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Our Lady of Alice Bhatti by Mohammed Hanif: A Review

by Aisha F Sarwari December 12, 2011 18:06

It has the whole spectrum of love, life, disease, violence and death; it has a very memorable setting of a hospital called Sacred Heart of All Ailments and has a social artifact – A minority religion in a fundamentalist and overbearing Muslim culture.

You don’t know till you are half way through the book that the protagonist in Mohammed Hanif’s Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, is beautiful – and you don’t figure out till the end how symbolic her beauty is. The novel itself is everything that a piece of literature has to be – It has four of the strongest characters; it has the whole spectrum of love, life, disease, violence and death; it has a very memorable setting of a hospital called Sacred Heart of All Ailments and has a social artifact – A minority religion in a fundamentalist and overbearing Muslim culture.

Both the minority and majority religion are described with so much astuteness that it is often comical. “The driver puts on a tape and a Musla anthem starts to play. There is no music, just a bunch of men shouting at the top of their voices demanding to be teleported to Mecca.”

In his book launch Mohammed Hanif claimed that the book is about a woman “who happens to be a Christian.” This is true: In the world that is painted, what happened to Alice Bhatti would probably happen to any women, even non-Christian, provided she was from the less privileged class whose family finds occupation cleaning the streets and gutters of our metropolises boiling over with people and their excretions. But Alice Bhatti gets into trouble twice, and the first time it is specifically because she was a Christian.

What happens to Alice Bhatti is unfortunate because she had categorically made it part of her schema that she did not want to be “those women” who she would find admitted to the Sacred Heart Hospital for treatment of some form of violence or the other. Alice Bhatti was so conscious in protecting herself that she went as far as avoiding stepping over puddles in fear that her legs would stretch too much, or would not eat in public afraid that that would inspire lewd thoughts in men who form a society known for its extreme perversion. But these minute precautions did not prevent her from looking at marriage itself as a threat.

She allowed herself to be swept by the passion of Teddy Butt, the bodybuilder from Rawalpindi. And why wouldn’t she – he was strong and cleanly waxed and had no hesitation in carrying her away from a mad mob in the psychiatric ward. She forgave him for the fact that the only communication he knew was with the prop of his gun? She could tame him, or so she thought – A mistake that most strong and empowered women working in hostile environments are often found making.

The novel does not follow the typical three act structure but can certainly be called gripping. Early on, Alice Bhatti is established as someone who is complex, not your typical non-layered woman. She seemingly has no specific goal except that she rediscovered her healing powers, not just as a nurse but as a spiritual guide. The apple does not fall too far from the tree. Her father, Joseph Bhatti is a Christian who practices Muslim spiritual healing. Whatever she is or becomes, she is genuine, in her religion and in her identity.

The book, unconstrained by the propriety most known to the upper classes, is bold and even vulgar. But it is equally sensitive to the pain of Alice’s odds as a young girl who loses her mother when she was little. She also has a strong sense of conviction and resilience. Throughout the read, there are details that become ever so relevant to the plot as the book concludes.

Mohammad Hanif’s debut The Case of Exploding Mangoes was a masterpiece, which was about General Zia’s plane crash, but in this novel he has woven a different but equally important snapshot of Pakistan – Its minority, which since Zia’s era has been marginalized and overshadowed by the state religion.

Like Mohsin Hamid’s Reluctant Fundamentalist, this too should be converted into a film for cinemas globally. Mohammad Hanif would then have something in common with another Pakistani filmmaker, Mehreen Jabbar who made Ramchand Pakistani about a Hindu boy who ends up in Indian prison. The systemic discrimination against Pakistan’s minorities at least gets highlighted though these mediums to a largely ambivalent Pakistani middle class.

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti is about merging the holy with the feminine as a refuge from bigotry and misogyny. Her story stays with you long after the last page is turned.


