Google – AFP, Gaëlle Lussiaa-Berdou (AFP), 9 March 2014
 |
Pakistani
hostess from newly launched Tabeer Women Transport Service
waits for commuters
at bus stop in Islamabad on March 5, 2014 (AFP/File,
Aamir Qureshi)
|
Rawalpindi
— At 7:15 am on a dusty street corner in Rawalpindi, among the dozen rickety
minibuses jostling for passengers, a brand-new, bright pink vehicle stands out.
Emblazoned
with the words "Ladies Transport", this is Pakistan's first commuter
bus solely for women, aimed at those sick of wandering hands and unwanted
attention on regular services.
Some see it
as a welcome respite, but detractors warn it is reinforcing gender segregation
in a highly patriarchal and often misogynistic country.
Sat on one
of the minibus's four banquette seats, Azra Kamal, who works at an electronics
shop, welcomes the new project, named "Tabeer" -- "fulfilment of
a dream" in Urdu.
Her face
half-hidden behind a black veil, she tells of obscene comments and other
inappropriate gestures she suffered on mixed transport.
"I
have a long journey to work and when I get there it's often only me left on
board. Sometimes the driver will take advantage to give me his phone number and
ask for mine," she said during the 20-odd kilometre ride to her
destination in the capital Islamabad.
Others on
board described being touched by drivers, conductors and male passengers.
To add to
this harassment, the tiny minibuses that ply the roads of the Pakistani capital
and its twin city Rawalpindi often have only a few seats, sometimes with only
one out of a dozen reserved for women.
"I
used to work in a hospital. Often there would be no space on the bus and I
would get told off for being late," said Sana.
Today the
21-year-old proudly wears a pink tunic, the uniform of her job as conductor on
the women's bus, as she collects the 30-rupee (30-US cent) fare.
- Mobile
segregation? -
But the new
service has not impressed everyone in a country where the forces of
conservatism are seen to be growing in strength.
In a blog
post for one of Pakistan's leading English-language newspapers, journalist Erum
Shaikh called the project a "complete sham".
"The
mere fact that the authorities thought it appropriate to introduce something
like this should actually offend women and yet we sit there smile, look pretty
and let the big, tough, muscular men build walls around us to 'protect'
us," she wrote.
On board
the bus, bank worker Misbah agrees.
"I
really appreciate the service but we must tackle the root of the problem and
make people take harassment seriously," she said.
But the man
behind the project, Ali Naqi Hamdani, says it is empowering women in a society
where many are not permitted to leave the house without male accompaniment.
"The
women here are willing to go out to work, they're willing to go out for
education purposes but they don't have such a conducive situation where they
can feel secure in public transport," he said.
"So it
was very important that you provide them an environment where they step out of
their homes, they feel secure before they reach their universities or their
offices so they are encouraged to come out."
The Tabeer
project has been running for three weeks, with 12 vehicles in the capital, and
is hoping to expand to other cities if there is enough demand.
Sana is
already dreaming of moving on to drive the bus -- for a shortage of female
drivers means that currently the women-only bus has a man behind the wheel.
No comments:
Post a Comment