The New Nation - Internet Edition

Women’s liberation: Is it a mere slogan?

Barkha Dutt

Isn't it infuriating when women who probably abhor the very fundamentals of feminism suddenly embrace it in order to play victim? And isn't it so offensive when Gender is used as the convenient and automatic justification for losing?

Watching the otherwise fascinating American elections unfold, I'm stunned by how 'sexism' has become a central character in the narrative. First, they argued that Hillary Clinton got booted out because she was female. Never mind her dithering, incoherent positions on Iraq; forget about the surly anger and petty control that her husband brought to the campaign and don't even mention the fact that when they thought the 'tears' were working, her managers pushed her into playing it even 'more female'. If anything, surely that's sexist?

But no - even the hard-nosed, bright lawyer could not resist the temptation of casting herself in the role of victim and the American people in the role of women-hating oppressors.

The subtext was incredulous - Hillary's camp was suggesting that when it came down to prejudice, being Black was more palatable to people than being Female.

Now, public focus has shifted away from Hillary to a woman deeply antithetical to her - in appearance, personality and ideology. But the charge of 'sexism' continues to define the political debate in America.

Anyone who heard Sarah Palin's feisty and combative speech this week knows that the former beauty queen and hockey-mom who also hunts, is no one's idea of a poor-little-thing. Palin cleverly positioned herself as an outsider in Washington's charmed and powerful circle of influence. But, who is she fooling? The small-town mommy persona is entirely deliberate and crafted.

With one eye firmly on Middle America, Sarah Palin made sure that the Family Postcard was on perfect display at the Republican Convention. The doting husband; the five kids, the youngest born with Down's Syndrome; the teenage daughter who got knocked up but is going to do the 'right thing' by marrying her childhood sweetheart and the PTA mother-turned politician, presiding like a protective matriarch, over her brood.

This, as an American commentator wrote, was Christian country ethos: hate the sin, love the sinner. As strategy goes, it is fair game and may even be the smartest move the Republicans have made so far.

John McCain wanted a running mate who would rustle up a storm and he has got one. Palin's personal history - the kid with special needs, the daughter who got pregnant - speaks to the essential fallibility of the ordinary American family.

If the postcard is frayed at the edges, it's because so is Life. To that extent, McCain may have played an ace.

The problem begins because Palin also wants pity. Scandals have begun to surface in the American media on how the Alaska Governor tried to get her brother-in-law sacked, how she was abusive on a radio-talk show, how she is married to a man who wanted to secede from America and how she really doesn't know that much about the war in Iraq, despite having a son enrolled in the military. Others have demanded to know how she can justify the Republican policy on teaching school children sexual abstinence over using protection (Republicans do not fund education programmes that advocate birth control) when her own daughter is a living example of why that policy has been a dismal failure. But the moment the fierce public scrutiny and criticism kicked in, Palin's supporters fell back on that tired old accusation - the Governor, they argued, was a victim of sexist bias.

For God's sake. Even if Palin were not haunted by controversy, her ideology alone makes her antithetical to the very notion of Feminism. She believes the government should force women to bear children, even if raped. She is on record saying that the pro-life dogma should begin at home. Can this really be the ideology that heralds a new political dawn for women? As the acerbic, left-leaning columnist Katha Pollit wrote in the Nation, 'McCain must think we have the collective IQ of a tampax.'

The problem with Feminism in the 21st century is precisely this. It's got mauled and distorted into being defined by so-called 'free choice'. If you choose to strip to the skin and make your millions that way, you are 'liberated'. If you 'choose' to be a stay-at-home mom and never become financially independent, you are 'choosing' what your mothers were forced to do.

If you want to play a born-again evangelical messiah you are not orthodox - by the new mantra of feminism, you are ballsy for saying what you think. Listen to American professor, Linda Hirshman who says caustically, 'Choose to exploit your beauty; choose to exploit your brains. Reports from Alaska reflect a serious subset of Palin supporters who just like to look at her legs. Hey, there's a leg up for future feminist candidates. Boy, everyone's a Feminist these days.'

And here's the question: If Hillary's 18 million voters see a kindred spirit in Palin or an alternative to Obama, should that be branded a feminist choice or just a very stupid decision? What can Hillary's voters and Palin's supporters possibly have in common other than Gender? And if that is reason enough aren't women playing to the worst stereotypes?

