Pukhtun Women: Traditional Role, Contemporary Challenges

[Roshina]

PUKHTUN WOMEN:

TRADITIONAL ROLE, CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES

KHURSHID KHAN

WELCOME TO VALLEY SWAT

The mistimed and uncalled for changes that have crept into the Pukhtun Society of Swat are putting psychological stress on both males and the females. The stress is more profound in the female section of the Society, an allusion to the traditional life in Swat in part testifies to it. Being dissociated from one another, the capability of women to contribute to the sustainable development of the region is hampered. They have very difficult access to education facility. They are secluded from the outside world. The house hold responsibilities are expanded, and the social change resulted in added stress to the already existing ones. Their household work contribution could not be overlooked. They still contribute a lot to the development of the area but the region is still losing approximately half of its talent by ignoring the female section of the Society. Their contributions in the traditional society were not less than men, nor identical though, and their psychological needs were fulfilled through various traditional activities too. The female was the sole incharge or member of the household and discharged her duties as head or member of the household: she had to go out for bringing drinking water, for washing cloths and for plucking vegetables (Sabah). The culture ensured their protection at the (Shat (Goodar), the fields (Pate/) and everywhere. The men would never violate the sanctity of women even inadvertently not only due to fear of retribution but their inherent regard for their tradition. Goodar and the field were not the places where only work had to be done but gossip, problem sharing and ideas exchange was the common features that occurred there. With blind belief on the western technology and value acceptance have blown, besides other cultural activities, the Goodar, the primary area where almost all the girls and women had to visit once a day. Goodar has attracted poets and folklorists as is clear from the following tapi.

I will never go to fetch water (from Goodar)
Because this pitcher has led me into troubles
I wish the ghat at Jalala (a village) were destroyed It has made the girls asthmatic
A red shawl appeared at the ghat
Someone exclaimed that fire had started burninq on water
The ghat presents a deserted look
Because groups of unmarried girls don't visit it any more

In addition to these frequent and continuous opportunities of meetings many other opportunities were also provided by the culture to women and girls. Those included the following; Engagement and wedding ceremonies were favourite occasions for enjoyment. Weeks before the wedding, the girls from the neighbourhood would beat drums (damame), sing and dance in the wedding house and the activity would reach to its climax on the day of wedding. Now the social interaction among the women is very rare and the diffusion of modern tools of entertainment like TVs. VCRs and cassette players has taken the place of the traditional drum beating etc.
Historically Pukhtun believe in mysticism. Visits to Holy shrines were common especially in spring season. Men and women, in separate groups would regularly visit the Shrines of Saints. Women irrespective of their socio-economic status, walked on foot to the far-flung Shrine of Pir Baba in Buner. On the way to Buner they used to cross the tough and hard route of Sheratrap pass in EllumMountain, singing and beating the portable tambourine (Thumbel). It would be an interesting adventure cum picnic. And another interesting point is that in such traditional society no one showed any sign of objection. But now it is legend. This kind of outing also drew the attention of poets and they wrote a lot of romantic poems that were an input to the body of Pukhto folklore. The following tapae are some of the examples.

The sacred amulets proved less efficacious
The intention to make revolutions around the shrines fills me with hope
I invoke you great shrine for help
Because I have traveled from Swat with the hope that my wish is granted
Let's go to Pirbaba (a saint)
He is so great that the wish is granted on the way to him
The poisonous arrows of my eyes have pierced you
You have no hope of recovery even at the shrine at Bunair

On the birth of male baby the gathering of women was also an important occasion. On this occasion a special kind of dish had to be prepared, called Laitai. The aged and experienced women were specially invited to prepare the dish. Circumcision was a time of great pump and show. After the act of circumcision, the village drummer {Dum) would start drumming and the women inside the house would spontaneously burst into dancing and the old women would shower nuts and dry fruits on them. Now such activities are rare.
In the month of June {herd) young girls in a house would sit together to prepare spaghetti to feed to their brothers and their brothers friends. Learning to read Quran the girls used to visit the home of an old women teacher. Here they not only learnt the recitation but also enjoyed themselves on swings. Cooking of special rice dish on the 10th day of Muharam collectively in one house and sitting around the fire place, singing praising songs for the martyrs of Karbala, was a regular ceremony for the young girls.

Collective cleaning of grains and mud plastering in the houses were also interesting activities. Women painted on mud walls inside the house and mud carving art on mud grain storage (Kandoo) were the expressive arts of the women. But the diffusion of ready made concrete tiles and modern architecture replaced their art. These kinds of activities are also rare. On Eid days women would visit shrines not only for the sake of entertainment but other purposes were served by the gathering as well i.e., the interaction among girls would culminate in lasting relationships, girls would display their new clothes, women of low strata would sell things and general exchange of views on different subjects would take place. Such activities do take place but on a very small scale.

In the new social set-up the said activities, could not be carried out the way they were carried out in the past. Furthermore, their revival in original form is out of question due to many reasons, alternative activities that do not conflict with the prevalent local customs of the people can be sought, to ensure female involvement on the one hand, release them from depression and frustration on the other.

SOURCE: http://www.valleyswat.net/literature...un%20Women.pdf

[spogmai shaglay]

Great piece.....this is more information for me....everyday my knowledge is increasing here in PF.....

[Roshina]

I'm glad to hear the author will soon be joining PF. What are his credentials? I desperately need to communicate with some Pukhtuns who deal with Pukhtun women's issues. As mentioend elsewhere, my honors thesis this year is on the influence that the Pukhtun's concept of honor has on our women's agency in selecting a partner for marriage. So I thought this piece would give me some insight into how to go about writing that. As the author states, women are typically secluded from the rest of the world, and, in my paper, that will carry important meaning: a lack of agency in selecting a partner for marriage, especially when compared to the agency that men have in selecting theirs.

So, when he joins, I would like to talk to him to discuss this.

[Roshina]

Oh! And I also think that a long piece on the importance that the gudar once held in our culture and how it has now declined. In anthropology, there's something called "cracks of resistance," and information about Pukhtun women's cracks of resistance can be derived from the author's statement that "Goodar and the field were not the places where only work had to be done but gossip, problem sharing and ideas exchange was the common features that occurred there." Basically, this was the one spot we know for a fact where women gathered and said and discussed things that were important to them. This is where Pukhtun women found space.

I can't wait to bring this up in a conversation with my research mentor, who will most likely want me to write a long piece on this -- which I won't mind at all, of course.

But it's mostly for this reason that I wanted to share Khurshid Lala's article here. It's important and needs to given notice.

[..]

I am at least as interested as you are on this topic. Thank you for bring it up. We will talk more.