tank Al-Mawrid Research Institute which has been active in spearheading the reform- reflects the deep anxiety of the powerful interests that underscore Pakistani politics.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf understands the power of these forces and has used the issue of women as a kind of testing ground to see how far his authority can go to create the change he has so vehemently promised.
The death of this Bill signals the failure of Musharraf and confirms the fragile and tenous hold of his dictatorship.
For all his claims of Pakistan as the great ally in the “War on terror”, the resistance to this Bill has revealed the strong anti-progressive forces at work within Pakistan which are going to be highly antagonistic to any threat to their power and interests.
Whilst it is very disappointing the Bill did not pass, I think there are more important issues at hand.
What is most fundamental to the idea of (lets ignore the fact that Pakistan is run by a dictator under a pseudo democratic system for a moment) democracy is an educated populous who therefore can engage in the process. Moreover, the areas which are most affected the ordinances of the ‘Zina’ laws are generally some of the areas of Pakistan, were the government does not even attempt to intervene but rather they let the social order function on its own. Women’s Protection Bill or not, the tragedies which occur on a daily basis will continue.
The case of Mukhataran Mai is testament to the fact that the most effective tool for social change, is to capture the hearts and mind of the people.
That is what Musharraf needs to do.
I would argue that it is even more urgent in that, fundamentalist worldviews are now spreading beyond the small towns and villages, to the general population, as they grow disillusioned with Musharraf’s presidency and political process itself.
He needs to do it, whatever the political risk. Even if he fails, he will at least be remembered as the man who tried. If he instead falls pray to the lure of power, then he won’t be remembered at all. I have never been a fan of Musharraf, because I don’t think a dictatorship is ever the answer. If Musharraf acts in a meaningful way, he might just change my mind.