 

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+1 #9 AhmedshahRehman April 16, 2012 21:46
IDIOT HANIF AND FEMALE COHORT HARLOT AYESHA



become of this nation of ever fewer women?
t
Genocide of India's daughters
Last updated at 08:49 04 July 2006


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What will become of this nation of ever fewer women?

Ten million female foetuses have been illegally aborted in India by mothers desperate to bear a son. What will become of this nation of ever fewer women? ANNE SEBBA investigates:

May you be the mother of a hundred sons - this is the Sanskrit blessing given to a Hindu woman in India on her wedding day. And the minute she falls pregnant, there is the traditional chanting of mantras by the other women of the family, calling for the foetus, if female, to be transformed into a male.

Increasingly, such age-old beliefs are becoming a curse in India, as, in this deeply patriarchal society, women have become obsessed with giving birth only to sons.

?Asking me why I need a son, instead of a daughter, is like asking me why I have two eyes and not one,? says one woman in the northern district of Haryana, who has just had an abortion after discovering that the baby she was carrying was female.

This woman is by no means alone in taking such shocking and drastic measures to avoid giving birth to a girl. In fact, such is the widespread determination to produce only sons that, since ultrasound scans became widely available in the Eighties, the number of abortions carried out on female foetuses in India has risen at a terrifying pace.

Even by the most conservative estimates, sex-selective abortion in India now accounts for the termination of some ten million female foetuses over the past 20 years. That means that each year a staggering half a million girls have been prevented from being born.

?This is the world?s biggest genocide ever,? says Chetan Sharma, founder of the Delhi-based organisation Datamation, which campaigns against female foeticide. According to India?s 2001 census, the number of nought to six-year-old girls per 1,000 boys was 927, a dramatic dip from 962 in 1981.

?The future is frightening. Over the next five years we could see more than a million foetuses eliminated every year,? says Dr Sabu George, who has charted the problem. ?At this pace we?ll soon have no girls born in the country. We don?t know where it will stop.?

The female shortfall is not a new problem in India. Even during the days of the Raj, and the first census in 1881, the British made efforts to eradicate female infanticide. But the problem of female foeticide is a new phenomenon fuelled by advances in technology and the widespread liberal attitudes to abortion.

In 1971 India was one of the first countries to legalise abortion, partly intended as a means of population control.

?Today, anyone can walk into a government hospital and ask for an immediate abortion up to the 20th week of pregnancy, free, merely by saying there has been a failure of contraception,? explains Kalpana Sharma, whose columns in The Hindu newspaper regularly rail against the dangers of undervaluing women.

Women cannot admit that they knew the sex of their baby in advance of having an abortion because that is illegal in India.

According to a law passed by the Indian government in 1994, hospitals, clinics and laboratories are not allowed to use prenatal diagnostic techniques ? including ultrasound scans like those pregnant women in the UK routinely undergo at 12 and 20 weeks ? for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.

However, this law has been widely ignored ? because local officials are reluctant to fight the will of the people.

Women know that if they produce only daughters, they will be pitied by everyone around them ? or, worse, abused. In many cases, it is even considered a betrayal of the family.

?I want a son as we have a big business,? says another woman who has undergone nine abortions of female foetuses. ?I want what my husband has built from scratch to go to his own blood.? But it is not just that in Indian families it is the son who will carry on the family name or business and take care of elderly parents.

Daughters are an enormous financial burden because when they marry, a dowry must be found. Although it is illegal both to give and receive a dowry, the practice continues and the demands made by the groom?s family are increasingly nothing short of extortion, according to Kalpana Sharma. These days, they often include jewellery, clothes, furniture, white goods, cars and even a new home.

Lavish weddings in exotic locations and with mammoth feasts are also expected, and the groom?s family often makes last-minute demands. ?Raising a female child is like watering your neighbour?s plant,? says one woman in Gujarat.

For the boy?s family, it is gain, gain, gain. But for the girl?s parents, financing the dowry and wedding often involves selling off land and spiralling into debt that becomes impossible to pay off.

