ISLAMABAD: The need for building bridges between Afghanistan and Pakistan has never been as great as it is today as 1.7 million refugees, many including women and children, without proper planning and at the stroke of the pen have been expelled making even the western border more volatile and hostile.

This has been stated by ex-senator Farhatullah Babar, president of the Human Right Cell of PPP at a seminar, “Empowerment of Pak-Afghan Women for Building Bridges” in a local hotel on Wednesday.

He said official channels had limitations to build bridges and the civil society and NGOs needed to explore non-official channels.

People-to-people contacts, businesses, art and culture and literature and empowered women could play a great role, he said.

“Women by nature are peace-loving, they shun war and destruction. They love their children more than the men do. In Pakistan, in Afghanistan indeed anywhere they yearn for peace. They are thus a potent force for building bridges for peace, for children for everyone,” he said.

He said, Benazir Bhutto had in an article once said “in a world where weapons and war too often define us, it is important that we discover our humanity in bringing the women together”.

“Women in Afghanistan have been victims of state repression and the most tortured group. Before 9/11 for 23 years, they suffered war and death. They were left as widows in their youth. These young others could not work or even leave their homes but had hungry children,” he said.

Babar said, “When warlords ended after 9/11, women of Pakistan also gathered to raise their voices for their sisters across the border demanding rehabilitation of women and their inclusion in the new Afghan set-up. Indeed, there were demonstrations in over 60 countries in support of Afghan women showing the potential power of non-state NGOs to become force multiplies for Afghan and Pakistani women.”

He said that in Pakistan disenfranchisement of 10 million women, child marriage, rape and honour killing, harassment at workplace, lack of access to justice, downright violence of a justice system was some of the critical issues that needed to be addressed for women empowerment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023