Plight of Sindhi Women: Another View

Photo taken from internet. Original source unknown

A comment by Ashfaque Nizamani

Some Sindhi writers / intellectuals are claiming that Sindhi society is a feminist society (as per a BBC Urdu news report). Well, it may be true for some individuals on micro level but the idea of equality between Sindhi males and females seems to be absurd on macro level. In Sindhi society, males and females do not have, and never have had equal rights and opportunities. Male dominance is so much, that, females are considered worth less then cattle. Daily abuse and beating of women in houses is very common. They are also killed by males on petty issues, which are not even reported to police. Women killed as Kari is a well-known subject in Sindh. People kill their own daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. Women are even left to die when sick by ignoring them and denying them proper treatment.

Killing of females apart from declaring them kari (accused of “illicit” relations), on petty issues is very common; even young sons thrash/beat/abuse, and cause physical/mental/psychological injuries, which sometimes become the cause of death of their mothers.
 

Marriages of old, married, divorced and widowed males with younger females are very common but these opportunities are almost non-existent for divorced, widowed, half-aged or old females. This situation is same in all the classes of Sindhi society, whether an elite, middle class or a peasant class female.

Males can marry females of their own choice, but for females this opportunity is rare.

In the case of a divorce, the burden of keeping children falls on females. Males are considered free from raising and feeding their own kids from former spouses. Males can easily get new younger female wives, and enjoy their sexual life with them; but their former wives, live their entire life, barren from pleasures of life.

Females even cannot listen to love songs (Jalal Chandio, Umrani and others), which males can publicly listen, sing and enjoy.

Sindhi society, like any less-civilized society has not developed any mechanism to protect the weaker sections of their society, which includes females. Might is right in such societies.

At macro level, a female, whether it belongs to a rich family or a poor family has no at par rights with males in Sindh.

The situation in general is very grave and alarming. By engaging in self-deceptive rhetoric, one will not be able to help improve the condition of females in Sindh. There should be an awakening movement in Sindh for protecting the rights of weaker sections of the society, and to give it a posture of a true civilized society.

Author

A note on the Budget of Pakistan

Ashfaque Nizamani, Canada

By Ashfaque Nizamani, Canada

A country's budget represents an annual income and expense account of a country (society/region/ nation). Direct taxes, indirect taxes, and deficit financing are the options available with a government to fund its expenses. When first and second options fail, then governments adopt the third option (deficit financing). Under direct taxation higher earning people pay more taxes; and generally, under higher indirect taxation, higher spending people (usually people with higher income) pay higher portion of the taxes. As, indirect taxes are usually levied on sales/consumption of the products, and people with higher incomes consume more products, hence, they pay higher portion of indirect taxes.

Under deficit financing, usually, governments borrow or print and float more currency in the economy, hence causing inflation, and reduction in the purchasing power of the currency. It hits hard the people with lower amounts of income. Poor becomes poorer, and the gap between rich and poor increases. This is the problem of Pakistan. The gap between rich and poor is increasing.

In developed countries, like Canada, every person files tax return. People with higher earnings are taxed at higher tax rates, and people with lower income are taxed at the lower tax rates. And people with very low-level incomes, receive various forms of aids (GST tax credit refund, child tax benefit grants, etc). Government collects more money from higher earning people, and keeps some money for its expenses, and distributes some money among the poor and needy as GST Credit, Canada Child Tax Credit Benefit, etc. Health coverage is free for all. Education is made affordable to all. Entire health system and education system is owned and managed by government in Canada. Poor and rich people get same level of health care and education. This is actually the concept of a welfare state, where, government takes care of the poor. This is, in fact, the philosophy of Islam, which is practiced in most of the Western countries, including Canada, but not in Pakistan.

Pakistan Finance Minister, Dr Hafeez Shaikh presenting 2011-2012 budget

In collecting taxes, the tax department, even goes after criminals and collects taxes from them on their earnings (tax on theft or looted / black money). Anyone earning, by whatever means, has to pay share (taxes) to the government.

In the scenario of Pakistan, it is in the interest of poor masses, that, government should go for direct taxation. This is what Americans and other donor countries/institutions are telling the Pakistanis.

A nation, where, its rich people do not want to contribute, and still want benefits, how long, that system will survive? Not for long, I guess. A rich person cannot survive for a longer period, while living among the poor hungry people. This is what Islam told its adherents 1400 years ago and imposed on Muslims a tax (Zakat), which Pakistanis refuse to pay, and still want to teach Islam to others. In Sindhi, they say: “Black buffalo taunts red cow, because, red cow has a black tail”.