The never-ending misery of Pakistani Women!

I received quite different opinions about my recent blog . Few agreed to that cruel reality, while few outwardly rejected the notion and some people even called me unpatriotic for writing on such topic. Some even challenged the authenticity of my arguments and called them fallacious. I was also accused for spreading negativity in the environment. Well, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion and I respect everyone else’s views, but I do have the right to defend myself.
Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women but please answer me, all of you living in your self-made utopian Pakistan, how much time did each of your spare today from you busy lives to think about the miseries of women of Pakistan. Did you come up with any solution to tackle this problem or this terribility doesn’t exist in your Pakistan?
How about we all pretend that there is no problem in Pakistan and we all are living as happy as one could be? What a great way to end the countless tyrannies faced by the women of Pakistan? How easy it is for you to say that Pakistan is The Land of Pure. Go ask those 3500+ women victim of acid burns; go ask the 13-year-old girl who became the victim of abduction and gang rape; go ask the non-Muslim women who were physically harassed or forcibly converted to Muslim in the land of pure; go ask the teenage girl who was flogged publicly in Swat, and go ask those innumerable women who become the victim of domestic violence but choose to remain silent for the sake of their families. Isn’t it their Pakistan too? Don’t they have a say in this matter? If writing about all the good things out there in Pakistan can make the life of these women better then I would be the first one to start such blog. At least I am acting as their voice and telling the world about their miseries. If writing about these women and other issues of Pakistan make me unpatriotic then so be it.
Every year we condemn the violence against women and vow to put an end to it but unfortunately these vows never materialize. Violence against women is not a random event due an individual’s misconduct but it’s due to the ingrained gender inequality in our society. Women need to have equal rights as men. Women need to be empowered and treated with respect. Do I need to quote the hackneyed quotation of Quaid about women empowerment when obviously we aren’t going to act by it?
However there are few people who recognize the problems faced by the women of Pakistan and do something to make a difference. Musarat Misbah, an incredible women, who brought hope, who inspired many around the world to contribute to her foundation; Depilex Smile Again Foundation. The foundation was set up to help women disfigured by acid burns. It would find them a new life and help pay for expensive reconstructive surgery. She is the inspiration for all Pakistani women who can get inspiration from her outstanding career and the on going social work which this dedicated lady is doing for saving lives of many.
We need to accept the cruel reality of violence against women and as Huma Iqbal puts in her blog,

For those of us who are ready to stop playing hide and seek and instead slash the empire of misrepresented notions on the falsehood of distorted definitions, there is an urgent need to address the problem. There is a need to let go of our silence because understanding comes with acceptance.

Why Pakistan is not the Land of Pure?

The Pakistan which emerged as an Islamic State on the world’s map in 1947 might be called The Land of Pure, but I can assure you that today’s Pakistan is not even close to it.
Ever since I got a dose of reality about the land of pure, I became ashamed of calling myself a Pakistani.
It is a series of unfortunate events which made me call Pakistan, The Land of not-so-pure:

1) Pakistan, a country where traits such as injustice, favoritism, nepotism, and corruption are ingrained in the people, one can’t hope for a person like Asia Bibi to get her fair share of justice. She is another hapless victim of the rampant blasphemy laws of Pakistan. Aasia Bibi’s case is rooted in a personal vendetta by a landlord who is allegedly using the issue to settle a score with the victim. Most of the times rivalry and enmity are the driving forces behind allegations of blasphemy law.
Islam claims to provide religious freedom to all the minorities but this fallacious law doesn’t seem to include the blasphemy against other religions. Isn’t it the duty of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to prevent the blasphemy of other religions.

2) Google has recently placed Pakistan on number one spot in the world in searches for pornographic terms, outranking every other country in the world. Fox News didn’t even hesitate to call our so-called Land of Pure, Pornistan and why should it? We, the 20 million online Pakistanis really deserves accolades for our great achievement. We even defeated the 500 million online community of China. One blogger wrote on this unfortunate issue,
“And this is happening with 20 million people using the Internet. Imagine what would happen when our entire population will have access to the net!!!
If the entire country has access to the net then………..all the porn sites will have “server busy; try again later” message!”

3) The sex industry in Pakistan has begun to boom. One can easily access a prostitute in any major city of Pakistan. Prostitutes ranging from Chinese to Bangladeshis and desi Pakistanis are available on-demand. Prostitutes can be hired for as low as Rs. 400 or if you are a man of higher taste you can try one of the many Chinese brothels in various cities of Pakistan. The worst thing is that even innocent children are sexually abused in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, aka The Land of Pure.
Despite being so commonplace in our Land of Pure we don’t agree to admit the unsightly fact that sex business is BOOMING in Pakistan. Isn’t that ironical?

4) Now when we have talked about Sex Industry, how can we forget about the misogynist of Pakistan. Pakistan has a history for lack of women rights. Mukhtaran Mai, who was mercilessly gang raped as a form of honour revenge in this Land of Pure, is still waiting for her justice. You would be shocked to know that Pervez Musharraf said that some women in Pakistan claim to be raped just so they could claim asylum in the West.
Mukhtaran Mai is just another example of many women facing such calamities in Pakistan.

I am afraid if I continue to write more on this topic, I would be mercilessly lynched by the proclaimers of the Land of Pure.