Lifestyle choice

Female foeticide isn?t common only among poor families. Aborting a female foetus is increasingly becoming a lifestyle choice among wealthy women.

The states with the lowest ratios of girls to boys ? 820 females to every 1,000 males ? are also the most prosperous, like Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana. It is not simply that affluent women believe they will have a better standard of living if they have only sons.

It means, too, that there is more money to spend on sport, leisure and consumer goods, as well as more time to pursue a career. There is also the issue of land inheritance. Daughters are now legally entitled to an equal share of land when their parents die and many families do not want to see their legacy divided up.

The division of land has become a major factor in recent years because although sex-selective abortions are still largely an urban phenomenon, the easy availability of mobile scanning machines means doctors are now doing brisk business in rural areas.

Getting a licence for the equipment is easy and many so-called ?doctors? offer women the service without being qualified or registered.

There are 25,770 officially registered pre-natal units in India, but one doctor estimates there are as many as 70,000 ultrasound machines operating in the country. Nobody reports the unqualified technicians because it is not in their interest to do so.

Even the qualified doctors in registered clinics have ways of circumventing the law against using ultrasound tests to determine the sex of the foetus. If the ultrasound test shows a male foetus in the womb the doctor simply tells the nurse: ?I think this calls for sweets,? a well-known code to mean ?Good news, it?s a boy?. No paperwork is filled in, so there is no evidence of illegal practices.

Anyone found guilty of organising an illegal abortion theoretically faces a prison sentence of between three and five years and a fine of 10,000 rupees (£118). But only two men have been convicted since the law was introduced 12 years ago.

So why do such highly-trained doctors show such a disregard for the ethics of sex selection? Some doctors insist they are performing a valuable service by preventing divorces.

Others claim that the doctors? union has been over-zealous in protecting its own, and that the doctors and lawyers have formed a powerful nexus in the fight against official clampdowns ? to their mutual financial benefit.

Lucractive practice

The practice is hugely lucrative for doctors. Private doctors charge a minimum of 5,000 rupees (£60) for an abortion and often much more, depending on how far into the pregnancy the woman is. Dr Puneet Bedi, a specialist in fetal medicine, says: ?Everybody knows that this technological wonder [ultrasound] is being used at random, to diagnose and kill girls. Foeticide is performed by trained professionals with licences and registration numbers; it is a multi-billion rupee industry.?

Many social workers in India believe it is unfair to accuse women of being complicit in this genocide, a denial of the girl?s fundamental human right of being allowed to be born. A few believe they are acting out of kindness: ?Why bring a girl into the world who will be subjected to a dreadful life of misery?? one told me.

There are many stories, even in relatively prosperous families, of young girls being undernourished while boys are well-fed, or girls being treated as maids while the sons lead a life of leisure.

But more often than not, an abortion to terminate the development of a female foetus is an action forced on a woman by the twin pressures of a powerful mother-in-law and husband. A key reason for the woman?s compliance is the fear that they may be replaced by a younger, more fertile woman who will produce sons if they do not submit.

Alarmingly, this fear has spread to Indian women in the UK who face the same patriarchal attitudes. An increasing number are travelling to India for an abortion, as far fewer questions are asked there than in Britain.

?There is definitely an increase in abuse faced by Asian women in the UK who are mothers of girls,? said Jasvinder Sanghera, who runs an advice centre in Derby. ?We see women who are beaten or abused by their husband and especially their mother-in-law for producing daughters. They are not considered worthy or dutiful daughters-in-law.?

Tragically, there are already disturbing consequences of the falling ratio of females to males in India. In Gujarat, and some villages in Punjab, there are so few higher caste women that tribal women are being imported to service whole families of men ? father, sons and brothers. The demand for sexual services is such that in some areas middlemen have started supplying girls for between 500 rupees (£6) and 60,000 rupees (£711) a month. The money goes to the husband or father who hires her out.

Long-term worries are not simply the fear that such an imbalance will result in the rise of prostitution and sex trafficking. The danger to women?s emotional and physical health from repeated abortions is huge.

