KABUL, Oct 18 (IPS) - ‘Give peace
a chance’ may just be another cliché for many, but for women who have
suffered the ravages of war, endless strife and other forms of conflict,
joining hands to find meaningful solutions to their collective aspiration
lends it a whole new meaning.
Within the South Asian region, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan have for
decades been torn by internal and external conflicts that have cried out for,
but have not quite found, a lasting resolution.
"We waited for a long time to see what the men would do for peace,"
Zahira Khattak, a member the think-tank formed by Pakistan’s Awami National
Party (ANP), told IPS.
For Khattak and scores of other women in this region, not only has peace
proved elusive, they have also been left out of much of the peace efforts by
their respective states.
"Why should this be so?" argued Khattak. "For 5,000 years
women have been sitting in ‘jirgas’ (tribal councils), at least in Afghanistan.
We have ‘jirgas’ all over Pakistan’s tribal areas also, and we thought why
not introduce this concept?" Aware of the
repercussions of remaining silent on a host of issues, including peace and
security, that affect them as much as men, women today are increasingly
raising their voice in a bid to be heard in the corridors of power and at the
policymaking levels.
For months now, women from the three states have been strengthening their
alliances, which they hope will be a vital bridge to peace in their region.
Khattak said that since so many women in these three countries have similar
views on peace, "we thought why not get together and make our voices
heard by the people in power?"
"There are many suspicions and mistrust between our three countries,"
she added, "but sitting together and talking, we find we have so much
more in common."
Their first trialogue in April 2009 in New Delhi was an auspicious start of
their collective peace efforts. It followed an all-women peace meeting that
activists in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s beleaguered North West Frontier
Province, convened on Women’s Day, March 8, 2009 – a day they celebrated as
‘Peace Day’, explained Khattak.
Inspired by the results of these meetings, delegates from the three South
Asian countries gathered anew early this month for their second peace
trialogue. The battered city of Kabul hosted the unusual gathering of women
activists, politicians and journalists.
"We are aware we have so many internal problems," said Indian
journalist Jyoti Malhotra in an interview with IPS. "Our armies are
conducting operations against their own people. . . . I’m not saying we’ve
resolved all the questions or found their answers, but this (trialogue) is a
very good start, and it is very necessary to take it forward."
Ongoing tensions in Afghanistan, worsened by the contentious outcome of its
recent elections, are a constant reminder of the need to work together to
achieve the elusive dream of a just peace.
"We Afghans are in need of peace," Afghan parliamentarian Shinkai
Karokhel told the gathering. "We suffer from insurgency under the banner
of religion or liberation war... We lose our lives, our heritage, our honour,
our children, our schools…"
Dr Radha Kumar, director of Peace and Conflict Programme of the Delhi Policy
Group, which convened the unconventional 'aman jirga' (peace council), summed
up the aims of the meeting: to "foster and sustain peace, deal with
conflict and post-conflict situations, fight for women’s rights and human
rights, ensure women’s greater political participation and make women visible
at decision making especially peace negotiation tables."
The meeting stressed the inclusion of women in peace negotiations,
particularly given the threats they face from warring groups and the constant
need to assert their rights in the face of repressive laws targeted at them.
Speaking at the conference, Afghan activist Nargis Nehan noted that
"most of the laws and regulations are drafted by (male-dominated)
political parties and government."
Gatherings like this provide participants with the opportunity to learn from
one another. "Afghan women have been bearing this conflict for 30
years," Pakistani parliamentarian Bushra Gohar of the ANP told IPS.
"It is inspiring to hear how they have dealt with it."
Besides sharing experiences, participants focused on trying to find solutions
to their common concerns. Their draft plan of action included working towards
a Women’s Peace Commission comprising 15 women from the region, setting up a
multi-lingual website to facilitate further exchange of ideas and
experiences, and holding a follow-up trialogue in Pakistan some time next
year.
"Women can be influential if empowered; we represent not just women but
also the men in our lives – colleagues, friends, husbands, brothers,
sons," said federal minister Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli of the breakaway
Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao Group).
While women in the three neighbouring states are slowly building alliances
towards peace, they still have to constantly fight for their right to be
heard and treated as equals in their male-dominated societies.
Tahirkheli and Afghan parliamentarian Shukriya Barakzai were among the
hundred or so women who took part in the first Afghanistan-Pakistan peace
‘jirga’ of August 2007 in Kabul, attended by over 600 chieftains, tribal
elders and politicians.
It remains to be seen, however, whether such gatherings will continue to
include women. The Aug 2007 ‘jirga’ was supposed to be followed up by a
‘jirga gai’ (executive council) with 25 representatives from both states and
held in Pakistan. Although it has yet to be convened, several members have
been nominated to it – but without women, noted Tahirkheli.
"Women should be included like they were in the main ‘jirga’,"
Tahirkheli told IPS. "Moreover, it should be a continuous process.
Regular meetings will bring contentious issues to the table and help us move
forward."
But whether they are included in the planned ‘jirga gai’ or not, the women
who trooped to the Kabul trialogue are determined to forge ahead with plans
to meet in Peshawar for their third such gathering next year.
Many have stayed in touch with one another, strengthening ties and forging a
common bond built on their collective desire for peace. It is also a bond
that transcends their differences.
Parliamentarian Nafisa Shah of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party said that
women engaged in Pakistan’s Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, which she chairs,
"have reconciled with our past and ... made our differences far smaller
than our common goals." The caucus brings together women across the
party divide.
Such alliances are manifestly no longer confined to Pakistan’s parliament.
Within the region, at least among women, broader alliances are taking shape.
The process may not yield any immediate results, but the very fact that it is
continuing bodes well for the prospects of genuine and lasting peace in the
region.
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