PAKISTANI WOMEN KEEP PUSHING BOUNDARIES

Despite barriers in law, politics, and society, women across Pakistan are stepping into roles once closed to them

- BY SAJJAD ASHRAF | Special to Gulf News

The story of Pakistan's evolution is deeply interwoven with the silent but significant role played by its women.

Though the formal societal structures have always been male-dominated, women have contributed at every critical juncture in the country's history seldom in the spotlight.

At the time of Pakistan's independence, women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in the struggle for a separate homeland. Fatima Jinnah's public presence lent moral legitimacy to Mohammad Ali Jinnah's vision and became a source of pride and inspiration for women in a deeply conservative society. Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan, wife of Pakistan's first prime minister did pioneering work towards women's empowerment. Despite these contributions, post-independence Pakistan quickly regressed to confining women largely to the private sphere.