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Sehba Musharraf skirts the 'K' word

Sheela Bhatt in Delhi

At a meeting organised by the Women's Initiative For Peace in South Asia on Saturday, Pakistan First Lady Sehba Musharraf avoided discussing Kashmir or the Agra summit.

The meeting, held at the Jacaranda hall in Delhi's India Habitat Centre, was attended by more than 150 women.

According to Supreme Court lawyer Indira Jaisingh who attended the meeting, "Sehba comes across as a well-informed and aware person. Her speech in English was quite balanced. She spoke about women's empowerment in Pakistan."

In her seven-minute speech, Sehba Musharraf spoke about the steps her husband's government has taken to improve the condition of women. "Pakistan is committed to the upliftment of women," she said. "We have made 33% reservations in elected bodies. We have changed laws to help women and we have also improved criminal procedures."

"Pakistan," she added, "now has many women police officers and a police cell to deal with injustice to women."

The meeting was convened by Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, Mohini Giri, former chairman of the National Women's Commission, and NWC member Sayada Hamid among others. The wives of India and Pakistan's high commissioners also attended the meeting.

Kamla Chaudhary, one of the veterans of the Indian women's movement, set the tone for the event when she described her emotional attachment to Lahore where she lived till she was 21. Anees Haroon of Aurat in Pakistan emphasised that both Indian and Pakistani women want peace. Former MP Pramila Dandavate felt, "peace is indivisible; you can't take peace in a piecemeal manner."

Brinda Karat of the All India Democratic Women Association was the most outspoken. "We want peace in Kashmir," the Marxist leader said, "the troubles in Kashmir affect all women, Hindus and Muslims." Karat highlighted the need for nuclear disarmament and told the Pakistan First Lady, "Please get our message across to your husband and the people of Pakistan."

Concluding her speech, Begum Musharraf said, "I will try to convey, in my own language, your messages to my husband and the people of Pakistan." She was presented a scroll engraved with Sahir Ludhianvi's famous poem on war. Jaisingh said, "I think Sehba took a bold decision to attend such a meeting where women of both countries asked her to tell her husband that we want peace, not bombs."

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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