Suffering in silence thy name is (Chitrali) women

By Sadia Akbar & Malika Arfeen



With almost 50 per cent of the population, women can play an important role in development of the country. But they can only become active members of society if they are well educated, financially strong and are in good health.

As far as women in Chitral are concerned, they have always worked side by

side with males but their contribution to the collective economic development

has been insignificant, as they have not been in the mainstream of life and still remain confined to the four walls of their homes entangled in myriads

of social, economic and cultural problems.

As awareness is the key to progress and prosperity, women in Chitral

have remained ignorant of their rights due to lack of education. This is

because the government has failed to ensure educational facilities at the

doorsteps of the people and parents feel shy of sending their daughters

away for higher education. Even today, there are no prospects women of the valley can have sufficient number of institutions to easily acquire

education in their home villages.

This is also to be noted that in other districts of the conservative

NWFP, people have generally been averse to female education. But in Chitral

they highly value education and have even constructed school buildings for girls on a self-help basis in collaboration with the Aga Khan Education Service. As a result, the literacy rate for women in Chitral today is one of the highest in the country.

The district with an area of 14,850 square-km consists of over 320 small villages and hamlets which are sparsely located in a number of sub-valleys. So the educational institutions are located at long distances from many villages and students have to travel on foot to reach their schools.

As a result, on the one hand girl students find it difficult to continue education and on the other the daily long distance shuttling leaves bad effects on their health. The local people are financially weak and cannot send their daughters out of the district for higher education. As a result, after completing primary or secondary level education, girls remain confined to their houses. But the urge to acquire education does not fade away and they pursue to get education while siting in homes and doing domestic chores.

Ironically, the government has set up very few schools for girls as compared to those meant for boys. While after secondary level, the situation even becomes worse. There is only one degree college in the whole district for girls that too in the main town of Chitral.

This makes it impossible for a majority of girl students who live in far-flung villages to take admission in the college and then continue education due to accommodation and other problems.

Besides, due to social norms like observance of Purdah, parents avoid sending their daughters to institutions offering co-education. Economic condition of the people does not allow them to send their children to private educational institutions which is another factor hindering girls to acquire higher education and play active role in nation building.

Education is life-long process. After formal schooling one has to be in touch with books, magazines, newspapers, etc., which should be available to every educated persons to increase his/her knowledge. In this regard, the valley of Chitral is very backward as except a single library located in Chitral town there is no concept of availability of reading materials through public or private channels. Even outside the main town, newspapers reading is rare as they are not available due to communication problems and lack of resources.

Rampant poverty in the district has also been an stumbling block

in spreading the light of education. A vast majority of people in

the district depend on subsistence agriculture and live below the

poverty line.

People after educating their children fail to find employment for

them and think that spending on education was a futile exercise.

Today we find that there are at least two to three educated girls

in every house in the district but there are no jobs for them. Some

people say girls in Chitral have no prospects of gaining respectable

jobs after education like in banking, administration,etc., because

these sectors are almost non-existent in the valley. They say if the

destiny of an educated girl is the same ie to do household chorus

and graze the cattle and become economic burden on the male members

of her family then what is the need of educating her at the first

place.

Peculiar social norms and cultural mores also go against women's

mental and psychological progress. One of them is early marriage. Though

the practice was more prevalent in old days it has somehow decreased

in the recent times. Marriage in tender age creates multi-faceted problems

for the girls. They cannot bear the domestic responsibility in her

in-laws and after becoming mother in almost childhood the girl faces

health-related complications. Early marriage was also a result of

lack of education and poverty due to which parents mostly wanted to

get rid of their daughters before they could bring `bad name' for

the family.

Another problem for women is decision-making power which rests with

the male members of the family. Women's opinion is rarely sought in

various decisions even if it directly concern her.

Last not the least is the fact that unless the woman possesses

strong health - both physical and mental - she cannot play her role

as a mother, daughter, sister and wife in a family and as a member

of a society as a whole. Chitrali women in this respect are the

victim of nature, as they are even deprived of basic healthcare

facilities due to unsuitable geography of their area.

Despite all these, however, the women of Chitral are ready to brace

for the unavoidable circumstances and carry out their responsibilities

in a dignified manner.