By Naghmana A. Hashmi,
Commenting on the role and contribution of women in the development of a nation, founder of Pakistan Mr. Jinnah, reminded the people that, “No nation can ever be worthy of its existence or can rise to the height of glory that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is however a third power stronger than both, that of the women.”
Chairman Mao had very aptly said that, ‘women hold half the sky’. Two important policy decisions taken by Chairman Mao just after the establishment of New China were to ensure all women in the country got quality education along with men
2. In the early days after independence, we saw towering personalities like Fatima Ali Jinnah, Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, Viqarun Nissa Noon, Begum Khaleeq-uz-Zama Siddiqueand many others who led by example and motivated a whole generation of women and girls to come forward and help build the young nation of Pakistan. Their contribution will forever to written in golden words in the history of Pakistan.
3. The contribution of each one of them helped build a strong base and provided a direction following which the women of Pakistan from the 1947 to almost 1980 made their mark in various fields of activity from politics to diplomacy, from agriculture to science and technology, from medicine to aviation but then we see that after the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet and the jihad hysteria that followed erected artificial barriers in the development path of the talented young women of this beautiful country. An orchestrated, deliberate and well planned effort was undertaken by none other than the government itself to scuttle the development of women and push them out of the public space.
4. An era which was probably the darkest period for women of Pakistan who wondered if this was the Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam had fought so hard for and in which he has envisaged the Pakistani women working and striding forward along with the men to take this nation to new heights of progress and development. Some of the most regressive and inhibiting laws were enacted to ensure women stayed out of the public space. Although that dark period has now gone but still the mind set it encouraged persists.
5. Salute to the women who stood up to brutality and regressive mind set of the 1980s and refused to be intimidated. They continued to fight the system and stigma and at times jail and police brutality to uphold the vision of the Quaid and slowly trudged along clearing the path for generations that followed.
6. Chairman Mao had very aptly said that, ‘women hold half the sky’. Two important policy decisions taken by Chairman Mao just after the establishment of New China were to ensure all women in the country got quality education along with men and to open all area of state activity for women employment. Educated Chinese women working in all segments of government, armed forces, academia, economy, industry, medicine, agriculture, science and technology etc contributed equally to the phenomenal rise of China. Today the Chinese women are confidently striding forward in the 21st century breaking one glass ceiling after the other.
7. Similarly Nelson Mandela in 1996 stated that, “As long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance. As long as outdated ways of thinking prevent women from making a meaningful contribution to society, progress will be slow. As long as the nation refuses to acknowledge the equal role of more than half of itself, it is doomed to failure.”
8. We see the three great leaders of two important continents had clarity of vision and unanimity of views on the role of women in the building of a nation and their contribution in the socio-economic development of their country. It is this clarity of vision at the leadership level that is once again required to ensure women of Pakistan are not only encouraged but requisite laws and enabling environment is created to enable the women to make a meaningful contribution for the further progress and development of Pakistan. Although in the past twenty years Pakistani women have started to shed the yoke put around their necks in the 80s and slowly regain some of the lost space.
9. Today we see Pakistani women going beyond the traditional comfort zone of professions like teaching, health care, civil service and agriculture. Today we see the young and proud Pakistani women as strong politicians, business leaders, armed forces officers, engineers, nuclear scientists, mountaineers, diplomats, miners, sports women, law enforcement officers and government officers to name but a few sectors. Some Pakistani women who are a role model for millions and are inspiring a generation of girls all around the world include former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Dr Sania Nishtar – health and development leader, Dr Sarah Qureshi – aerospace enginee, Sana Mir – Cricket star, Nigar Johar – Pakistan’s first woman three-star general, Pakistan’s first female architect, Yasmeen Lari, Shazia Parveen – Pakistan’s first female fire fighter, Karishma Ali- footballer, Two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Ayesha Farooq is one of the first women to become a fighter pilot, Asma Jahangir spent much of her career on a socio-political battleground campaigning for the rights of marginalised communities, Abida Parveen is truly an underrated superstar of Pakistan’s music industry, Samina is a high-altitude mountaineer who became the first Pakistani woman to climb all seven of the highest peaks around the world. To name just a few.
Coming to the corporate and business world we see some phenomenally successful women making their mark not only in Pakistan but internationally making the nation proud.
Nelson Mandela in 1996 stated that, “As long as women are bound by poverty and as long as they are looked down upon, human rights will lack substance.
