An Examination of Purdah As an Institution in Pakistan
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PURDAHOF THE HEART AND THE EYES: AN EXAMINATION OF PURDAHAS AN INSTITUTION IN PAKISTAN By RIFFAT HAQUE B.A., M.Sc., & M.Phil Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Faculty, Women's & Gender Studies Program and the School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Australia. October 2003 C DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, SHAH BEGUM; FATHER, MOHAMMAD SARWAR AND BROTHER, JAVED SARWAR TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES ABSTRACT This research examined the influences of purdah on the lives of a sample of urban lower middle-classes women of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The inquiry was designed to explore women's understanding and experiences of purdah and also examines the influence of socio-economic changes in their choices of purdah practices. It further explores how purdah influences women's awareness of their political and legal rights, and their participation in these arenas. A feminist framework underpinned the design of the in-depth interviews providing the basis of this qualitative study. The thesis analyzed data using a grounded theoretical approach, the interviews provide data of the extent of overt and covert complexities involved in purdah, and its overarching influence in women's lives. Historically, purdah developed as an institution to preserve female chastity, however this research found extensive exploitation and misuse of purdah by the Pakistani patriarchal society, and that this exploitation was further legitimized through particular practices of the Islamic religion. Importantly, due to socio-economic pressures the women participants in this study were experiencing a shift in their practice of purdah. To come out of seclusion, they adopted purdah dress as 'a portable space', even though their experiences showed that this presence was not always welcomed in the public domain. Purdah dress did not guarantee respect or avert street harassment. Therefore, to preserve their chastity and status in society the participants preferred to use segregated facilities, thus avoiding contact with non-kin men. Further, analysis of the participants' experiences indicated that the overt use of purdah to preserve female chastity was not seen as problematic by the women. Rather, it was the covert use of purdah, which was experienced by the women as a severe impediment to the quality of their lives. This study found that there is a need to preserve and facilitate these women's 'newfound' freedom from seclusion by providing them with segregated facilities and by sensitizing the society in general to the women's newfound role and contribution to the society. The findings of this research provide insights which may be considered in the action plans of both women activists and policy makers at all levels. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost, I wish to thank the participants of this research, who willingly shared their lives with me and made the project possible. I am grateful to Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, for granting me study leave and financial assistance because of which I could undertake this project. My inspiration for this work also comes from my professional interaction with thousands of rural and urban women in Pakistan. I am indebted to my supervisors for their ceaseless encouragement, listening to my thought process as and anxieties, for reading drafts and correcting them and for intellectual guidance, which shaped this work. Especially, I am grateful to my supervisor Dr Diane Dames, who was always there to help me academically as well as being generous in providing emotional support. I am grateful to my co-supervisor Dr Jan Breckenridge for helping me in developing a clear theoratical perspective. I am obliged to Dr Rogelia Pe-Pua for accepting my request to come aboard as an additional co-supervisor and especially for providing me clarity in regarding to the qualitative methodology and organizing the research findings. Thanks to Dr Helene Bowen Raddeker, Coordinator of Women's Studies at UNSW, for her warm support. I am especially thankful to her for supporting my application for financial assistance from the Dean's Office and help in administrative matters. I am also grateful to Morgan Stewart for doing the editing of some of the chapters. Special thanks to my entire family, who not only encouraged me, but always trusted in my capabilities. Without their cooperation this endeavor would not have been possible. In all my achievements I owe a great deal to all of them. Finally, this work would not have been possible with out the cooperation of my husband, M. Haqbab. I am grateful for his extraordinary support, constant encouragement and bearing with my occasional anxieties. I am grateful to my two beautiful boys, Hanaan and Nomaan, for their understanding and appreciating my endeavor in many ways. ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SSC Secondary School Certificate NGO Non-government Organization APWA All Pakistan Women's Organization UFWR United Front for Women's Rights MFLO Muslim Family Law Ordinance NWFP North West Frontier Province COP Combined Opposition Party PPP Pakistan Peoples Party UN United Nations WAF Women's Action Forum FSC Federal Shariat Court SAARC South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women NPA National Plan of Action PML Pakistan Muslim League X LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Population in urban and rural area of Pakistan in 1995 42 Table 2. Gender breakdown of medical personnel registered in Pakistan in 1993 43 Table 3. Gender breakdown of enrolment in professional colleges in Pakistan 44 (1992-1993) Table 4. Educational institutions provided for males & females, 1994-95 45 Table 5. Enrolment of males & females in educational institutions 1994-95 45 Table 6. Males & females participation in the - Labor Force in 1991-92 46 xi LIST OF FIGURES 1. Shuttle-cock burqa 62 2. Two piece burqa 63 3. Nikab with dupatta 64 4. Mother and daughter wearing chaddar 65 5. Scarves being worn by school girls 66 6. Scarf with coat 67 7. (From right to left) Examples of dupatta and chaddar, chaddar, coat and 68 dupatta and dupatta just draped on shoulders 8. Variations ofpurdah outfits 69 9 The pervasiveness ofpurdah in women's lives 224 xii CHAPTER! INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction 2. Taking a journey 2 2.1 How the seeds were planted 2 2.2 Thinking more deeply about the topic 3 3. Research questions 4 4. Theoreticalframework 4 5. Significance of the study 5 6. Structure of the thesis 6 CHAPTER2 GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN AND WOMEN'S QUEST FOR PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS 8 1. Introduction 8 2. Women's relationship to the state of Pakistan 9 3. Advancing women's activism during successive governments in Pakistan 13 3.1 Women's contribution to the new Pakistan during a period of initial constitutional experimentation (194 7 - 58) 13 3.2 The Muslim Family Law Ordinance of 1961 during the period of the first military regime (1958 - 72) 17 3.3 Progressive attitudes towards women during the period of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1972 - 77) 20 3.4 Anxiety and confrontation for women during the second period of martial law (1977 - 87) 23 3.5 Epoch of promises and hopes, democratic rule under four successive governments (1988 - 99) 30 3 .6 Rekindling of hopes during the third period of military rule ( 1999 - xiii onwards) 35 4. Conclusion 37 CHAPTER3 SOCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PAKISTANI WOMEN 39 I. Introduction 39 2. Social profile of Pakistani women 39 3. Demographic profile of women in Pakistan 42 4. Conclusion 47 CHAPTER4 THE INSTITUTION OF PURDAH 48 1. Introduction 48 2. Purdah and related terms 48 3. Historical perspective ofpurdah tradition 49 4. Islamic Interpretation 53 4.1 The Quran 54 4.2 Hadith 59 5. Practices/ Manifestations ofpurdah 60 5.1 Seclusion-restriction to family living quarters 60 5.2 Range ofpurdah outfits prevalent in Pakistani culture 61 5.3 Segregation in public places 71 6. Implications ofpurdah for women in Pakistan 72 7. Conclusion 74 xiv CHAPTERS FEMINISM AND ISLAM 76 1. Introduction 76 2. Historical background of Muslim feminism 77 2.1 What is Feminism? 77 2.2 How feminism is perceived in the Muslim/Third world 77 2.2.1 Dawn of Islam and earlier centuries 79 2.2.2 Period from 1860s to 1920s 80 2.2.3 Period from 1920s to 1960s 82 2.2.4 The resurgence of feminism from the 1970s 86 3. Feminism and Islam 89 4. Diverse nature of feminism in Muslim countries 93 4.1 Islamist feminists 95 4.1.1 Liberal Islamist feminism 95 4.1.2 Radical Islamist feminism 97 4.1.3 Conservative Islamist feminism 98 4.2 Secular groups 99 5. Feminism and purdah 100 6. Theoratical lens of the present study 104 7. Conclusion 105 CHAPTER6 METHODOLOGY 106 I. Introduction 106 2. A qualitative feminist methodology 106 2.1 Rationale 106 2.2 Nature of the design 108 xv 3. Interviewing the women ofRawalpindi 110 3.1 Rawalpindi: the research site 110 3.2 The primary research participants 111 3.3 Gaining access to the primary participants 111 3.4 The interview guide 112 3.5 How the interviews were conducted 113 3.5.1 Location and timing of interviews 114 3.5.2 Researcher's credibility 115 3.6 Dealing with ethical issues 117 4. Key informant interviews and other sources of data 119 4.1 Key informant interviews 119 4.2 Use of documents and statistics 120 5. Data analysis 120 6. Validity and reliability 122 7. Research as a transformative process 124 7 .2 Leaving the field 124 7.3 The 'journey': the process and its impact on my life experience 125 8.