Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/24680
ATTA KENARE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Kashmir’s Tears highlights 24 Iran’s Woman Minister 25 Uighur Leader Pakistani women rally against the Taliban and other Islamic militants after Taliban forces destroyed girls’ schools in Swat. taught only the Koran, emphasizing a misogynist spin. For example, in the PBS documentary Children of the Tal- iban, a young Talib compares women to garbage bags. This past January, the Taliban ex- panded into Swat, a tourist resort, shutting down girls’ education and applying extreme Sharia law. When a videotape of militants flogging a girl appeared on YouTube, protests erupted nationwide and politicians responded. “There can be no leniency,” fumed Pakistan’s federal minister for petrole- um, Naveed Qamar, as the army was ordered to fight back. With Taliban leaders denouncing elections, Parlia- ment and the nation’s Supreme Court as “un-Islamic,” the newly minted theory of “good Taliban ver- sus bad Taliban” was demolished (see sidebar “Looking for Mr. Moderate Taliban”). As the Pakistani military regains Swat, its own power and role are un- der review. For the first time, com- manders had to trudge to Parliament to explain their security plans (rather than vice versa). The military was also forced to act against Talibanization within its own ranks, even announc- ing names of Taliban sympathizers in the press. Liberals are determined to take the country “back from the brink…the state is beginning to move,” states Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s former in- formation minister, who voted against deals with the Taliban. In fact, Pakistan’s National Assembly passed its first-ever comprehensive domestic- violence bill in August, with multi- party support; it awaits Senate passage to become law. Politicians are www.msmagazine.com also being pressured to intensify pri- vate development initiatives by an impatient citizenry protesting lack of services. “With nine doctors on the health committee of Parliament, health-care reform can no longer be delayed,” acknowledges opposition member Dr. Donya Aziz. Women are crucial in this incipient wave of change. Pakistan’s largest hu- manitarian services agency, Edhi, is run by Abdul Sattar Edhi, a Muslim cleric, and his wife, Bilquis. Edhi openly acknowledges that his mar- riage “was the multiplier to success,” a contrast to religious-extremist gender segregation. He prepares bodies for burial while Bilquis delivers babies, both of them running a nationwide agency with fleets of ground and air ambulances, hospitals, orphanages and women’s shelters. “This is real re- ligion,” says Bilquis, “not beards with 26 no Islamic deeds.” Successful community-development projects are also being run by women. Mussarrat Parveen, who works for Bunyad in Southern Punjab, an epi- center of Talibanization, runs a coed- ucational school with adult literacy, health and microcredit programs that target mothers, “as all their men are unemployed.” But Pakistan’s development will remain stymied if women and people living in rural areas remain under- utilized and underserviced. Indeed, there is an increasing income divide and culture clash between the gelled- hair, tank-top crowd—educated in Westernized private schools and treated for health problems in for- profit clinics—and the bearded and burqa-clad. Since the front line of Talibaniza- tion has expanded into the cities, the Looking for Mr. Moderate Taliban Earlier this year, some policy analysts and U.S. military officials recommended separating Taliban leaders into “moderates” and “terrorists.” Afghanistan and Pakistan also considered “dialogue” with “moderate Taliban elements.” Though this approach was largely discarded in Pakistan, it’s still afloat in Afghanistan. Consequently, here are recommendations for identifying “moderate Taliban”: —Any leader whose daughters are being educated without restriction on grade level or subjects; —Any leader whose mother, sisters, and/or wife are educated without restriction on grade level or subjects; —Any leader willing to escort the women and girls of his family to a male physician if he is the doctor on duty at the hospital/clinic; —Any leader whose female family members have paid employment or are self-employed. Any leader who has killed or advocated killing of individuals or groups that disagree with his viewpoint, however, is not eligible for moderate status. These criteria for moderate Taliban are in line with Islamic teachings on education, health and employment, and are accepted under the constitutions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They’re also in line with the United Nations’ Charter and the Millennium Development Goals, which all member states, including the 53 Muslim countries, have pledged to reach by 2015. They are simple, objective and easily verifiable, and don’t involve measuring the length of a man’s beard or whether a woman is veiled—which are personal and cultural choices. —S.R. FALL 2009 | 23