Women`s role in struggle for rights highlighted

KARACHI: The main hindrances to nation building are poverty, injustice, and lack of education, said Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jahangir in her key-note address at a seminar on `Muslim women: through the lens of history, religion, law and society`.

The four-day event has been organised by the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation.

In her presentation on `The role of Pakistani women in nation building`, she said that in Pakistan women had not been given equal credit and rights since the creation of the country.

“Women are exploited, treated as second-class citizens, but have continued to struggle and work for their rights,” she said.

She gave the example of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, who stood against Gen Ayub Khan, and noted that Pakistan had the first woman prime minister in the Muslim world.

The SCBA president said that nation building, however, was only possible when there was a change in the mindset and women were seen as equal citizens.

Peace and tolerance were also pre-requisite for nation building as the absence of peace and rampant intolerance severely hampered development of any society, she said. The seminar will continue till Thursday.

Source: Dawn

Date:3/16/2011