Usman Torwali
The Pashtuns, an ethnicity living mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, have their established and distinct culture; often dubbed as Pukhtunwali. Pukhtunwali is a mixture of some customs, cultural codes, traditions and long relished values that regulate the Pashtun society. Under Pukhtunwali, the Pashtuns recognize themselves as a distinct identity. Moreover, there are some major codes of Pakhtunwali which by and large have shaped the Pashtun mindset. This mindset is largely patriarchal in nature, embedding the attitude of men towards women. The gendering of society and assigning them their roles, perhaps, can be witnessed in almost all the societies but with the pace of time, they have been secularized and rationalized whilst the case of Pashtuns is as old as Pashtuns themselves.
The Hujra is a place where most of the men of a Muhalla or small locality are assembled in order to sit with their elders and listen to them as they discuss diverse topics. It sometimes is a guest room of the locality where guests are entertained collectively or a place where music and traditional Tappais sung on the occasions of ceremonies. But mostly politics, social and local matters are discussed thus giving it a core place in the formation of social psyche. However, Hujra being such a significant social seat is indiscriminately inhabited by Pashtun males, irrespective of their ages, and the women are kept outside of this social club. Hujra is the decisive place from where the Pashtuns behavior and attitude originate towards their opposite gender and as well as other ethnicities. The Pashtuns being grown in a patriarchal environment of Hujra exclude the role of women and degrade them to a second-hand being; limited to the performing of domestic duties such as chores and farming.
In addition, the constructed muscular mindset of Pashtuns not only subjugated woman to only four walls; expelling her from the social, economic and political spheres, but her gender was symbolized as weaker and an object, that to be kept out of the domain of humanity. This not only deprived woman of her due rights but enslaved her fate to the will of man, who often gives woman to the aggrieved party (Swara) as property to settle the disputes. Hence, given the patriarchal society the Pashtuns’ women themselves have relinquished their role as a human being, or being a responsible entity and along with such a suppressed beings they have never voiced up their rights, perhaps, due to the lack of education, or perhaps not being as organized as a radical movement demand.
Historically, under the frontier crimes regulation, the Pashtun women were inexorably excluded from Jirga, even in cases related to them, frequently, went against them, as their say was not included in the judgement. The council of elders as an established norm of the tribal Pashtun society for settling disputes never included women, neither the women influenced its decisions. The male dominated society has no role assigned to woman and thus has tamed and tread the gender to a degraded being at the expense of theirlong-cherished ethos.
Consequently, the Pashtun women, especially in the tribal areas including those in the north, have been bereft of their status as a responsible citizen and a cognizant being, who in other part of the world, of course, is as able as the man, and as efficient in her duties as her counter gender, with high spirit and soul performing her social, political and economic duties. But, unfortunately, in Pashtun society due to the Pashtuns established codes of Pashtunwali, she is degraded and tamed. Her status and role can be built only through education and literacy. Still, those males who do not have done education how could let their girls go to school is a question grossly rooted in culture. In the Pashtun societies girls’ education is discarded and dubbed as obscenity. In fact, those girls who get education are deemed as immodest. This behavior and attitude on the part of men creates bottlenecks in girls’ education and later results the subjugation of women to men.
Despite being the most important component for women’s social and personal growth, data show that education is not a state priority. The overall female literacy rate in Turghar is 46.12%, according to data from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Department’s census of 2023. Lower Kohistan has a rate of 32.10 percent, Bajaur has a rate of 29.12%, Upper Kohistan has a rate of 28.10 percent, Bajaur 29.12% and Kolai Palace 14.13 percent. The province’s overall female literacy percentage is only 15.37%. On the other side of the border in Afghanistan, the situation is worse than this as girls’ education is prohibited and they can’t do any jobs.
Recent technological advancements might have exposed women to the ideas of human rights and feminism ideals however that is limited to the urban cities especially the urban educational and other social centers. In larger parts of the Pashtun society men still dominate women and exclude them from the humanely freedom and their due rights. The state must have to prioritize girls’ education.