Daily Times

I finally saw it. After months of wondering whether they actually existed or whether it was just a hoax, I finally saw one the other day. As I drove down the canal, past New Muslim Town, Lahore, there it was, in all its glory, shiny, sleek and new: the pink bus!

In January this year, the Punjab government launched three ‘pink’ buses on three routes in Lahore, with the aim of providing harassment-free travel for females. Many have criticised this move, female activists and sore men, both. They argue that by launching a separate bus service, the government is increasing the divide further, which will make women more prone to harassment.

First, Punjab is not the first to introduce such a service. It might come as a shock to many that progressive and highly developed countries like Japan already have provisions for segregated travel. Many other countries are running women-only train and/or bus services including Indonesia, Guatemala, Egypt, India, Israel, Malaysia, Brazil, Taiwan, the Philippines, Dubai, Mexico and so on. A quick look at the list of countries reveals that it is not a ‘Muslim-extremism’ issue but spans a variety of cultures and religious and ethnic divides.

For women travelling on public transport, harassment is a major issue. No one in their right mind wants to be groped by lecherous men against their wishes; what they consent to is their private issue and not open to discussion here. Our standard buses while providing a separate compartment for women have failed to stem the menace of sexual harassment for them. Often overcrowded, women are forced to stand in the men’s side or near the driver, which continually exposes them to being touched and groped at; the same holds true for vans, which ply the city’s various routes and where women sit in front with the driver, who indulges in unwanted touching on one pretext or another.

The critics of the pink bus service argue that the need of the day is awareness and stricter laws with forceful implementation. The same was argued in all the other countries, who as a last resort, after all the awareness campaigns failed and when laws enacted could not be implemented in practice, started female-only transport services. The current law in force in Pakistan that tackles sexual harassment on public transport is laughable to say the least. Not only is it a non-cognizable offence on the penal statute book but the sheer absurdity and impracticality of it is outstanding. How is a woman supposed to lodge a complaint against a man whom she does not know, whose address is also unknown to a police station whose jurisdiction is also unknown as the bus would be on the move, to a policeman who can neither locate or without a magistrate’s permission arrest the offender? It is truly remarkable and definitely a brainchild of people who seem to have a great deal of exposure facing the realities of the world as they pertain to ordinary mortals!

The colour pink has come to be associated with femininity in the last century. Baby girls are generally dressed in pink; their rooms and paraphernalia is mostly pink or with pink hues. The colour pink is supposed to denote freshness, delicacy, kindness, sweetness, tenderness and caring. Islam promises paradise to those who raise girls in a fine manner; what could be clearer than that? But in spite of the clear injunctions, the birth of females is generally a sad event in a Pakistani household. “And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inward grief. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of that whereof he has been informed. Shall he keep her with dishonour or bury her in the earth? Certainly, evil is their decision” (An-Nahl, 16:58-59).

A press report in 2004 showed that 80 percent of discarded or abandoned babies were females; last year CNN reported that nine out of ten babies killed were girls. CNN quoted Anwar Kazmi, a manager at Edhi Foundation, “Sometimes they hang them, and sometimes they kill by the knife, and sometimes we find bodies which have been burned.” Statistics show that more than 1,200 babies were killed and thrown away in 2010, which is a marked increase from 2009.

“When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned — For what crime she was killed; When the scrolls are laid open; When the world on High is unveiled; When the Blazing Fire is kindled to fierce heat; And when the Garden is brought near; (Then) shall each soul know what it has put forward”(Quran 81:1-14).

A man in the Okara district allegedly murdered his three daughters, age ranging from two months to seven years this week. He is not the first and will not be the last.

The same day I saw the pink bus, I also saw a ‘blue board’ on a private hospital on Jail Road in front of Kinnaird College for Women, which advertised ‘Gender Selection’. As I looked up on the issue, I was horrified to find that another well-known hospital on Ferozepur Road, opposite Gaddafi Stadium, advertised the same on its website. Gender Selection is defined as “any manoeuvre intended to increase the likelihood of giving birth to a child of a chosen sex.” Both these hospitals are prima facie openly advertising ‘gender selection’ as a part of their infertility treatment called ‘IVF’ (in-vitro fertilisation), or more popularly ‘test tube babies’. Another technique ‘PGD’ (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) coupled with IVF ensures a higher gender selection rate. While it is desirable for infertile couples to resort to modern medicine for a child, is it ethical for them or the doctors to pick and choose the sex of the baby? Given the patriarchal trends in our society, this effectively encourages couples to say ‘no’ to a girl child.

A reality show, ‘Satyamev Jayate’, hosted by actor Aamir Khan, is making headlines in India and the world. In its first episode, the issue of female foeticide was brought to the forefront; 30 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 30 years. It was horrifying to learn that it was a government policy in vogue in the 1970s that started the ball rolling, courtesy sex detection through ultrasound. The incidence of female foeticide has left the male-female ratio greatly skewed.

Pakistan has no figures available. Female foeticide and infanticide are rampant. There is no check despite laws being in place; there are hundreds and thousands of clinics offering such services without any fear. To advertise and promote ‘gender selection’, natural or genetic, is unethical, and discriminatory either way and should be a crime. To do so with impunity right under our noses more so. The Punjab government has introduced a ‘Women’s Empowerment Package’, which seeks to strengthen the position of women in all spheres of life. The initiative of the pink buses is an effort to promote the independence of women by providing them a hassle-free travelling opportunity, which was apparent when I looked at the peaceful and relaxed commuters on the bus. Pink is a vibrant colour, full of life, just like the precious daughters we have been blessed with. Provide them love, tender nurturing, education, values, and watch them blossom; they are not a burden. Embrace them with gratitude for they are ‘the colour pink’.

The writer is an advocate of the high court