I AM writing this to state that your report of President Pervez Musharraf’s meeting with Pakistani women in New York on Sept. 17 ignored the substance of the president’s presentation and his very positive interaction with the majority of the audience and focused only on a minute or two of the entire event. I was the keynote speaker at this meeting and witnessed the proceedings from beginning to end.
There was no “pandemonium”, as claimed in the report. At the very outset of his presentation, the president clarified that the remark quoted by The Washington Post and made the subject of intense criticism by those opposed to him did not represent his own thinking. He was citing a comment he had heard in Islamabad. The president’s clarification was accepted by the vast majority of persons in the room.
The president addressed the issues of violence against women and gender inequality and the measures taken by him and his government to deal with them. He said that Pakistanis should feel ashamed of the acts of violence that were being perpetrated against women in their society. Repeatedly, the president affirmed his support for women and his pledge that he would stand by those women who had been wronged. He referred to the cases of Mukhtaran Mai and Dr Shazia Khalid and said that he had done a lot to help them.
He said that it was Dr Shazia Khalid’s own wish to leave Pakistan and go to England. He was disappointed to know that she was now alleging that she had been forced to leave the country and was criticizing the government for mistreating her. The president said that Dr Shazia Khalid was free to return to Pakistan and that full protection would be given to her if she returned.
Pointing out that the issue of violence against women was a global phenomenon, the president said he did not like the singling out of Pakistan in this context. “You can single out Pakistan in Pakistan but not in other countries,” he said. He said that rape victims from one country were not taken to another — for instance, rape victims from Canada were not taken to China — to protest against violence against women in a particular country. The problems of Pakistani women had to be resolved within Pakistan, not in New York.
The president acknowledged that there were deficiencies in the law-enforcement agencies and the judicial system because of the patriarchal, feudal and tribal mindset of those who were in charge of implementing laws.
The president said that the NGOs that were engaged in criticizing him and his government with regard to women’s issues should work with the government to find solutions to the serious problems facing women in Pakistan. He also said that while it was necessary to give assistance to particular victims of violence, it was very important to go beyond the idea of helping a few women and find the underlying causes of violence against women so that the larger problem could be addressed.
At the end of his presentation, three-fourths of the people in the room stood up and applauded. The remaining one-fourth were persons who were opposed to him for personal or political reasons. Their venom toward the president became manifest in the question and answer part of the meeting.
The majority of the questions put to the president related to concerns of Pakistanis living in the US about their situation in that country or about matters such as the education of women in Pakistan. A few questions were asked with visible hostility. The last question was more a political diatribe than a genuine query. In a voice filled with anger the questioner told the president that since he had “categorically denied” making the statement attributed to him by The Washington Post, he should make a clarification to the world press. She went on to express her disappointment at the way he was treating human rights activists who were protesting against violence toward women.
The president responded to the deliberately provocative comment by saying that the many journalists who were present had already heard his clarification. He expressed his disappointment at the questioner and others like her who were engaging in what he said was unpatriotic behaviour. He said that he would always support the cause of women but he would oppose those who were using women’s cause to further their own agendas that were harmful to the country.
At the end of the Q & A session, again the vast majority of the people stood up and gave the president a resounding round of applause.
DR. RIFFAT HASSAN
Professor of Humanities,
University of Louisville,
Louisville, Kentucky, US