Sex-selective abortions are often performed later in the pregnancy and are therefore more dangerous. Only 20 per cent of all abortions conform to the provisions of Indian law and those performed outside hospital often result in complications that lead to the deaths of thousands of woman.

So how can this demographic catastrophe be averted?

The Indian government is taking steps to impose regulations on the registered ultrasound clinics throughout the country, but Chetan Sharma, of Datamation, says that local officials are guilty of corruption and will simply continue to turn a blind eye.

Feminists believe that until Indian society begins to value women, no amount of laws will help.

?Until women take control of their own lives and refuse to give in to pressure, nothing will change,? says Rasil Basu, who has made a film about the crisis called Vanishing Daughters. ?Empowerment of women is the only answer.?

Kalpana Sharma, of The Hindu newspaper, believes the beginnings of change have been prompted by recent revelations that girls are consistently doing better than their male counterparts at school and college and are beginning to branch into traditionally male fields like engineering and medicine.

?I know women who have been persuaded to have multiple abortions and who feel absolutely rotten, but they have no choice ? either abortion or divorce,? says Sharma.

?But I sense things are changing with a younger generation of very well-educated women who are not prepared to put up with this. Women are starting to find their courage, even if it means leaving their marriage.?


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-1 #8 TrojanHorse March 19, 2012 08:53
Quoting visiontunnel:
What the hell this Dirty Sewer Rat Garbage Dumper is on a thread about a Book Review?

No lessons have ever reformed such a deeply troubled and traumatized self destructive nincompoop.

Just push the button of that suicide vest to land up in hell above, as it would indeed be a heaven for a poisonous subhuman like you.

MUSSALMAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS LISTEN VT SINGH RAPIST RANSHIT BANIYA FAT LAZY PARASITES


FIGHTER FOR FREEDOM OF INDIA RAPIST VT SINGHS HI List of Freedom Fighters Deported to Andamans ================================================================ ================================================= Submitted by kashif on Sat, 03/11/2006 - 02:24. Freedom Fighters Deported to Andamans List of Muslims is here, for a complete list please follow this link: www.andamancellularjail.org In Connection With First War of Independence, 1857 S.No. Title Name Province Comments 1 Allama Fazal Haque Khairabadi U.P. : died in prison 10 Gulab Khan M.P. 15 Liaqat Ali U.P. 18 Maulvi Syed Aluddin Hyderabad 19 Mahibullah M.P. 22 Mir Jafar Ali Thanesari 24 Noora M.P. 26 Qaim Khan M.P. 27 Sirajuddin M.P. 28 Seikh Formud Ali Assam Mufti Inayat Ahmad Kakorwi ( ref. Muslims in India by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi) Mufti Mazhar Karim Daryabadi ( ref. Muslims in India by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi) Wahabi Rabels Deported to Andamans (1860 - 1870) 1 Maulana Ahmadulla Patan Trial, 1865 : died in prison 2 Amiruddin Maldah Trial, 1870 3 Ibrahim Mandal Rajmahal Trial, 1870 4 Md. Sher Ali : Sher Ali was given life imprisonment during the Wahabi movement against the British Raj. He assassinated Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India with a knife on 8th February, 1872. He was hanged on Viper Island. 5 Yahya Ali Ambala Trial, 1864 : died in prison. 6 Mohammad Shafi Lahori ( ref. Muslims in India by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi) 7 Molvi Abdul Rahim Sadiqpuri ( ref. Muslims in India by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi) Moplah Rebels Deported to Andamans (1922 - 1924) 1 Neliiparamban Alavi Haji 2 Kolaparamban Kunjalavi 3 Kozhisseri Koya Kutty 4 Ambattuparamban Saidalippa 5 Kayakkatiparamb il Kunjeni 6 Machingal Rayin 7 Kuthukallan Kunjara 8 Chungath Athan 9 Variyath Valappil Ahammed Kutty 10 Mattummal Ahammed Kutty 11 Pooyikunnan Marakkar 12 Machincheri Alavi 13 Pokat Koyami 14 Puthampeedikayi l Kunjikader Molla 15 Mukri Kunjayammu 16 Poolakuyyil Kunhi Moideen Kutty 17 Poovakundil Alavi 18 Neehiyil Kunjeedu 19 Aripra Pocker 20 Mattummal Marakkar 21 Chakkupurakkal Kutty Hasan FREEDOM FIGHTERS INCARCERATED IN CELLULAR JAIL (1909-1921) 1 Ali Ahmed Siddiqui Punjab 5 Mujtaba Husain United Province FEEDOM FIGHTERS INCARCERATED IN (CELLUALR JAIL 1932-1938) 181 Md. Ibrahim Alias Tarapada

