Designer foreign policy

Letter August 01, 2011
Truth is that in a country where the mullahs and military have the last say, Ms Khar is a pleasant distraction.

NIDDERAU, GERMANY: This is with reference to Ayesha Siddiqa’s article of July 31 titled “Designer foreign policy”. If anything, Hina Rabbani Khar helped to create a better image of Pakistan which should not be underestimated, since the country is in dire need of that. The truth is that in a country where the mullahs and military have the last say, Ms Khar is a pleasant distraction.

Pakistani society by and large is strange — men can get away with murder and women are supposed to suppress even their most normal of desires. As a girl grows up, she is taught and conditioned to think that while it is fine for her brother to go out with his friends, it is not okay for her to do that. Also, while her brother can be sent to an expensive school or college, her parents will not do the same for her. Her parents decide what she wears, what she eats, who she talks to and even what she likes.

Mr Khar has clearly done a good job of changing this perception.

Sharif Lone

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2nd, 2011.