Blinded by the burqa —Rafia Zakaria - Bina Shah adds perspective

well expressed rafia ~t

The issue of covering as a political denominator is here too ensconced in its complexities; women’s bodies, both covered and uncovered, thus are part of a political mosaic that goes beyond them; the only common theme being their perpetual use and misuse as sites of political spectacle. Blinded by the burqa —Rafia Zakaria

Bina Shah adds a perspective to this here:

Having control over a woman is a powerful drug, one to which most Pakistani men are severely addicted. They will not give up this vice unless it is seen to have a direct, harmful effect on their own lives. That's why we'll always see headlines like the one I saw about the Pakistani women being forced to walk naked through the streets of a dusty Punjabi village, one hour away from main Lahore town. Pakistani men will not change unless their behaviour is censured, punished, and put under the scrutiny of the law. And even then, it’s possible that they will resent being forced to give up their chauvinistic, degrading, and cruel ways. Bina Shah