Back in India, we may be amused at all the fuss and the fury. But our polity isn't free from the overweening political correctness that seeks to make potential victims of us all. We saw the first signs of this distorted debate, during the elections for the President's office.

Women in India have enough real issues to battle and real victories to savour. Let's not get imprisoned by our Gender. Female First doesn't have to be our motto.

Micro-finance helps women to become self-earners

Md. Mahbubur Rahman Bulbul

Huge number of MFIs are operating micro finance program in Bangladesh and World-wide with their good activities. Their prime focus is, to positive change of poor and help-less people in Bangladesh by their financial assistance and to make a poverty-free Bangladesh. ASA is one of them. ASA is the biggest MFI in the world. ASA is working their responsible job by the micro finance program with land-less poor people for their positive change in Bangladesh from 1992, as usual. AS a result in that time, ASA already has achieved a great success in MFI sector of Bangladesh, even all over the world. Now the total number of ASA's borrowers is 90 lacks. It is high performance in Bangladesh. Not only micro credit, ASA is doing their job for the development in small business and industrial area of Bangladesh with their Small Entrepreneur Lending (SEL) loan, Small business loan and agro-business development loan program. In this area, ASA already has been great successful. Total number of ASA's SEL loan members is 30114. This report is up to February, 2008. Most of the borrowers of this program are women. They are heist benefited from ASA's SEL loan program. There is a huge number of successful case stories in Bangladesh those are 100% self-sustainable by the assistance of ASA's microfinance program. Here, a successful case story has been showed as for example:

Mrs. Josna begum is a self-sustainable woman in Bangladesh who is ASA's SEL loan borrower. She is 28 years old. Her husband's name is Mr. Nasir Hossain. She is a great mother for one daughter. She married to Mr. Nashir Uddin before 7 years. The year is 2000. Now, she is a rich and successful woman entrepreneur in Bangladesh by the assistance of ASA's SEL loan program. She is owner of a mini-garment in Sonargaon area. She is a representative of all self-sustainable women micro entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. But her previous status was very poor. They have been living in the village of darigaon of shamvupura union under sanergaon Thana of Narayanganj District for permanently. She is a hard worker and high ambitious woman. So, she did not stay at her husband's house without work at a moment. Her husband's business was very poor. Because, there was no sufficient financial support at her business purpose. For getting financial support, at first Josna Begum became admitted as a group member in 'Diganto landless woman shamiti' under ASA's hussainpur Branch of Naraynganj District in the year of 2002. At first installment, she got 10,000 TK. as micro loan from Diganto shamiti of ASA. She financed all money in their garments area. That was the turning point in their business. She was paying her weekly installment very nicely at just time after their all profit. The condition of their business increased day by day. At last, she received 26,000 TK. from diganto shamiti as a micro loan by the 5th time in the year of 2006. Branch Manager of hussainpur Branch Niger shultana highly pleased for the develop of their business. She took plan for the big financial support in their business area under SEL loan program of ASA. For this purpose, Branch Manager proposed her superior authority regional manager of sonargaon area Md. Waliar Rahman and wanted all cooperation for giving 50,000 TK. under SEL loan program. Regional Manager Mr. Waliar Rahman visited their business area and finally, he gave instruction her to disburse 50,000 TK. in the mini-garment of josna Begum. At 1st installment under SEL loan program, Josna Begum gets 50,000 TK. as usual.

With the part of her profit from their business she invested 50,000 taka for the building-up a mini-garments at her home area. There are number of 15 machines in their garments. The name of machines are log, over log, pele etc. There are number of 20 male/female workers always involved in their garments. The salary range of all workers 1200 TK. per week. Baby set, Ganji, T-shirt, magi half Ganji, pant etc, have been making in their garments.

Her husband Nasir supplied all garment products at his hole sale center of piar ali market of Naraynganj district Sadar. Not only that area, he supplied their products at Dhaka Shadarghat market, New market, kaliganj Bajar and others commercial area. Their monthly net profit without all cost from that business is 20,000TK. to 25,000 TK. At last, Josna Begum Received 70,000 TK. from ASA, Hossainpur Branch under SEL loan program. Her dream, She will build-up a big garments industry within very soon by the financial support from ASA. Now it is very important that her mother-in-law shaharbanu is previous member of ASA. The inspiration of her mother-in-law, she had been interested to involve in ASA's loan program. Now Josna Begum is a self-sustainable woman and she represents the all successful women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. She is a great story.

