South Asia

A field of one’s own: gender and land rights in South Asia

Awarding the Edgar Graham Book Prize in 1996, “the judges were unanimous that this book will become a classic landmark work of reference.” They said: “Professor Agarwal’s book gives a masterly review and analysis of women’s property rights in South Asia. It goes into the detailed legal, historical, cultural and other roots of women’s access to land. It analyses the implications of women’s property rights in both formal and customary law, for farming systems, household economies and livelihoods of the most vulnerable. It looks at their response to past development and change.

Awareness on inheritance rights, a project with Women Workers Help Line, Pakistan

This project was implemented by Women Workers Help Line (WWHL), an organisation that has been working in Pakistan to promote women’s social, political and economic rights, including campaigns for the repeal of all discriminatory laws against women. In this project, WWHL provided capacity building, leadership training and knowledge dissemination for women peasants, for whom land rights are closely linked to issues of food sovereignty. A charter of demand for women’s rights to land and property was drawn up after consultations with different stakeholders, social movements and NGOs.

An Annotated Bibliography on Violence Against Women in South Asia: Actions and Responses

This bibliography attempts to cover all areas of violence against women in the family, the community and by the state. The compilation also includes a full array of resource material from books to monographs and newspaper articles, both published and unpublished, and is broken down by country.

Pakistan: Ensure safety of Asia Bibi and her family and repeal Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws

The International Solidarity Network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) is deeply shocked that a court in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, has sentenced a 45-year-old Christian woman, Asia Bibi, to death on the charge of having committed “blasphemy”. Although illiterate, she has been accused of denying the institution of prophet-hood by citing copious examples from the key texts of Islam. We join local human rights organizations, international women’s groups and religious minorities in calling for Pakistan to urgently repeal its Blasphemy Laws. We also appeal to the authorities to guarantee the safety of Asia Bibi and her family from the rage of local extremists, as well as investigate the violent persecution of the Christian community in the Punjab.

Sri Lanka: Why women in politics always matters: A conversation with Chulani Kodikara

In this Groundviews interview, the interviewer asks WLUML Council member, Chulani Kodikara, about affirmative action, and also whether for example, the entry of telegenic females sans political acumen to parliament in any way helps advocacy on stronger female representation. Pegged to this, he also questions her about substantive equality, that goes beyond, in her own words, the classical liberal notion of formal equality which assume that removing formal barriers, for example giving women the right to vote and be elected to political office, is sufficient to give women equal access to political institutions.

باكستان: نداء عاجل لصندوق إغاثة باكستان من الفيضانات

منظمة التضامن النسائي للتعلّم بالشراكة مع حملة مؤسسة أورات لإغاثة نساء وأطفال ومسني الوطن الأم من الفيضانات. أطلقت مؤسسة أورات، شريكة منظمة التضامن النسائي للتعلّم في باكستان، حملة إغاثة وطنية من جراء الفيضانات بهدف تلبية الإحتياجات الملحة للنساء، الأطفال والمسنين. نحن بحاجة لمساعدتكم/كن للتمكن من توفير الإمدادات الحيوية (اللوازم الحرجة) لضحايا الفيضانات الأكثر عرضة للخطر. تواجه باكستان حالياً أسوأ كارثة في تاريخها، حيث اجتاحت فيضانات ضخمة أجزاء كبيرة من البلاد وأثرت على 20 مليون شخص بصورة مباشرة. إن المعاناة البشرية الناجمة عن هذه الكارثة هائلة، حيث قتل أكثر من 2000 شخص والعدد الى تزايد كل يوم، اضافةً الى تشرد الملايين وحرمانهم من المياه النظيفة والغذاء والإمدادات الطبية. لقد تدهورت الأوضاع الصحية نتيجة هذه الكارثة وبات المرض يشكل تهديدا خطيراً، حيث يواجه 3.5 مليون طفل مشرد خطر الموت جراء أمراض مثل الكوليرا والتيفوئيد والإسهال الناتجة عن تلوث المياه ونقص العناية الصحية. أكثر من 8 مليون فدان من القمح والقطن وقصب السكر والمحاصيل الأخرى خربت (قضت عليها الفيضانات) مما أدى إلى مخاوف كبيرة من انعدام الأمن الغذائي لعدة أشهر مقبلة. (راجع صور الدمار في باكستان)

Pakistan: URGENT-Shirkat Gah Appeals for Support in Relief Work

Pakistan is facing yet another emergency situation due to severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall which, according to UN reports, has directly affected fourteen million people so far. Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre (SG)*, Pakistan, is actively engaged in providing and coordinating relief to those affected across Pakistan through its partner community based organizations in synchronization with all three Shirkat Gah offices in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

LetsBreakthrough's Channel: Education Lucknow

Breakthrough is an international human rights organization that uses media, education and pop culture to promote values of dignity, equality and justice in the United States and India. Mehrunissa and Tarannum are two women teachers in Lucknow. They talk about ideas of education and exposure among lower middle class Muslim societies, their own experiences, and prejudice faced by their friends and peers. They talk about their mothers and the remarkable perseverance they showed in educating their daughters.

Pakistan: A Small Dream

A Small Dream is a documentary film produced and directed by WLUML networker, Gulnar Tabassum. It tells the story of a young girl (Humaira Bachal) from the Moach Goth squatter settlement, Karachi, Pakistan. The only girl in her community to go to school, Humaira decided to teach children from her community, at home, the lessons she herself learnt in class.

UPDATE: Pakistan: Investigation into massacres of Christians

For the first time the Pakistani assembly has discussed the need to amend the Blasphemy Laws, and there's a constitutional review committee in the parliament. Many civil society groups are pushing for a secular basis to the constitution. On August 28, 2009, the investigation report of 48 detained accused were submitted before the Anti-Terrorism Court. All the detained accused in Korian case will be produced before court again on Sep 11, 2009.