National News

ISLAMABAD, (APP): Speakers including experts and intellectuals
at a seminar here Thursday called for creating understanding of Women Creativity and the challenges they face in diverse fields.
The one-day seminar was arranged by Pakistan National Council of
the Arts (PNCA) in connection with International Women’s Day.
Intellectuals, experts and women belonging to various fields
including Kishwar Nahid, Farhana Azeem, Dr. Memoona Khan, Dr. Sumera Jawad, Summer Minallah and Suriyya Chaudry highlighted various aspects of issues and challenges faced by women in creative fields.
International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around
the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.
The Day is celebrated globally to mark the struggle for women’s
rights, celebrate the successes and build solidarity for the struggles
that need to be done in the future.
This year’s theme for international women’s day is art and culture.It
will encourage women to reclaim the progressive spaces provided
within the culture and use this day as a step forward into this process.
For long, traditional culture has been abused to restrain and suppress
women.Crimes against women were legitimized in the name of honor and tradition. Women were restricted from utilizing their abilities in public life in the name of their “traditional role” and society stayed silent
at heinous atrocities, protecting, so to speak, “sanctity of feminine”.
What people do not realize is that traditional culture requires pruning
all the time. Strange practices, that violate women’s rights, need to
be rooted out like unwanted wild weeds from the desired plants.
Interestingly, enough women have been repositories of traditional
culture and folklore throughout South Asia. They have been keepers of
rituals, folk songs, language, clothing, foods, relationships and many
other aspects. They have played an important role in continuation of
cultural identity in a society. However, when it comes to their own
rights and breathing space, the society uses the same culture as a
beating stick.
Women have the same cultural rights to enjoy creativity, performing
arts, esthetics and means of expression as anyone else in a society. But these areas get stigmatize when it comes to women, sometimes in the name of morality and sometimes as a means for their protection, said the organizers.