Additional District Manager of ASA Narayanganj District Md. Mahbubul Alam says ASA Narayanganj District already disburse 12 cores and 50 lacks taka SEL loan among 2500 members through 67 branches. District Manager of ASA Narayanganj district Md. Mahmud Kader Talukder says, ASA Narayanganj District already has taken decision to disburse 130 cores taka for the next six months in the year of 2008.

Children often victims of extremism

Ayesha Jalal

Pakistani historian Ayesha Jalal is the director of South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies at Tufts University in the United States. Her latest book 'Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia' has been published in India by Permanent Black. Along with her earlier book, 'Self and Sovereignty: Individual and Community in South Asian Islam Since 1950', Jalal has been tracing the complex history of Muslim thinking in the subcontinent. In an interview with Srinivas Parsa, she talks about the position of women in contemporary Muslim society, which is grappling with religious fundamentalism.

Q. Are Muslim women affected more by the rise of religious fundamentalism?

A. I do not think women alone are affected by the fundamentalists. Children are the greater victims of extremism. The whole community and society is affected by the rise of fundamentalists. It's, of course, true that women are vulnerable in this process. They are seen as the symbol of the community. It is necessary to distinguish between what is attributed to the Qur'an, with regard to restrictions imposed in the name of religion, and what is social. Many of the restrictions have more to do with tribal customs, and these should not be imputed to the religion. This is especially so in the case of Pakistan's frontier areas.

Q. There is also the case that while on the one hand we have the example of fundamentalists imposing crippling restrictions on women of the community, we have, on the other hand, the phenomenon of many Muslim women in Britain, the United States and elsewhere opting to wear the veil and scarf on their own. How does one explain this?

A. It is true that many Muslim women are voluntarily opting to wear the various degrees of the veil - there are so many variants of them from the full 'burqa' to the scarf - in the Western countries. They are doing so as an expression of their religious and cultural identity. I find the response of the governments in France and Turkey to Muslim women wearing a scarf to be harsh. The Qur'an mentions 'haya' (modesty), but there is nothing in it about what to wear and how much. It is more about decency. Secondly, 'haya' does not lie in the dress but in the mental attitude as well.

This should be seen in a broader perspective. It is not a clash between a monolithic Islam and a monolithic West. That is a misinterpretation. There is a struggle within the community. This is a struggle for the identity of the community, for the soul of the community. All this reduces religion to the question of identity. It is not any more seen as an ethical way of life, which goes beyond custom and that which transcends the world.

Q. Are you surprised by the presence of women fundamentalists like the 'Dukhtar-e-Islam' in Kashmir and at the Lal Masjid in Islamabad?

A. There is nothing surprising about it. Women have participated in nationalist movements. Fundamentalism is also a similar movement. The idiom is different, that's all. There is nothing unusual about women being part of the fundamentalist movement. In the case of Kashmir, there is an undercurrent of nationalism as well.

Q. Are you arguing the point that 'jihad', as much else about the Muslim profile, is more a regional phenomenon in your new book, 'Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia'?

A. Yes. On the one hand, it is rooted in the material culture, the political economy of the place. In the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan, the local youths are paid double of what they would get paid in the frontier constabulary. I am not denying the ideology aspect of 'jihad'. But the fact is that the Taliban in the area is awash with opium money. For them, 'jihad' is business. I am also saying in the book that 'jihad' is a more complex thing than what it is made out to be by the strategy experts in the West. It is not just war against infidels. There has been continuous internal debate among Muslims about the many meanings of 'jihad'. The ethical and spiritual aspects of the word 'jihad' are just being overlooked. In my book, I have tried to detail the debates over 'jihad' in south Asia.

Q. What are your thoughts on gender history?

A. I think it is important. But I would want it to be part of the mainstream of history. Gender history should not become a secluded discipline. Yes, important work has been done by historians of gender.

Q. Are you working on a new book now that you have published 'Partisan of Allah'?

A. I want to write a history of Pakistan. I cannot say when it will be done. Books take a long time to write.(Courtesy: Women's Feature Service)