Thursday, June 10, 2021
Pakistan: Female athletes defy odds in a patriarchal society
Pakistani female athletes are gaining recognition despite the many challenges they face when it comes to overcoming rigid gender norms and a lack of access to training facilities. Mahoor Shahzad, a 24-year-old badminton player set to represent Pakistan at the Tokyo Olympics, is determined to make it big. She is the nation's first badminton player to qualify for the Olympics and is ranked among the top 133 women players in the world. Shahzad was invited to numerous international sporting events last year but was unable to attend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She told DW that getting selected for the Olympics has been "a dream come true" and that she is thrilled to represent Pakistan on such a coveted international platform. Accessing sporting facilities Shahzad discovered her passion and gift for badminton at the age of 11, thanks to her father's strong support and insistence, she said. Shahzad's father, Muhammad Shahzad, is a former badminton player and encouraged all his daughters to play sports. At the age of 13, Shahzad went on to win the national junior title, beating her older sister in the game. She then became the senior national champion of Pakistan for the first time at the age of 19.Despite having her family's full support, Shahzad said she still faced many challenges that prevented her from fully realizing her potential."The major challenge that I faced [in badminton] was not being able to access many facilities as there are limited public courts and coaches in Karachi," she told DW. So, her father is her primary coach. Shahzad said cities and rural areas beyond Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, lack sporting facilities even more. She also noted that women in conservative parts of Pakistani society are more often encouraged to take on domestic roles than to pursue careers in competitive sports, thereby depriving the country's sports industry of talented athletes. "I was lucky to have my family's support, unlike most women," said Shahzad. A 'man's world' Noreena Shams, 23, is a prominent squash player and sports activist from Pakistan's Northwest. The area saw clashes between Pakistani security forces and the Taliban in 2009. Her house was struck twice.Shams' father died at a young age and so she was raised singlehandedly by her mother. At the age of 15, Shams disguised herself as a boy so she could play cricket. She played an entire year in the national junior team until her identity was revealed. "It's a very different situation for a woman without male backing as sports is so male-dominated, people don't take you seriously and try to take advantage," Shams told DW, adding that it took her eight years to convince her mother that she was committed to a career in sports. Abuse of power Over time, Shams climbed her way up and is now a member of a number of sports bodies and federations. She said many of her female peers have flagged abuses of power to her."It disgusts me that I have to sit in meetings with men who I know have asked for sexual favors from other sportswomen, young girls really. I'm often the only woman in meetings and I'm trying to help my peers by raising my voice but I'm not always heard. The government needs to protect us," she said. Leena Aziz, a sports commentator and analyst, has been in the industry for 25 years. She told DW the Pakistani government has made little progress in promoting or safeguarding women in sports. "There is a lot of harassment that women in sports and sports broadcasting go through. There's been suicides because women suffer silently or if they complain, their careers end. Outspoken women are punished and quiet ones become the favorite," said Aziz. Aziz referred to the case of 17-year-old female cricketer Haleema Rafiq, who in 2014 committed suicide by drinking acid after making sexual harassment allegations against top officials of the Sultan Cricket Club. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) formed a two-member inquiry committee that cleared the officials of any wrongdoing and banned all complainants from playing for six months. Aziz said the government should set up a protection cell as well as provide psychological counseling exclusively for women in sports in Pakistan. She reiterated that the inequality and discrimination women face in Pakistan's patriarchal society have led to fewer opportunities than for their male counterparts. Politics and corruption Sana Mahmud, former captain of the women's national football and basketball team, told DW that problems of corruption and the politicization of sports are also holding women back from playing. Mahmud said many sports federations are built through political contacts — already dominated by men — which by default means women are not well represented in sports. "Sports leadership is very weak, especially for women, because funds are misused and not fairly allotted to women's teams, federations and events. Even if women are given a seat at the table, it is just a token seat without any real say or power," Mahmud pointed out. Mahmud, who also works for the NGO Right to Play, stressed it is important to encourage girls to play sports from a young age to see more gender inclusion in sports. "If our culture stops girls from using their bodies to jump, run and throw, play — how will they even know what wonderful things their bodies are capable of? To have the next generations of sportswomen, we need to give young girls the freedom and tools to be strong and competitive just like boys." https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-female-athletes-defy-odds-in-a-patriarchal-society/a-57846399
It is time to designate Pakistan as a terror sponsor
BY AKHIL RAMESH
The foreign minister of Pakistan, speaking to CNN's Bianna Golodryga on the Israel-Palestine conflict, invoked an age old anti-Semitic trope that the media was controlled by a certain group of people owing to their “deep pockets.” Golodryga was quick to hold the minister to account by pushing back and pressing him to clarify his claim.
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. The government in Pakistan, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, has made several anti-Semitic remarks in the past. Ranging from a member of Parliament in his government calling for “jihad” against Israel to the prime minister himself stooping to the level of drawing parallels between “Islamaphobia” and the Holocaust, Pakistani politicians have a history of engaging in anti-Semitic bigotry. Successive Pakistani administrations that have engaged in gross violations of human rights, suppressed dissent and curtailed religious freedom have been America’s partners in the war against terror in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is viewed by many in Washington as a “frenemy” rather than a true friend, with many defense experts blaming America’s failures in Afghanistan to Pakistan’s double game of supporting the Taliban and the Haqqani Network while providing America logistical support. Over the past 20 years, the United States has had to look the other way and tolerate Pakistan’s behavior.
