NEW DELHI, Aug 26:
Mossart Qadeem speaks with a diminutive voice but as you hear her talk you realise her work has been anything but that.
Back home in her native Pakistan, Ms Qadeem is attempting what many here in India would argue is like trying the impossible– counter the radicalisation of youth in an area most hit by Pakistan Army’s anti-insurgency operations under the War on Terror umbrella in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (better known as North-West Frontier Province).
“But we have to be careful,” she says with an air of obviousness. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shares a long border with Afghanistan and thus become a fertile ground for recruiting young men to train as suicide bombers in camps across the border. When they return they have been inured into thinking that sacrificing life in the name of religion is a sure shot way to heaven.
But that is where the work of Paiman Trust,the organisation she co-founded, starts.
Qadeem taught political science at the University of Peshawar for 14 years and realised that trying to take on radical ideology head-on will not work, so she opted a more subtle way, spreading the message of peace through women of the community.
“Extremism has no religion,” she says, adding that her emphasis is to connect with the youth through what she calls a ‘mother’s group’.
And then,she says, “We have peace captains in each community or village who have a multiplier effect.”
Qadeem has worked in the area since 2007 and claims to have re-integrated numerous youth through the years. She asks mothers to keep a check on the behaviour of their sons, any unsuspected change should be met with questions.
“We tell them to notice their sons, if they suddenly start coming late or start sporting a mobile phone which a mother knows their son cannot afford. We tell them to ask them questions,” she adds.
Mothers play an important role in rehabilitating the youth.
In New Delhi, along with 27 other women peace activists, Qadeem aims to do much the same – build up on peace initiatives and reduce tension through what she calls the tranquilising effect of women.
The group came through Wagah border but their bus was intercepted by agitators protesting the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control(LoC).
She recently participated in a conference in the capital on women’s role in peace building entitled ‘Women’s Initiative for Peace and Conflict Resolution in South Asia’ organised by the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI).
A member of the Pakistan Parliament under the interim government, Ms Qadeem is no stranger to India.
“India and Pakistan need to maintain peace as they are quite similar to each other. We have similar problems,” she said.
At a time when nationalistic fervour is running high in both the countries after the ongoing skirmishes on the LoC, to many a peace mission seems implausible.
But Ms Qadeem insists that channel of communications should never be closed be it official or semi-official.
“Even after the LoC incident, there is no negative press about India in Pakistan,” she assures, “unfortunately, I see a lot of Pakistan bashing in the Indian media, which is not good for our relations.”
The conference she attended was organised by the Delhi-based CAFI that works to highlight the negative effects of militarisation of a society including that on women.
Speaking on the occasion, Binalakshmi Neparam of the CAFI, who is also the founder of the Manipur Women Gun Survivor Network, said although crimes against women have not seen an overall increase, its reporting has.
“But what is most disturbing is the severity of these crimes. They have become more and more violent,” Ms Neparam said.
She also spoke about the issue of women’s safety in conflict zones. Citing evidence from her native Manipur, she argued that militarisation and weaponisation of a society increases instances of domestic violence.
And although women suffer a great deal in conflict zones, research has shown that 53 per cent victims of sexual crimes in these area are men, she asserted highlighting a popular misconception that men don’t suffer in conflict zones.
Researchers from various NGOs also took part in the conference. (UNI)
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