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-1 #7 laddu February 04, 2012 19:48
Aloo Andey for Hafiz Saeed

Hafiz Saeed is livid. His difa-e-pakistan allows him to spread the scare of 'Islam-in-danger'. Our Bengali kukur is barking all the time. Why? Because ever since Bangladesh came into existence their "Dukan" and business of mullahism got a severe set back. The difa-e-something is actually the difa-e-mullah. Their shops are getting closed. Funds are drying up. Their Pajeros do not have enough gas. Their bank balances are dwindling. People are wondering about aloo-andey. So, here is another difa-e-mullah.And, on the other side, our Bengali kukur is also facing the same problem. So, let us have a difa-e-bengali-kukur as well- at least their shops should remain open. Nahin to bhooke mar jaenge yeh mullehy!!
These illiterate mullahs (observe how this kukur FOSA cannot even write a sensible piece of English) are not getting chanda from their own kin. So they are setting up their shops in the name of Al-Jihad. Let us feed them some aloo-andey !

 
 
#6 visiontunnel February 04, 2012 11:48
What the hell this Dirty Sewer Rat Garbage Dumper is on a thread about a Book Review?

No lessons have ever reformed such a deeply troubled and traumatized self destructive nincompoop.

Just push the button of that suicide vest to land up in hell above, as it would indeed be a heaven for a poisonous subhuman like you.

 
 
-1 #5 Shah2 December 25, 2011 10:34
QADIANI WOMEN SHOULD GET LESSON FROM

SMARTER SUNNI WOMEN

YOU KONKANI HINDUISED AISHA PARVATI


western feminism and solidarity
by Mara Ahmed on Friday, December 23, 2011 at 4:17pm
in her article “occupy the holidays” (the nation, january 2, 2012) katha pollitt’s first recommendation for donating to worthwhile causes is an organization called “women living under muslim laws”. no kidding, there is a non-profit by that name. pollitt’s articulation of their mission: “this international solidarity network serves women affected by sexist and theocratic interpretations of islam. whether it's unequal family laws, the criminalization of women's sexuality, the marginalization of women's voices or the infamous saudi driving ban, wluml is on the case.”

this is what houria bouteldja, spokeswoman for the PIR (parti des indigènes de la république) likes to call the privilege of white solidarity. on being asked about feminism and if she had any advice for white women interested in solidarity, she explained:

“my advice is that they should not forget their own oppression and they should cease to be maternalistic, meaning that they should cease to consider women in the south as simple victims. women in the south, women from third world countries, know how to take care of themselves. white women have this privilege of solidarity – they think that there is a need to help women in southern countries because they assume that these women r more oppressed, more alienated. this is not completely false – women from southern countries need solidarity from all women across the globe. but i think that the demand from these women, from these people [in third world countries] is that women from the north, from the occident, fight against imperialism in their own societies. for palestinian women for example it is about asking people from western countries to fight against zionism, and against the pro-israeli policies of their govts. when palestine is liberated, palestinian women will take responsibility for their own future and decide what their emancipation will look like as they negotiate with their own society. personally, what i don’t like is the interference.”