10. Fiza-Farhan the 28-year old entrepreneur is the co-founder of the Buksh Foundation. Since 2009, Buksh Foundation has been operating in Pakistan. Buksh foundation is a microfinance institution that takes clean energy projects to the underprivileged and rural areas of Pakistan. The institution has brought solar powered lights to around 6750 household all across Pakistan. It has also trained 135 women as energy entrepreneurs. The distinguished business magazine Forbes has included her name in its list of 30 under 30 social entrepreneurs for the year 2015.
11. PASHA (Pakistan Software Houses Associations) is the brain child of Jehan Ara. The organization collaborates with other national and international institutions to provide its clients the best of software products. Jehan Ara also excels in the field of marketing, communications and media. She has an experience of around 30 years. Besides Pakistan she has also worked in other countries such as UAE, Hong Kong and the Far East. Jehan Ara is an entrepreneur par excellence. She is also an excellent speaker, motivator and writer.
12. Nabila Maqsood, opened her first salon in May 1986 in Karachi and through “sheer” hard work she is the gigantic name we all know today. Nabila is considered an integral part of the fashion industry of Pakistan. She has been associated with the fashion world for the past 20 years or so. However she does not let that get in the way of her business, she has expanded her salon all over Pakistan and has recently opened a men’s saloon “N-Gents” as well as a Nail Salon.
13. Sabeen Mahmud the ex-President of TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) owned the Second Floor Café (T2F) Karachi. It is an initiative that supports productive discussions and debate on the existing issues of Pakistan. T2F café was introduced by ‘Peace Niche’ (a not for profit organization striving to resolve political conflicts through cultural engagement. Peace Niche is founded and directed by Sabeen Mahmood. During the late hours of 24 April 2015, Mahmud, while traveling in her Suzuki Swift (Registration Number AWH 541), was fatally shot by gunmen near the DHA library on her way home after hosting a seminar.
14. Salaina Haroon responsible for building and managing human capital as well as growing her public relations business, Salaina Haroon is an entrepreneur who advises leading corporations on ways to introduce innovation and creativity into their corporate cultures. Salaina Haroon is the Editor in chief of CIO Pakistan and the founder and director of Communique Collective. CIO is the largest business technology leadership magazine in the world. Communique Collective is a marketing firm that deals with small and medium enterprises both in locally and internationally.
15. Roshaneh Zafar is the Founder and Managing Director of the Kashf Foundation. The institution provides financial aid and education to the women working in villages, in order to improve their economic condition. She used to work for the World Bank before she started off Kashf Foundation. The foundation operates in Sindh, KPK, and Balochistan.
16. Salma Jafri is one of the most successful ‘content marketers’ in Pakistan. She is also the founder and CEO of WordPL.net. The organization focuses on marketing content that any young entrepreneur aims to push through social media. The company specializes in social media marketing and planning, blog and content writing. It also provides marketing consultation.
17. Sana and Safinaz the two have taken over the bridal couture scene in Pakistan and other parts of the world. They have expanded their business far and wide and have stretched their reach till the Middle East. You won’t believe that it all started right out of a townhouse house!
18. Farida Qureshi is one of the most relied upon names in the fashion industry. Farida is one of the first mainstream fashion designers in Pakistan. She is now a household name and one of the best designers for women’s formal clothing.
19. Mrs. Seema Taher Khan, co-founded “Interflow Communications” with her husband Mr. Taher A. Khan. She is currently heading the Interflow Group’s electronic television channels; TVONE, NewsOne and WasebTV as the CEO, and is also the Group’s Public Services Division head.
Kalsoom founded “Invest2Innovate”, also known as i2i, in 2011. Her startup connects budding entrepreneurs with investors and support, in line with their belief that “entrepreneurs have the power to change the world”.
20. Maria Umar founded “Women’s Digital League” (WDL), which is an online portal that provides digital services. WDL aims to tap into “a vast dormant workforce which is either discouraged from working outside or has trouble finding work opportunities”. Maria believes that this will help women become more economically empowered.
21. There is no way you haven’t heard of her! Momina Duraid, is a TV producer, script-writer, lyricist, director and much much more. She is also the CEO of “Moomal Productions”, one of Hum TV’s production houses.
22. As integral part of the society, Pakistani women always had the potential to play a multi-dimensional role of societal and organizational responsibility, particularly when phenomenal changes are taking place across the globe. If women were given equal opportunities in all fields, there is no doubt that they can produce marvelous results. We have seen that Pakistani women have established their mark and performed tremendously well in all walks of life.
23. I believe that it is the right time to actively integrate and engage skilled women in country’s jobs and policies, so that the pace of development and progress in Pakistan can be further enhanced. Their services would be even more valuable if they were provided with more opportunities to move forward.
The writer is the former ambassador to China and Brussels
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