However, with the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in sight, that may not be the case any longer. The Biden administration can finally take strict measures to curtail Pakistan’s financing of terror activities in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration has set Sept. 11 as the deadline to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan after a two decade long war. There are many reasons cited for America’s failure in Afghanistan, from its inability to nation-build while simultaneously fighting an indigenous militia such as the Taliban, to the regional geopolitics playing spoilsport to its advancements. Pakistan’s support of the Taliban and the Haqqani Network would fall into that latter category. In order to prevent a government in Afghanistan from cozying up to arch nemesis India, Pakistan adopted the military doctrine of “strategic depth,” wherein it used Afghanistan as an instrument of security in its tensions with India by supporting forces fighting the Afghan government.
This form of proxy war by Pakistan prevented any progress in the U.S. led effort in Afghanistan. The first Bush administration used cutting aid as a tool to discipline Pakistan and successive U.S. administrations that followed have cut military aid to the country in an attempt to change the behavior of its security and political establishment. Apart from Pakistan labeling the U.S. as a fair weather friend, cutting aid has not been a successful tool to correct its activities in Afghanistan. Neither has the Financial Action Task Force’s greylisting Pakistan persuaded the political and security apparatus from using Afghanistan as a pawn in its clash with India.
With the United States out of the picture, Pakistan would have free reign in Afghanistan to use its terror networks in the country to destabilize the democratically led Afghan government and use the region as a launching pad for its adventures into the disputed region of Kashmir. This will in turn force India to focus its efforts and divert resources to its Western borders instead of the Indo-Pacific region, costing the United States a key partner in its efforts to contain China in the Indo-Pacific.
Furthermore, the “all weather friendship” between Pakistan and China has made Pakistan one of the largest recipients of Chinese aid through its flagship Belt and Road Initiative. And Pakistan has been a vocal proponent for connecting Iran and Afghanistan to the China-Pakistan economic corridor, also known as CPEC. If that connection solidifies, the entire region will fall into the Taliban and China’s orbit and all the blood, sweat and tears shed by Americans over the past two decades would be in vain.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who led forces into Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11, said Pakistan, “... was a country born with no affection for itself, and there was an active self-destructive streak in its political culture. Of all the countries I've dealt with, I consider Pakistan to be the most dangerous, because of the radicalization of its society and the availability of nuclear weapons.”
Come September, the Biden administration will have to decide on the fate of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. The administration can take the advice of the State Department or pro-Pakistan think tanks in Washington D.C. and provide a free trade deal to Pakistan, or heed to defense and national security experts and designate it as a sponsor of terror.
The Pakistani administration’s blatant anti-Semitism, proxy wars that have cost American and Afghan lives and its “all weather” friendship with China should inform that decision. The Biden administration’s actions toward Pakistan will not be an act of retribution, but one of justice for lives lost in Afghanistan.
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/557106-it-is-time-to-designate-pakistan-as-a-terror-sponsor
One thousand billion rupees of Imran Khan’s corruption has been caught – Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called out the PTI government for causing a loss of up to Rs 1,000 billion to the national exchequer by changing interest rates. He also condemned the selected budget of the selected government. In a statement issued from the Media Cell Bilawal House, the Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari declared, “We refuse to accept this preposterous budget. It’s evident the budget is political and has not been designed to favor the public. Commenting on some of the questionable activities of the PM, Chairman PPP reminded the nation of the 2 billion dollars Imran Khan took from some of his special international investors. The interest rate was then fixed at 13.25% and was returned after all of the PM’s cronies had benefitted. “The puppet Prime Minister is answerable to the nation,” said Chairman PPP, “He must tell us why a damage of Rs 300 billion was caused to the national exchequer. Who was the damage caused for?” he questioned. “Which capitalist friends benefited from these two billion dollars? He must answer why his government raised the interest rate to 13.25% when IMF had asked to keep it at 12%.” Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, further demanded the PM also be held accountable for changing the interest rates of Pakistan’s Investment Bonds – a decision that benefited certain investors with up to a profit of Rs 700 billion. “Imran Khan has been caught stealing Rs 700 billion, and Rs 300 billion on two billion dollars from the Pakistan Investment Bonds,” said Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, exposing the fraudulent Prime Minister. “Thus, a total of one thousand billion rupees of Imran Khan’s corruption has been caught.” Demanding a parliamentary inquiry for committing mega corruption, he warned, “We will not stay silent while Imran Khan and his associates cause irreparable damage to the national treasury. They will not be allowed to flee the country.” Stating that the PPP was determined to protect the country’s future, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said, “Pakistan Peoples Party will hold Imran Khan accountable for every single rupee of this mega corruption scandal. The selected government can no longer mislead the people,” he concluded.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/25065/
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