Sir: Two woman activists in Sindh are not only facing threats from landlords in our male dominated society but also braving fierce opposition from so-called liberal individuals and groups who pay lip service to women’s empowerment but use all their energies to stifle any real effort by true activists for gender equality.
For the last two decades, Amar Sindhu and Arfana Mallah, two daring women’s rights activists in Sindh, have been facing such fierce resistance from their fellow academia and some big male names of civil society.
These brave women against all odds are struggling for the rights of women and have defeated all male dominated barriers in the way of women’s rights. Women’s Action Forum headed by Amar Sindhu and Arfana Mallah has some remarkable achievements to its credit. A few years ago, Amar Sindhu immediately reached the venue when a mentally challenged man was lynched and his body was dragged and burnt by extremist fanatics in Seta Village in Dadu District and bravely wrote against this madness. When religious extremists exhumed the body of Bhoro Bheel saying they will not tolerate the body of a non-Muslim in a Muslim cemetery, groups of these women reached the place and celebrated the day titled, “Bhoro our brother.” The group has also set up a literary meeting place called Khanabadosh that besides playing a vital role in the revival of literary lustre in Sindh is also helping in demolishing outdated norms where only men have to sit, debate and lead the discourses on political, social and every other issue on earth. At Khanabadosh, women sitting in a café and debating issues and arranging literary events is a novel and refreshing development in the historic city of Hyderabad. But due to the jealousy factor, some elements have started a vicious campaign of maligning the group of these brave Sindhi women activists on the tenuous grounds of morality, seeking promotion and such other laughable allegations.
GULSHER PANHWER
Johi