Women and the Taliban

Monday, May 04, 2009

I am quite outraged by Danielle Ali Riaz’s letter on April 30. She seems to be ignorant of our rich heritage and culture. And here I would like to emphasise ‘our’ as this is the nation our forefathers sacrificed their lives for — so that our rights could be safeguarded. This includes our right to live according to our wishes and not to be forced to live in any particular way.
This is the land of Shah Hussain, Bulleh Shah, Shahbaz Qalandar, Sultan Bahu, Rehman Baba and many other Sufi saints; it is the land of poets and writers like Faiz, Muneer Niazi and Saadat Hassan Manto among many others. This is also the land of painters like Ustad Allah Bakhsh, Gulgee and Saadequain. And it is the soil which gave birth to musicians like Mehdi Hassan, Amanat Ali Khan, Noor Jehan, Abida Parveen and Reshma. We will fight till our last breath to save this unique and rich culture and heritage. We cannot abandon our Heers, Sohnis and Marvis at the mercy of the Taliban. So I would suggest that instead of asking us to leave, it is she and her Taliban who should be the ones to leave our Quaid’s country because our forefathers spilled their blood for us and not for the Taliban. We are no doubt Muslims but we are also the daughters and sons of this soil and want to see it progress and prosper, not mutilated by anyone.

Mishal Tariq
Kinnaird College,
Lahore

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This is in response to a letter by Danielle Ali Riaz on April 30. I was taken aback by her opinion on the Taliban and their treatment of women. I am a Muslim, I cover my head and wear an abaya as well but that is because I want to. I am not undermining the importance of hijab in any sense but the fact that the Taliban force women with a stick to cover is absolutely wrong. Since when did force become the primary tactic to spread Islam?
For women to go out alone in a safe environment is not wrong, in fact it seems it would become unsafe for even men along with women to step out of their houses if the Taliban were to come into power. It seems that all that the Taliban want is for women to be locked in their houses and wear a head-to-toe veil. May I ask is that the only thing the Holy Prophet (PBUH) preached? Weren’t other things like patience, forgiveness and having a good temperament also stressed upon?

Maryam Yasmin Hussain
Islamabad

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In response to Danielle Ali Riaz’s letter (April 30) I would like to clarify that since Pakistan has already suffered the ordeal of so-called ‘Islamisation’ under the rule of Ziaul Haq (1977-1988), and is still trying to come to terms with the after-effects it is hardly surprising that there should be abundant anti-Taliban sentiment. The Taliban are not as just as Mrs Riaz naively assumes them to be.
Is it fair to impose one’s own views on the entire population? And what about the non-Muslims? Should they be forced to follow Islamic law too? Yes, the girls in Swat may have returned to school, yet they do so in constant fear of their lives. Additionally, it is extremely unfair to set migration to other countries as the price for freedom of expression.

Farah Tiwana
Karachi