Daily Times

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has revoked a controversial notification issued on September 13, which made it mandatory for girl students of public schools to wear abaya in classrooms. Seeing an overwhelming reaction to what people increasingly call dress policing, PTI posted on its official Twitter account: “KP Government doesn’t believe in compulsion, and citizens are free to decide what’s best for them. The notification circulating regarding compulsion of abaya for the girls is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect.” The KP government should be lauded for the wise decision instead of sticking to the original directive, which mostly stems from a widely held belief that all social ills will be curtailed if a woman (and girl) is covered up. The weaker segment of our society – women – becomes an easy pick for moral policing zealots. Earlier, Adviser to Chief Minister on Elementary and Secondary Education Ziaullah Bangash justified the decision. He told a private TV channel that situations arising in tribal areas and Kohistan region forced them to invoke the pardah regulations as “We have sensitive areas in the province which require safety measures for the children … the decision is also in line with the tribal values and the traditions of Islam.”

The protection of cultural and religious norms should not be a government’s job. The power of culture keeps societal values intact. The Haripur district education officer, while praising the decision, said most of the girl students already wear daupatta as a matter of habit or local tradition. There should not be an issue with local traditions and cultural norms. Those showing aversion to putting on daupatta or abaya as a matter of choice are equally condemnable as are those supporting dress policing.

The issue of dress code will not go away until women are protected from the prevailing menace of ogling on streets. When told that even those wearing daupatta or abaya are not spared from predatory gazes, the pro-dress policing factions go a step further and call for ban on the movement of women on streets and women education altogether. In a way, they legitimise the predatory male gaze, putting the burden of social ills on womenfolk. This is the worst display of patriarchal power. Similarly, whenever a woman dares to speak against sexual harassment, chauvinistic lots come in droves to defend the harassers.

Instead of advocating abayas, males should train their eyes and brains to respect women on the streets. Also, laws against sexual harassment need to be properly enforced. *