so when i read about this u.k. based solidarity outfit the first thing that came to mind was, what about a non-profit called “women fighting imperial wars.” makes a lot of sense considering that one in three u.s. servicewomen get raped. in fact they are more likely to get raped by fellow soldiers than be killed by the enemy. this becomes even more terrifying when it is estimated that 90% of military rape cases go unreported.

if we must be religion-specific, then how about donating to “women under jewish occupation” or better still “women under christian drones”?

in today’s world when wars and occupations and their impact on women are documented with vivid, multi-media precision, available to all at the click of a mouse, it is truly astounding how the west can continue to live in la la land and pretend that it can fix the world by bombing it or bringing “stability” in the guise of multinational-friendly dictators, whilst donating to solidarity with the ones being bombed or repressed – at least the female half of that civilian population. as bouteldja illustrates so beautifully, western feminists need to focus on the oppression of white women first and then stand in solidarity with their sisters around the globe by resisting the violence committed by their societies on other countries and people – including women living under muslim laws.
...

Occupy the Holidays, Katha Pollitt, January 2, 2012 edition of The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/article/165150/occupy-holidays

Houria Bouteldja Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v_hKEqiAVs

Rape shame of the US military, Ellie Mae O'Hagan, July 21, 2011, The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/jul/21/rape-shame-us-military

Covered up: More than 1/3 of American woman soldiers raped, Ronald West, October 26, 2010, Alternet.org
http://blogs.alternet.org/penucquem/2010/10/26/covered-up-more-than-13-of-american-woman-soldiers-raped/


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Marcella McMillen and 17 others like this.
3 shares

Mary Scully A wonderful rebuttal, Mara! An expose really of racism and white supremacy in the views of many feminists.
Friday at 4:27pm · 4

Mara Ahmed thx mary. wish all feminists were as clear-sighted as u. for many the idea of solidarity on a truly equal basis, as sisters facing oppression all over the world, is shocking.
Friday at 4:30pm · 3

Mary Scully I've seen people substitute pity for solidarity and not know the difference. It's repugnant.
Friday at 4:32pm · 4

Huma Dar Brilliant, Mara! Pollitt et al are so obsessively insistent on saving Muslim women from Muslim men (or Muslim law) that they are blind to the imperial policies of death & destruction unleashed by their own regimes on their chosen targets of "rescue"!
Friday at 4:35pm · 6

Mara Ahmed exactly mary. plus i can't stand the religion-specific nature of this kind of feminism. as soon as u replace muslim with jewish or christian, u begin to see how vile, how bigoted it is to qualify violence or sexism as being the realm of a certain religion.
Friday at 4:36pm · 6

Mara Ahmed thx huma. i have serious problems with pollitt, a self-described "american feminist". i think i'll email this to her :)
Friday at 4:37pm · 3

Mary Scully I have lots of problems with her too, Mara, and it's a great idea to send this to her. Can you also post comment on the article?
Friday at 4:39pm · 2

Huma Dar You should definitely email this to Pollitt, Mara, though sadly I don't think she's even open to understanding what you're saying here...
Friday at 4:40pm · 3

Mara Ahmed will do mary. i've written to her before (when she picked on muslim societies and worried about muslim women). her response: i think u're overreacting mara.
Friday at 4:40pm · 5

Mara Ahmed huma, yeah, i don't think it'll get thru...
Friday at 4:41pm · 2

Mary Scully I will also write her, Mara. I'm sure she's impervious to having her racism called out but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. She should be made uncomfortable about expressing it.
Friday at 4:48pm · 3

Mara Ahmed thx mary! i'm sure u won't mince ur words ;-) just posted a comment on the article. it's queued for moderation. let's see.
Friday at 4:52pm · 4

Trista Hendren Thank you Mara - I'm jumping in here a little late but it is good to see you addressing this as its something I see all the time. Love and good cheer to all of you!
Friday at 6:14pm · 3

Mara Ahmed thank u trista ♥
Friday at 6:20pm · 1

Karen MacRae Brilliant. Another faux racist feminist exposed. well done Mara.
Friday at 6:57pm · 3

