The Govt Middle School Cheena in Rustam District of Mardan just ‘gifted’ shuttlecock burqas among their female students. Which sparked a debate at large among the people on the internet.
After the recent controversial statement from the KP government to make the wearing of ‘abaya’ mandatory for girls going to school received a lot of backlash on the internet, the decision was withdrawing considering the public outcry. We thought the debate has already been got over with, but it seems like there’s more to it yet coming.
Last week another incident happened in Charsadda where barbers were arrested for making their customers a fashionable beard style.
On October 3, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda detained at least four barbers for styling customers’ beards and violating the ban. A fine of Rs5,000 was imposed on them and they were later releasedhttps://t.co/sEuGjPIg3S
— Samaa English (@SamaaEnglish) October 6, 2019
And now it seems like the tabdeeli government has stolen the spotlight yet again for another similar controversy. According to sources, the funds for the shuttlecock burqas for students were provided by a former district member of Pakistan Tehreek Insaf, Mardan.
Even though the provincial government took back their notice, the local union official seemed quite obsessed with the idea and decided to implement it with local council funds.
A local district member Muzaffar Shah bought the shuttlecock burqas as a ‘gift’ and went to distribute in the local school.
The footage of the incident started surfacing the internet and sparked a debate at large. While some were supporting the activity, others were seen opposing it for various reasons.
Drive to make mandatory for girls to wear burqa is in full swing in KPK. After some schools instructing girls to wear abayas. A former district member of PTI Muzaffar Shah distributed shuttlecock burqas among students of Govt Middle School Cheena, Rustam District Mardan. pic.twitter.com/Gszq3h4KoK
— Fazil Jamili (@faziljamili) October 4, 2019
While some were seen appreciating the imposing of wearing full body viels..
I think yes… ye sahi ha
Because every region has its on mindset.might be this burqa distribution helps girls to get permission from there parents for going school and get education
So if this lil thing can develop a big change in educating women’s.— Hassan Afzal (@itsHassan18) October 6, 2019
Burka is an integral part of culture in that part of the world. Madrassa students are sent for religious education and reintegrating them with a hint of modern studies is smart. Not doing so will lead to social ills continue till end of times.
— Ejaz Rashid (@Rashid_Ejaz) October 6, 2019
Shuttlecock burqas are more powerful than bullet proof jackets. Wearing this will keep Muslim men and women safe. The uniformity of women also remains with the burqa.
— Manoj Gujjar (@GurjarDivda) October 6, 2019
…most people describe this move as unnecessary and a plot to slide us back into the ‘darkness.’
Something must be done against this forced implementation of wearing shuttlecock burqa in our schools by the people of Mardan in particular. We cannot slide ourselves into darkness like this.#SpeakAgainstShuttleCockBurqa https://t.co/D87Ai5QGwa
— Barkat Khattak (@BarkatKhattak1) October 4, 2019
When they distribute shuttlecock burqas among school girls, not pens and books, you should know what they want: intellectually malnourished society which sees woman as an object, and which certainly cannot think.
— Nasir Khattak (@nasirjkhattak) October 5, 2019
In Mardan school girls are forced to wear Burqa; in Charsadda men are forced not to wear a fashionable beard. What to wear and what not to wear is a question in Pakhtunkhwa in 21st century.
— Amjad Saleem (@WadanSaleem) October 6, 2019
The following news show where we (Pashtun) are heading
1. Police arrested men in Charsadda for trimming design beards
2. @PTIKPOfficial distributed burqa amongst the college students in Mardan
Another political experiment is about to be tested in pol lab aka Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pic.twitter.com/LIwkjmQhT1— لونګین (@Pashtoonkhan) October 5, 2019
And oh, wait, someone even dragged TALIBAN into this
But I was told #Taliban government is coming in Afghanistan!
“Shuttle Cock #Burqa distributed among girl students of Govt Middle School Cheena, Rustam District Mardan #Pakistan.” pic.twitter.com/qMZcVNc3Zg
— Fishel Benkhald (@Jew_Pakistani) October 5, 2019
Getting Taliban feels pic.twitter.com/RBt1QkBeyv
— Amber Rahim Shamsi (@AmberRShamsi) October 4, 2019
Others were of the view that burqa isn’t really a tool for protection since wen seen women (even in coffins) being sexually regardless of their dressing choices
Isn’t it already this way? Men r raping coffins! How low can any society go from that? Pk men r so frustrated that just sitting across them is scary!
— Xena (@xena_aryana553) October 5, 2019
Burqa? The coffin doesn’t protect women in Pakistan from getting raped. I just saw this video, and it made me feel physically unwell. It’s not on women to defend themselves; men need to do something about how our species functions around women.https://t.co/vYNhSX1Swf
— Shahryar Khan (@shahryar92) October 6, 2019
Sadly no burqa distribution campaign can protect women from creeps. Instead of taking and implementing legal actions against them we doin all other crap ajeeb. stopthisbullshit
— 🌻 (@YFRizvi) October 5, 2019
People were even seen denying Shuttlecock burqas as a part of their culture and that white shawls are what we wear
The shuttlecock burqa is as alien to us as a mini-skirt is. It’s not seen in Islamic history, it’s not a Pashtun tradition and definitely not Pakistani. While it did exist in the 70s, it was mainstreamed when Afghanistan was taken over by Taliban. Brought into Pak by Afg refugees
— Mazhar (@mazharshehzaad) October 4, 2019
True Mardan k White Shawl de o Swabi k White with red Dots, Burqa ya Da Afghanistan culture k da ya tribal areas
— وقاص (@yunaskhanlove) October 5, 2019
My relatives live in Mardan on Mardan swabi road it’s a typical village life but have never seen any woman in burqa. Relative women shake hands with relative men.
I don’t know which culture they’re talking about.— Zafar Ali Khan (@Zafarzahidkhan) October 5, 2019
burqa isn’t our culture, get your facts right and to the part of being safe, why don’t you teach your sons to not be a molester
— tweet_khor (@salma_preet) October 6, 2019
Whether such burqas are a part of our culture or not is another debate. But besides educating women to ‘protect’ themselves all the time and describing dress codes as a tool for their ‘protection’, stong measures should be taken against male sexual predators as well. Men should be educated to control themselves and respect women’s privacy and consent. Strict laws should be implemented to protect women from domestic and sexual abuse and the defaulters should be punished hard enough so one has to fear for his life and think twice before comitting such a henious crime.
What do you think of this move by the local government to impose wearing of shuttlecock burqas and distributing it among school girls? Let us know in the comments below.
