It was very late in the night when my mother woke me up and asked me to take her to the hospital. She was sweating heavily and obviously not feeling well. We women were alone at home because my brother was out with his friends. I tried to call him but he was out of reach. Instead of wasting more time knocking our neighbors’ doors or calling our relatives to come and help us, I simply took the car and drove to the emergency unit at the nearest hospital.

Within a few minutes I was able to get medical help. My mother got the necessary treatment and after a few hours she was feeling much better. I thanked God both for my mother’s life and for the fact that I was living in a city where I could move on my own without any restrictions.

I was particularly grateful for my circumstances because of of a piece of news that was circulating in the media. It was about an announcement made by some clerics and tribal elders in Karak, a small town in Pakistan’s northwestern province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Prohibition, why always for women?

According to the reports, a few clerics and tribal elders announced during their sermons of “Juma (Friday) prayer” that women would not be permitted to go out and shop in the market without being escorted by a male relative. According to news reports, these people announced that women who show up unaccompanied by male relatives would be arrested and shopkeepers entertaining such customers would be penalized. The reason behind this absurd decision was, according to reports, the desire to save men from being distracted during their fasting and prayers in the Holy month of Ramadan.

As per my belief and what we have been taught about the idea of fasting is that it is based on self-restraint and control. What I fail to understand is, why those clerics didn’t issue any order against men who could not restrain themselves from being distracted and found it hard to maintain their fast in the presence of veiled women.

In most parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and particularly in the tribal areas, women are not allowed to go outside without covering their body from head to toe in a Burqa (veil). Why is it, that when ever such clerics decide to impose religious teachings, they start to do so by oppressing women?

Back to the medieval age?

This news led me think that instead of progressing towards a fair society for both genders, we are moving back to medieval times when women were barred from living their lives and when there was no concept of personal liberty for them. In most parts of Pakistan, women are not treated fairly and are often discriminated in the name of cultural and social norms or religious practices. These types of decisions only increase pressure on women instead of empowering them.

Ironically, some people are trying to justify these orders issued by those chauvinist clerics. Few are of the opinion that these orders were for a temporary period. Some justify it by saying it is to control thefts in marketplaces, mainly by women.

Social media is overflowing with articles and pictures proving that this is happening not in just one part of a country but that various towns and cities are already barring women from leaving their homes without a male companion. A picture of a banner taken in a market of Lucky Marwat, another city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa says that women are not allowed to enter  shops without a male companion.

I am afraid what would happen if such a decision were to be implemented in my city.

Author: Unbreen Fatima

Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan