Baloch womenfolk

All Baloch political, social, cultural, educational individuals, parties and organizations including the BSOs are requested to encourage and allow our women to take leading roles. Malek Towghi

I fully support the suggestion given by Dr. Malek Towghi regarding Baloch womenfolk's participation in the political struggle for the rights of the Baloch.

At this moment Baloch men are suffering in the hand of racist Pakistani establishment and are refused basic things like education and jobs with in their homeland. Concentrating on women issues will not only divert the focus of Baloch activists, but also puts extra burdon on them.

Until such time when Baloch have gained their right to decide for themselves, Baloch women may stay home and look after their children so that the men may continue with outside activities. We don't our women be exposed infront of an establishment which has no respect to them and whose armed men are running around and terrorising women and children and raping where they get a hand on.

Dear Friends, I was horrified to have read the following lines from a memeber of this forum. Mr Garboni wrote: " At this moment Baloch men are suffering in the hand of racist Pakistani establishment and are refused basic things like education and jobs with in their homeland. Concentrating on women issues will not only divert the focus of Baloch activists, but also puts extra burdon on them. Until such time when Baloch have gained their right to decide for themselves, Baloch women may stay home and look after their children so that the men may continue with outside activities...." It is unbelievable that to hear or read this kind of anti-woman argumnet from someone, who pretends to "guide" us the path for freedom! I am all for "freedom of expression"; and of course, Wj. Garboni is entitled to his views. As a Baloch man, I would like to express my diappointment and total disagreement with Wj. Garboni. I believe that preaching the idea that the Baloch women - who are our sisters, mothers, daughter and partners- saty at home and look after the children is a great insult to all Baloch women's potential and intelligence. We are living in 21st century; and this kind of back-ward absurd ideas have no place in any part of Balochistan. The only people who may agree with Wj. Garboni, in this regard, are the ex-Taliban and some Joma'at tablighi sects here and there. How could someone talk about the national rights of the Baloch, whilst,at the same time, accepting the unfortunate situation of women to continue " Until such time when Baloch have gained their right to decide for themselves" (?!).In Our dear firiend's terminolgy, it seems that "Baloch" means only "Baloch men"; or rather those Baloch men who amy agree with this kind of anti-women rhetoric. Freedom and human rights is meaningless without women's rights. Women are half of the human race's population. The struggle for justice without unconditional acknowlegment of women's rights and their full participation is doomed to failure. We are first human being -whether men or women- . Human rights is a universal rights. There is no room for any exception even for us, the Baloch! Concentrating on women's issue - among others- will not weaken the Baloch cause; in fact it gives it a more human, just and universal dimension to it. It is becoming clear that slogans such as "Baloch Republic of Makkoran" is another name for an anti-women Taliban style agenda. It is threfore an anti-Baloch and anti-Makkoran rhetoric- nothing else. No personal hard feeling against Wj. Garboni. It is only a battle of ideas within the Baloch. Goun neyken waahagaan, Shastuni

Until such time when women can speak for themselves, me and you can only waste our time or drive incapable women into destruction like Jomhori Eslami Iran has done. They have created a society for prostitutions, but those who wish for a political change are silenced perminantly like Kazemi.

Garboni

Dear Walid: Women in other societies like Palestinians and Kurds are struggling shoulder to shoulder with their brothers for their economic and political rights. There is no harm if Baloch women also sturggle for their own rights as well as for the economic and political rights of their people. Women are getting education and understand that they can play a role in politics.

Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Ameeri

I respect you for your commitment to the cause of the Baloch and your desire to protect Baloch women from all possible excesses.

Before writing further, first I give you an example of male chauvinism in me which I never knew it was there till pointed out by my daughter. I got my daughter admitted in Boys’ Degree College in M.A. English because there were no M.A. English classes in Govt. College for Women in Sargodha. I suggested her to always cover her head with a ‘dopatta’ after she entered the college gate. By so saying, I meant to protect her from the rowdy male students, if any. She replied with a grin that although apparently I was an educated and liberal person, from inside I was still a Baloch. By this she meant that in my sub-conscious, I was still a conservative male chauvinist who did not have confidence that his daughter could protect herself by her will power and did not need the support of a piece of cloth. She was right and later I tried to reform myself and get rid of the last vestiges and traces of chauvinism in my Baloch sub-conscious. My daughter, a Baloch, studied with boys for two years and completed her M.A. English without any unpleasant incident. Her male class-fellows and professors used to respect her.

