The Pakistan Project: A Feminist Perspective on Nation & Identity

371 Pages·2013·10.124 MB·English

by  Rubina Saigol

THE PAKISTAN PROJECT

THE PAKISTAN PROJECT
a feminist perspective on nation and identity
RUBINA SAIGOL
UNLIMITED
on associate of
kali ior women
1
The Pakistan Project
was first published in India in 2013
by
Women Unlimited
(an associate of Kali for Women)
K-36, Hauz Khas Enclave
New Delhi 110 016
www.womenunlimlted .net
© Rubina Saigol, 2013
All rights reserved
ISBN; 978-81-88965-21-2
Cover design: Neelima Rao
Typeset at Tulika Print Communication Services, New Delhi,
and printed at Chaman Offset. Delhi 110 002
For Malala
‘When she fell, all of Pakistan stood up.’
Dedicated to
the Women's Movement in Pakistan
for its struggles against all forms of oppression

CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Acknowledgements xi
introduction: The Pakistan Project 1
I. CULTURAL NATIONALISM
The Construction of Muslim Womanhood:
Syed Ahmad Khan and Dipty Nazeer Ahmad 47
The Construction of Muslim Manhood:
Akbar Allahabadi and Allama Iqbal 76
II.THE REPRODUCTION OF GENDER IN EDUCATION
His Rights, Her Duties: Citizenship, Education
and Gender 103
Reconstructing Patriarchies: Women’s Education
in Religious Seminaries 136
HI. NATION, GENDER AND THE CONSTRUCTION
OF IDEOLOGY
Boundaries of Consciousness: Curriculum,
Gender and Nationalism 175
Imagining Enemies: The State and Its Others 200
viii • Contents
IV. MASCULINE NATION
7. Patria Mia: Gendered Imagery in War Songs 237
8. Partitions of the Self: Mohajir Women’s Sense
ofNationhood 263
V. FIGHTING ON ALL FRONTS
9. Islamized Identities: The Women’s Movement
Responds 309
10. Against All Odds: Women Resisting 333
FOREWORD
1 am dedicating this book to the indomitable Malala Yousafzai, who
was shot in October 2012 by the Taliban for asserting her right to
education and peace. At the youthful age of 14, Malala was already a
fierce advocate of girls’ right to education in Swat, where over 200
girls’ schools had been bombed, torched and burned down by the
Taliban. Undaunted, Malala continued her studies and inspired other
girls to emulate her. She campaigned for girls’ education on public
television and also maintained a daily diary of the ordeal endured by
the people of Swat under the sway of the Taliban.
As she lies recovering in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham,
she has received the accolade of ‘the bravest girl in the world’ and has
won international awards for peace and the inherent right of girls to
an education. MaJala epitomizes the issues raised in this book: the
rights of women pitted against a fundamentalist form of religion, a
militarized state, and endemic violence. She has become a symbol of
peace and women’s rights across the world.
People right across Pakistan held candlelight vigils, protests and
prayers for her recovery. As her father said: ‘When she fell, all of
Pakistan stood up.’ Malala is at the cusp of a turning point for the
people of Pakistan who are belatedly beginning to appreciate the
gravity of the violence perpetrated by the Taliban in the name of
religion. This is a moment of awakening and it remains to be seen
whether it becomes the harbinger of change in the national paradigm.
I would also like to dedicate this book to the women’s movement
in Pakistan, which has so often worked against virtually impossible
odds and demonstrated unmatched courage and resilience. Women
in Pakistan have been baton-charged, imprisoned, beaten and