Daily Times

Dr Shakir Khawaja is peace and gender specialist and a renowned academician based in Islamabad. She is well versed on issues regarding female empowerment, regional peace and international relations. She has a doctorate and completed her thesis exploring energy politics between India and Pakistan, from the Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. One of her major achievement was that she represented Pakistan at the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) that was held in the USA in 2012.

Tell us about your achievements in the field of academia?

During my school days I was not a serious student but when I reached grade 10, my father had a conversation with me about the role of education in achieving ones dreams. He convinced me that there was no other option but to study hard. I was swayed and haven’t looked back since. I secured good grade and received the President’s Gold Medal of Merit in Bachelors. I then completed my Masters in Pakistan Studies and Political Science. Later I started my MSc and MPhil in Defence and Strategic Studies and passed with good grades. In 2003, I became the first assistant research officer at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute to author a monograph titled ‘Pakistan and the New Great Game’. In 2006 after completing my MPhil, I received a scholarship by the German Government for PhD studies at Martin Luther University. In 2008 I joined the National Defence University as an assistant professor, where I had the honour of establishing ‘Peace and Conflict Studies for the first time in Pakistan. You can call me a pioneer of this subject. Lastly, I completed my PhD in 2013. My PhD dissertation is about the impact of perceptions on Energy Politics between India and Pakistan.

What are your thoughts on feminism in Pakistan?

I will define feminism as equality for women and freedom from gender discrimination in different aspects of life. Feminists are those who dare to break the conspiracy of silence about oppression, unequal relationships between men and women. However, I will not tag myself as an activist rather I am truly an academician. My job is to create awareness, to spread the light and to share knowledge. I am glad that I am the first one in Pakistan to teach ‘Gender and Conflict’, as a course. I have authored research papers on the same subject.

“This book is the first ever factual and academic account of Pakistan’s position, interest and perspective regarding ‘Confidence Building Measure’ between Pakistan and India”

Humanitarian law is a new context in Pakistan, which other sectors need such laws?

Humanitarian Law is known as ‘the law of armed conflict.’ It aims at regulating the chaotic and uncertain situation of conflict and war. Its implementation is difficult but not impossible. In contemporary conflict a new dimension of ‘non-state actors’ has been added to humanitarian law as ideally it applies on state actors. We need to find a solution and a framework to make it applicable on revisionist forces as well.

Tell us about your upcoming book

which is based on Pakistan-India relations? Do you think peace is possible?

Peace is possible only if we demonstrate the commitment needed for it. If political will is successful in generating political capital, then let me assure you nothing is impossible. I am really proud of my research work on the relevance of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ (CBMs) between Pakistan and India in volatile and hostile regional scenario. My book, titled, ‘Shaking Hands with Clenched Fists’ will be launched in September 2018. This book is the first ever factual and academic account of Pakistan’s position, interest and perspective regarding CBMs between the two countries.

In regard to evaluating and applying a strategy for CBMs in the case of Pakistan and India, it will be critical to review particular paradigms of their national security. This will encompass conservancy of national identities and supremacy in political and territorial terms for both. Ideally, both security and cooperation – rather security through cooperation – should be the overarching objectives to govern bilateral relations and regional interaction. The matter of Pak-India CBMs thus becomes a case of complex approach, against the backdrop of a relation marred with a history of animosity as well as disputes pertaining to territorial supremacy and demarcation, water, security, arms proliferation, power struggle, threat perceptions, and so on and so forth.

What do you think can we expect from the new government in terms of Pak-US relations?

Pak-US relation is a complicated issue, as two countries with divergent interests need to find common ground to safeguard their interests. Cooperation is more productive than confrontation, engagement is more beneficial than disengagement and inclusiveness is better than exclusiveness.

What needs to be achieved in order for women and girls to live in a safe world?

We need to redistribute power at societal level between men and women. We need to convince men to let go of some of their power in favour of women. We need to detach the identity of women from being sex symbol to being an intelligent being. There is a long way to go but we have to do it.

The interviewer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He has done his Masters and MPhil in Communication Studies. He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com, tweets at Salmani_salu

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2018.