Now I come to the role of Baloch women in the political struggle against the occupying Pakistan army. I begin with reference to Joan of Arc, a French woman, who dressed in armour, physically led the French army as its commander-in-chief, against the British army occupying France, near the close of 100-years war between England and France about 600 years ago. She defeated the British occupying army in 1429 at Orléans. The day of her demise is a national holiday in France till today. Starting from the War of Independence of the United States and French Revolution of 1789, to the war of Independence of South Africa of Nelson Mandela and of Vietnam, no political struggle has ever succeeded without the active participation of the women. Similarly, the War of Independence of Balochistan will not succeed in getting rid of the Pakistan’s occupying army without a total commitment and participation of the Baloch women. If the women participate in the political struggle, they will share the burden of the men and not increase it. It is too late in the 21^st century to feel shy of such participation. As in my case as pointed out by my daughter, though unconsciously, it is male chauvinism and conservatism in our sub-conscious that motivate us to ‘protect’ our women by restricting them within the four walls of the house to rear the children and work in the kitchen. It is preferable to teach our women to protect themselves, to train them the use of arms, as a last resort, only if unavoidable, in case they are assaulted by an army captain, to defend themselves. Perhaps army people would not have dared to enter the house of Dr. Shazia Khalid in Sui if they had known that she had a weapon in her house. The institution of prostitution that exists since about three thousand years, is a separate subject discussed by experts. Any how, male chauvinism is also responsible for it. No woman would become a prostitute if a man were prepared to share his love and a home with her.

Though you have convinced me with regards to you believe of women mobilisation, I still understand that a woman’s place is at home, until such time when she is guaranteed protection in the open society and judged by her merit than her gender, together.

Education is something different. It is for tomorrow. I strongly favour women education, but not educate for the hope of a job with a travel agency or in a five star hotel, instead educate to be knowledgeable and share knowledge in a communal place in order to build a better future. A future which is tolerable to decency, logic and democracy based on scientific principles.

It is a matter of shyness to see today’s educated woman is either dancing for Benazir or shares an ideology with Musharraf. We rather had them sitting in their homes and making embroidery and cooking Qorma Sabzi for their family.

Thanks. If you have not already done so, please send this along with your earlier pieces on this subject to the open Baloch, Sindhi, Saraiki and other sites, e.g., balochistaninfo, balochiradiofm, ostomaan.org, balochvoice, baloach.com and .. and ..

We also need an internal cultural revolution, particularly in the eastern and northern Baloch socities.

Dear Wj. Shaukat, salaamat bate!

It is encouraging to have read your interesting story about the phenomenon
of male chauvinism, which is portrayed as Balochi characteristics; and it is
in all of us, in one way or another.
The struggle for equality, fairness and justice for opressed nations has no
meaning without full participation of all people, men and women alike. To
suggest that we have to leave the women "speak for themselves", is simply
suppressing women. We cannot be neutral about this fundamnetal human rights,
whatever the excuses!
I totally agree with your coclusion that "It is too late in the 21st century
to feel shy of such participation."

Goun neyken waahagaan,

Shastuni

Walid jaan, (This is with reference to your suggested roles for the Baloch women in the following posting.) Are you OK? Just a worried old man and a former mullaa, Malek Towghi

Average age of people in our country is about 60 years. In the West, it is about 80 years for men and 85 years for women. There are thousands of them who are above 100. The reason for this is that they take regular exercise and most of them do jogging i.e. slow running. I daily come across men and women, young and old jogging on the footpaths of Switzerland and no one looks towards them. When jogging and marathons become common in our country, nobody will take any hostile notice of those participating in them. Today, some religious parties are opposing these because it is a part of their election campaign. I pity Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman and Qazi Hussain Ahmad for their obesity i.e. being over-weight. This has already resulted in the bypass surgery of Qazi Hussain Ahmad. (I pray for his health). I fear the two leaders are also suffering from diabetes due to their obesity. The case of our women is more tragic because they are compelled to stay indoors most of the time. The purpose of joint marathons is to motivate and encourage men and women to take exercise, do jogging, remain fit, live longer and happier life and contribute to the cultural and social life of the society. People who have an aesthetic sense know how pleasant it is to look at smart people and vice versa. Those who do not have an aesthetic sense have fascist and undemocratic inclinations. They want to thrust their point of view and ideas upon others with force and weapons. When they are not checked in their initial successes, they end up in becoming Cromwell and Hitler. (They succeeded in Gujranwala and Sargodha.) Such people are a danger for the harmonious life and cultural development of a society.

mullas and maulavis. They eat too much 'batt' o gousht' (pulaaw) and halwaa and do nothing.