Travails of Empowered Women
By Dr Basheer Ahmed Khan
Garden Grove, CA
It is unfortunate that eloquence, ideas and deportment are lacking amongst our leaders and their rhetoric is inconsequential. I had the same feeling of “time is ripe my friends” (Your article “The time is ripe my friends for making miracles in Pakistan” by Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui, Pakistan Link, Dec 8, 2017) when the two female leaders of the Muslim world with poise and grace, PM Benazir and PM Cillar of Turkey visited Bosnia at the height of the genocide to stand in solidarity with the Bosnian people while their male counterparts were placid.
It is unfortunate that the poise and potential of most of these dynamic women is used as a dispensable and disposable commodity by the political wizards. This is evident from the fate of Indira Gandhi, Bandaranayke, Benazir, and the President of Argentina, S Korea and Brazil. Even the Iron Lady of Britain fell a prey to lose her place to Major without even a fight. Only Merkel seems to be wearing the shoes of the elephant in the room, Mr Kohl, longer than him and seems to be still going strong. This is because of the maturity of the German People with a long history of entrepreneurial zeal who may have been Barbarians to those who talk the talk and can’t walk.
Mahatma Gandhi has said: Men by nurturing the women in them purify their souls. Men with feminine streak therefore rejoice in the success of these women because they see in them the other balanced wheel which advances the march of our civilization which is stuck like the bulls on the mill. We don’t have to worry about “Jo jaa kay na aaye woh jawani dekhi”, but encourage our sons and daughters to become that balanced wheel to the cart of our civilization unmindful of the role that is assigned to them in life. It is men and women with this attitude and this determination that can produce those leaders with eloquence, ideas and deportment that we long but lack. This will go as a credit to our account if we have to just chop the onion in the process of helping these women gain their self-esteem to face the world.
Your article was a nice piece with intriguing and challenging symbolism. The people with short attention span who want their knowledge in sound bites need what my poet friend Hafeez Meeruthi has said:
Ab Khul kay Kaho Baath tho Kuch Baath Banaygi
A Daur e Isharaath O Kinayath Nahi Hai.
It is not a time for subtle linguistic nuances but a time for forthright expression.
I am sure that those who enjoy English language will enjoy your piece even more.
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