Daily Times

Women have suffered eternities to seek their basic human rights irrespective of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Constitution of various countries that claimed all humans as equal and subjected to be treated same under but women were deprived of their identity, rights, and even for a longer period their right to life was taken away from them. It is no doubt that women have fought for their recognition, acknowledgment, and acceptance for years but are we really accepted in this world today?

Every now and then, constant news appears of women being raped, tortured, kidnapped, or killed by any random person and not until today I believe most cases have been kept on track to fetch the culprits and put them to their actual positions – behind bars. The most I see is the role of social media where if any news gets viral some influencers and high profile pages support it and this hype pushes the stakeholders to take immediate action. This constant follow-up by social media celebrities or the role of trends and hashtags on Twitter forces police and other news broadcasters to take the cases into serious consideration, but as soon as these social media follow-ups seem to be at a slow pace the tracking of the culprits seems to crawl apparently. Just like the rape attempt on Lahore motorway was hyped, and people came to roads for it but do we see any outcome? Any punishment? Or any law being implemented over the rapists? Alas, amidst all these social media campaigns most cases remain unattended even today!

We still believe that females like Zainab, Kainat, Rizwana, widows, newborns and a lot more will be given justice but are we only hoping? Is there any reality in our hopes? I assume no we are expecting the unexpected since the most justice anyone has been given till date is their culprit goes behind bars and soon after gets freed to abuse more targets. This time even the accusers come stronger and with newer policies.

The war for women doesn’t only stop at rapes and abuse but we consider women as insignificant members of our society even in today’s modern world. This is sad to see that women become an easy target for everybody over social media or other platforms. Any day we see a news popping up where a woman is being accused or body shamed for their looks or working styles. The most recent example is of former Federal Minister Shazia Marri who was accused of keeping 97 billion rupees at her home and apparently the fake propaganda claimed this as the little amount but the banks as filled with trillions of rupees as well. We see women are an easy target for everyone and everybody perceives them as weaker to come and speak volume but this time the game players targeted the wrong person.

The accusers tried to seek attention using Marri’s name and tried to exploit her image as it is usual for them but this time it is not a usual female who is being accused of something. This time it is a former federal minister who is a brave leader, someone who has earned her name with hard work, blood, and sweat after working day and night for its people. Soon after the news broke, Shazia Marri denied the rumors yet a fire of Twitter trends and news reports oozed out calling Marri a dishonest person. Marri called out the entire fake accuses that were made at her and at the earliest possible she sent a legal notice to all peddlers of fake and baseless news sellers. Right after the news of legal notices broke almost everybody deleted their tweets or apologized Marri for their wrongdoing. Is it how we respect women or treat them, especially living in a Muslim country where the Quran calls women the most respectable? Is it really that we still consider women as an easy target?

Living in a world where women are standing and working at par with men and have proven their abilities to bring efficiency, and creativity at work and other stages of life – Pakistan is still playing the blame game, accusing women and trying to pull others legs while seeing others succeed at any smaller or bigger level. What is wrong with our system? Shall we make strict policies in our digital and print system? Can we revise our policies and laws?

I believe gone are the days when women were called as weak and less but now women are thought leaders, honest and brave who are leading entire nations – those women like Shazia Marri who are able to take actions and stand for themselves, and who are able to bridge their necessities at their own. These women can fight, argue, and live their life all by themselves – they aren’t weak or insignificant. We mustn’t forget that we are surrounded by women who are our home makers and most importantly they are and so we are!

The writer is a humanist and feminist and this article reflects her own thoughts and beliefs. She can be reached at xainabbaloch18@gmail.com