Fundamentally Flawed
My wife and I came to Lehigh University from Pakistan just a few months ago on a Rescue Fellowship, which was sponsored by the International Institute of Education (IIE). Pakistan has been in the international news frequently these days due to the war against terrorism. In the wake of terrorist attacks all over the country and growing lawlessness, President Asif Ali Zardari and his administration seem totally helpless. Let me share some of my experiences working at a Pakistani university so that you might be able to understand what is actually going on in post-fundamentalist Pakistan.
Amnesty International and The Human Rights Commission Of Pakistan publish documents every year detailing the human right abuses in Pakistan. They mention that the state of Pakistan still fails to provide adequate protection for women and the working class. Despite making up almost 51 % of the population, women continue to face a discriminatory status in Pakistani society. There is a great tide of violence against women since 9/11. Hundreds and thousands of innocent women are victims of honor killings, acid throwing, rape and murder. In post-colonial Pakistan, gang rape and other barbaric traditions are used as a form of criminal punishment. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Pakistani women have already suffered gang rape in the name of honor or tribal revenge. Last year, five women were buried alive in Baluchistan. Human rights groups and civil-rights activists organized protest demonstrations all over Pakistan. It is the most shameful and barbaric crime of the 21st century.
I was teaching as an adjunct lecturer in the English department at Bahauddin Zakria University Pakistan at that time. My wife, Shirin Haider was professor and chair of the English Department. She asked me to organize a peaceful protest demonstration against the barbaric killing of the five innocent women. We organized a rally in which hundreds of female students very actively and voluntarily participated. They shouted slogans against barbaric tribal laws and feudalism. My wife announced the declaration of war against barbaric and criminal traditions against women by founding the Revolutionary Women’s Action Committee (ReWAC), a platform for women’s liberation and revolutionary struggle. It was one of the biggest organized rallies in the history of Multan, which, with its feudalism and religious shrines, is one of the most backwards and traditional cities in Pakistan. In places like Multan, women are not allowed to participate in politics because of chauvinist pseudo-religious dominance.
The next day, our rally was covered in the news. All the local and national newspapers ran headlines with images of women demanding their legal rights. We started consciousness-raising groups and seminars on gender and social awareness, and the response was very positive. Within a few months, hundreds of female students joined our organization. We organized another protest rally, this time inside the campus, against gender harassment and violence against women. Despite threats from the Taliban and the conservative University administration, our female activists organized the rally. In that part of the country, this was deemed a progressive and revolutionary move. It heralded the feminist uprising within the campus. Our democratic and revolutionary initiative was a great success; it gave strength to oppressed and humiliated female students.
Critical revolutionary activism of female students was a breath of fresh air in the stifling environment of Southern Punjab. However, the reactionary and conservative University administration, sponsored and influenced by the feudal lords, local fanatic groups and traditionalists felt threatened by the revolutionary activism of female students. Our activism was a spark of life and hope for the oppressed women who are denied basic human freedoms and rights. Our activists tried to organize a musical evening on the campus to promote awareness of sexual harassment, which is rampant in all state-run universities. Recently, a female faculty member at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad was burned with acid at the hands of a fanatic professor. In another incident, two female students experienced harassment at an examination centre at Zakriya University in Multan.
The Vice Chancellor of our University demanded an immediate explanation from Professor Haider for launching ReWAC. Like a ruthless dictator, he banned all activities linked to ReWAC. Our activists were coerced through harassment to give up their membership in ReWAC, and were threatened with expulsion if they resisted. I was immediately terminated from my position. The Vice
Chancellor very ironically thought that I was plotting a political rebellion for social change against the government with female students. I was banned from even stepping foot on the campus. It was an assault on my freedom and an insult to my pedagogy, so I protested with my wife and students. The very next day Professor Haider was removed from her position as chair of the English Department. I was arrested at the main gate of the University as I was going to my residence inside the campus. My wife was manhandled, and I was sent to police station where I was brutally tortured by the police for three days. Then, I was sent to jail and was released on bail after 14 days.
During my detention, my wife, along with female students and activists were psychologically harassed and humiliated by the University administration. During my detention, I started a hunger strike which lasted for 54 days. On the eve of the 54th day, I pinned down nails in my feet and left hand as a symbolic protest. I was treated like a war criminal; they forcefully undressed me and struck my lower back with 17 lashes. They asked me to cry and beg for mercy, but I refused. They kept hitting me harder and harder until I fell unconscious. They later threw cold and filthy water on me. During torture, one of the police officers pressed my genitals and scornfully laughing, checked my circumcision. I have seen the naked brutality of Pakistani state. I have also experienced the hypocrisy of intellectuals and professors. I have witnessed malicious opportunism and the betrayal of middle class friends and colleagues.
After this experience, I realized that one of the main reasons Pakistan is fast becoming a breeding ground for religious extremism and terrorism is because of the oppressive and decadent education system based on class stratification inherited from British imperialism. Pakistan is a failed state, although paradoxically it has nuclear weapons for people’s destruction. It has a very powerful corporate army, which is mainly responsible for harboring and preserving socio-political decadence, lawlessness, violence and corruption. There is a very strong police force, which is used for political victimization, harassment and torture, and the judicial system is inhumane and corrupt.
Pakistan is a long-term strategic partner of the United States and the most faithful ally in its war against terror. Now, the US Congress has approved the Kerry-Lugar bill of $1.5 billion to facilitate non-proliferation, faithful implementation and commitment towards war against the religiously faithful terrorists. I think the grant will only add insult to injury. It will further aggravate political tension and will sabotage the political and democratic process of Pakistan. Pakistan needs immediate social surgery, because the tumor of religious extremism and terrorism is getting more and more dangerous for global peace and security.
