Re: Why is feminism seen as a threat to the unity of working class & oppressed groups
People and private organizations (like Edhi andmany others), who don't need issues like Mukhtaran Mai or KalaBagh Dam to be a part of media for some time to get funding and be in focus, are always putting their best in whatever they are dealing in.
Issues like Mukhtaran Mai are different from issues like Kalabagh dam which are different from issues that Edhi deals with. They are different, and no one issue is more or less important than another.
I think someone dying of hunger is just as horrifying and unjustified as some female being raped or being burned alive by her relatives.
If you also don't find that one issue is more important than the other, then I don't think your views are justified. People need attention on all of these issues, and attention on one issue is not necessarily taking away from other issues.
In fact, after Mukhtaran, international attention has come onto Pakistan, and this includes attention on other problems.
Remember Mukhtaran Mai incident is a product of jahaaliyat. So it brings attention to education issues. Its also a product of low-lying economic areas, so it brings attention onto the economic status of villages. It brings attention to poverty. It also brings attention to feudalism, which is another cause of the incident.
And when everyone looks at these issues, even more issues come to light, like the health standards of the villages, the government and jurisprudence in these villages, national control over the country, etc.
Mukhtaran Mai incident has led to the building of schools in the area, paving of roads, and other many improvements that just relate to village life in general - this was a report that I saw on Geo - on that Capital Talk show featuring those 4 ladies in politics.
So, making a big stink about an issue brings attention, which brings solutions, which inadvertently help everyone.