Sylvia Posadas Great note, Mara, and comments in this thread. Maybe it's significant that some western 'feminists' internalise the vertical culture in which they live by projecting it in a white supremacist fashion onto women of the south - it is what man...See More
Friday at 6:58pm · 2

Mara Ahmed thank u karen and syl. great comment about a vertical culture vs more local grassroots empowerment. that community based approach is probably the way of the future.
Friday at 7:33pm · 3

Zoë Lawlor Great piece Mara - much of this faux feminism is merely orientalism and has the added bonus of diverting western feminists away from the fact that feminism is stalled in the 'west', despite much privilege.
Friday at 8:27pm · 3

Sylvia Posadas How to get feminism in the west energised again? would it be too much to hope that more western women check out the concerted struggles for freedom of the women of Egypt and Tunisia for example?
Friday at 8:33pm · 2

Zoë Lawlor It's a great question Syl, I really feel it stalled a while ago and the received wisdom/manufactured consent is that the feminist struggle is more or less over in the west. Ireland has one of the lowest female political representations in the entire world.... so this looking at Muslim or 'other' women is pure diversion and racism.
Friday at 8:38pm · 1

Sylvia Posadas From affirmative action policies in the 70s in Australia, the participation of women in parliament has increased significantly. From 1986, the percentage of women in the House of Reps has risen from 5.4% to 27.3% in 2010, and in the Senate...See More
Friday at 9:24pm · 3

Mara Ahmed thx zoë. i agree that the feminist struggle in much of the west is stalled. it's something parallel to chomsky's "manufactured consent" where a distorted, corporate-elite-controlled culture gives women the illusion of being free, of being l...See More
Friday at 11:32pm · 3

Sylvia Posadas Excellent article, Mara - the dearth of women political analysts in the MSM is another case in point - if there aren't interpretations by women permeating through the media, how will a new view capsize the existing verticality? Again, men d...See More
Yesterday at 1:27am · 3

Zoë Lawlor Great conversation! Will read the full article later Mara thanks, right now I have superficial xmas rubbish to do! :)
22 hours ago · 2

Lorena Kirk-Giannoulis Peace Thank you so much. I must read it slow slow..........:-)))
18 hours ago

Bill Lambert http://www.themilitant.com/2011/7547/754751.html
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13 hours ago

Bill Lambert Liberals are too often swayed by moralist arguments - Code Pink defending the Afghan invasions comes to mind. Liberal eugenics groups like Negative Population Growth work to attach brutal 'family planning' initiatives to foreign aid result...See More
13 hours ago · 1

 
 
-2 #4 Yazan December 25, 2011 01:37




:( :( :ohmy: :ohmy:




 
 
#3 bjkumar December 19, 2011 00:24
Chowk owners/editors/chowk-staff (and that whole bunch of nincompoops),

Why aren't Ms. Sarwari's older articles showing?!

I know for sure that she has written many more (than the three showing) on this pathetic excuse for a website! Where are those? Did you tuck them all inside your body crevices?

Have you morons no shame, or is your incompetence just your sly way to hide from your responsibilitie s -- trying to make yourselves look too silly so nobody in Pakistan will bite off your little tails?

Shame on your whole sorry bunch! Your whole gang is an absolute disgrace!

 
 
+1 #2 bjkumar December 16, 2011 10:23
The problem with authors such as Mohammed Hanif (in this case) who have had success with their very first work is they raise expectations -- which are then bound to be let down -- because not every book one writes can be an award-winner (just like every appearance by a baseball hitter can not result in a home run). So, this particular book (Alice Bhatti) would have been an otherwise decent read in its own right, would appear to fall short by comparison.

 
 
#1 SafroKarsevak December 12, 2011 18:47
every body faces minority status some where doint bitch majority is minority here and you not a minority everywhere but yOu never succeed more than outside your jamaat

 

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#1 SafroKarsevak

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