Women have played a significant role in Pakistan along with men since independence. They have proved themselves to be an ardent contributor toward national growth in their capacity as academics, thinkers, politicians, doctors, engineers, scientists, journalists, businessmen, industrialists, agriculturists, laborers and peasants.
At the time of independence, monumental role was played by legendary figures, like Mohtarama Fatima Jinnah, Begum Afifa Mamdot and Begum Salma Tassadaq in the Pakistan Movement (there is a long list of such illustrious names).
These women mobilized the womenfolk and made them vocal freedom activists that conveyed a strong message to the British colonialists that the resolve of Muslims of the subcontinent just can’t be defeated because its women component was quite dynamic and progressive. This, in turn, strengthened the freedom movement led by founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
It is encouraging to note that the journey started by those forward-looking, noble ladies is still going on with the women’s role having multiplied and diversified in national growth and multisector development.
One of the successes on this path of women’s progress is the women reforms through legislation and similar governmental measures. It is noteworthy that these reforms and the laws enacted during the last 10 to 15 years for women’s empowerment and for uplifting their living standard and for ending discrimination against them (especially in the rural areas), have not been given to the women in a platter. Rather the Pakistani women have earned these rights.
These laws which should, in fact, be described as reforms for the amelioration of the female lot, have come in different forms that include the Women Empowerment Act passed during the incumbency of the Benazir Bhutto-led PPP government and then different sets of laws and schemes launched by the present PML-N government like, for instance, different youth schemes including the Youth Loan Scheme in which women have been given an equal entitlement of 50 percent side by side with men. Even earlier, the women, have been successful in earning a sizeable participation in elected assemblies by way of which the women now have a considerable say in the national affairs or, plainly speaking, in the building of their destiny, as well as of their posterity i.e. the younger generation, which is the hope of Pakistan.
It is worth mentioning that in no sector of national activity, womenfolk have been found lagging behind their male counterparts. Now the situation is so encouraging that women have taken up even the cumbersome and challenging tasks of policing and piloting (aircraft-flying). In science and technology, medicine, information technology, name any field, women are playing their role not only with devotion and commitment along with men.
Even in media, both print and electronic, women have made significant mark and are contributing a lot with their ideas and even with their performance on the screen.
And, if one looks at the political and leadership fronts, the role played by our women politicians and leaders has proved remarkable on all national and international standards. Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto was one such leader, who earned worldwide recognition for her struggle for democracy and for endeavoring in all earnest to steer the country out of the woods and even lay down her life for this cause.
In the recent history two names stand out prominently viz, Malala Yousufzai and Shirmeen Obaid-Chinnoy. Both earned good name for Pakistan by their outstanding contributions.
Malala, as we all know, is a strong advocate for women education. She survived a near fatal militant attack. Undaunted, she continued with her struggle and was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014. She contributed her $1.1 million prize money to financing the creation of a secondary school for girls in Pakistan. At the age of 17, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Shirmeen Obaid-Chinnoy is a Pakistani journalist, activist and film maker. She is the first Pakistani to win an Academy Award and the first one to win it twice. She won the prize for her documentaries “Saving Face” (2012) and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015).”
In short reference to pre-1947 Freedom Movement or of Pakistan’s journey to progress and stability to date remains incomplete if the effective role of women played through all these phases is not acknowledged.