Appeasement in Pakistan
03:53, 25 February 2009
.. Posted in Development, Relief and Advocacy Efforts.. Link
Appeasement means pacify or placate someone by acceding to their demands.
If something is expendable it means it is of little significance when compared to an overall purpose, and therefore able to be abandoned.
Please use both in a sentence. Here's mine:
In Pakistan, the recent appeasement of the Taliban shows that women are expendable.
Salman Ahmad is a musician who founded the popular South Asian band Junoon. The group has sold over 25 million albums. He has recently blogged regarding the Pakistan government giving control of the Swat Valley to the Taliban. His blog entry, in summary below, is a good illustration of the situation:
In its 60-plus turbulent years as an independent country, Pakistan has been held together by its music, poetry, films, literature and sports. Pakistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, but culture -- not religion -- is the glue that binds people in this critical U.S.-allied country. The city of Swat used to be a haven for arts, music and tourism. People came there from different parts of Pakistan to enjoy the area and its culture.Female education has already been banned in the Swat valley, and over a hundred schools, most of them girls’ schools, have been demolished. To show they mean business, the Taliban shot dead a woman councilor who spoke against the Taliban and beheaded a local dancer. Asked if they were ashamed of such atrocities committed against women, a spokesman said: "We needed to teach women a lesson."
But now the Taliban are grafting an alien form of Islam onto Pakistan. The Taliban have shut down girls' schools, imposed sharia law and destroyed music shops. Cinemas are being locked down. The fanatics' idea is simple: to asphyxiate Pakistan's rich and vibrant culture and replace it with their own.
The Pakistani government and army made a deal with the Taliban, giving them control of the Swat valley. This ill-conceived appeasement will only embolden the Taliban and may squelch more of Pakistan's voices of peace just when Pakistanis and the world need to hear them most. It is the first step in the potential Talibanization of more of the country.
Feryal Ali-Gauhar, economist, novelist, filmmaker and women's rights activist, has questioned the legitimacy of the accord. "The fact that the institution of the jirga [tribal council] excludes women from all decision-making belies its undemocratic nature,'' Ali-Gauhar said. ''This, in itself, suggests that women shall not be consulted in the process of accessing justice either before or after the imposition of shariah."
Yasmeen Hassan, Equality Now's Deputy Director of Programs, details the suffering endured by women. "Women and girls have been ordered to wear full veils. Directives have been issued requiring that women be accompanied by male family members in public places and forbidding women from carrying compulsory government identification cards displaying their photographs. About a dozen women have been shot for 'immoral activities,' including Bakht Zeba, a 45-year-old social worker committed to advancing girls' education.”
There's not just an eerie silence in Swat. There's an eerie silence worldwide. Where is the outrage? Would the reaction be louder and more widespread if it was an ethnic group or religious group that was being oppressed, rather than women?
If you are outraged, Equality Now has recommendations on how to express such. I hope you will join me in doing so. Let the appropriate people know that women are not expendable and that the world is watching. Ask for your own appeasement.
