Source: Daily Star (Dhaka) December 01, 2000 | Foreign Relations
Pakistan:
WOMEN BUS CONDUCTORS
By Harun ur Rashid
A political storm has developed between the right-wing Islamic parties and the government in Sindh on the appointment of women conductors in the Bus.
The Sindh Governor inaugurated the Bus service last week. It is reported that the Bus service (called New Shaandar-majestic- Bus Service) between Landhi suburb to central district, Saddar in Karachi has put on first-ever women bus conductors that sparked protest from the fundamentalist forces. They consider it "immoral".
The service is reported to be a collaboration between the Sindh government and a private enterprise. Haji Mohammad Iqbal, the Chairman of the bus service justifies the appointment of women conductors for various reasons. They are: a) it is a luxury bus service with more than average fare and the passengers will be less and therefore it is conducive for women to work, b) women conductors would attract women passengers in the bus, c) it relieves the women to travel in an uncongested bus without being victims of eve-teasing and finally d) the employment of women is a step towards restoring their self-esteem by encouraging them to be economically independent.
The fundamentalist forces, on the other hand, argue that being used as bus conductors is degrading women and they should be given jobs as teachers or other noble professions. They argue further that women bus conductors are a humiliating profession and not enjoined by Islam. Some threatened to bring down the women conductors from the bus. It is reported that Massoda Banu, 40, one of the bus-conductors and a widow with four young children said that while the job was a new experience, she was earning a good salary and wished that the company would not sack her due to pressure from the right-wing parties.
Meanwhile the commuters have been enjoying the bus service and it is reported that men behave in an orderly manner in front of the women conductors. As a precaution, the Bus company has not taken any chances and stationed one male guard on the bus to avoid any untoward incidents.
Why is this furore in Pakistan? What do they tell us? Ordinarily, the attitude and the treatment of their womenfolk know a society. There is a saying that one way to judge good governance is whether a young lady would be able to walk alone after dark from one end of the city to other without being harassed or molested.
One could argue the more inequalities a society heap on their women, the more discriminatory way they treat their women. All men and women are endowed with human dignity and have the inherent right to life and to work. Only denying them the humanity of the other can carry out ill-treatment or unjust treatment to women.
Napoleon's words are memorable when he said some thing like this: "Give me good mothers, I shall give you good soldiers". During the recent visit to India, World Bank's President James Wolfensohn has underscored the empowerment of women that has multiplying effects on the society.
David Landes in his book "Why Some are rich and Some So poor"(Amazon: 1998:US) argues that Christianity encourages a greater assertion of political and economic rights for men and women. This in turn helped, according to Landes, to develop a split between secular and the religious, unlike Islamic societies where the two remained virtually one in many countries. He further argues that in the later part of the 20th century Western culture has encouraged the maximising of wealth through the empowerment of women. One may disagree with him on his provocative statements but the truth is that in many Islamic countries the women are grossly discriminated in the society as to what they can do and cannot do as against male population.
There is a view that there has been a phenomenal growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan. Since 1980s it is contended that fundamentalism has spread in the military establishments. It is alleged that some of the top military officers have been bankrolling Islamic fundamentalist groups to fight a proxy war in the Indian-administered Kashmir. A preview prevails that in Pakistan these days radical Islamic groups wield power out of all proportion to their size.
Although Pakistan's Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf (56) is known to be liberal and secular, he appears to be under pressure from the fundamentalist forces not to take initiative in matters uncomfortable to the right-wing forces. Often it has been seen that the military governments succumb to the blackmail to the right-wing parties for their popularity and survival.
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