An open letter to the Punjab chief minister

Respected chief minister,

I am a Pakistani woman and a working mother who has a three-month-old daughter. You and I have never met or crossed paths in anyway. I have of course seen you on my screen and heard your speeches when you visit gatherings or inaugurations in Punjab. And I must say that I have always found you to be a gentleman who is humble and seems to focus more on his work than publicity; who is perhaps introverted but doesn’t let that hinder his very public role.

I understand that the previous weeks, following the attack and rape of a woman on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway, must have been almost as challenging for you, as they were for the public. Let me start by offering my sincere support for all those in your government who are working with you to try and transform this country into Riyasat-e-Madina.

There was a lot of emphasis laid upon my safety and security, with assurances that both will be provided when you take over as chief minister but this heninous and barbaric crime against my fellow sister has left me numb with shock. The last time I felt so terribly helpless and unsafe was after poor little Zainab was raped and killed in Kasur. There is widespread unease in the country once again, with people demanding that the rapists be hanged till death, just like they were back then. This time though, it is clearer than ever that the sense of security that I was living with was nothing more than a farce and that women are not safe anywhere in this country, not even at home.

Can you imagine the lack of trust, humiliation, misery, helplessness, and insecurity we feel as woman in this country? All while your CCPO, hired specifically for the protection of your citizens, chose to shift the blame onto the victim and to remind us that we do not live in France but in Pakistan.

Crimes like rape and sexual harassment occur everywhere in the world but unfortunately the sort of victim-blaming we see in Pakistan truly distinguishes us from any other country, as evidenced by the CCPO’s statements and echoed by other men even some women. As women, we do not deserve to live in constant fear. Our basic right to live is already affected largely but this fear that being out of the house translates to definite rape, especially if unaccompanied by a man, is new and absolutely gut wrenching. Especially since some of the cases coming out of Faislabad are rape crimes against women in their own homes and in some cases even by their own spouses. No one should have to keep looking over their shoulder constantly to ensure they will not be raped.

I have now started to feel like I have failed for raising my daughter in a country where females are looked at with pity, tinged with disgust. I feel like my daughter and I are not safe anywhere in Pakistan and that we will be blamed if crimes are committed against us. This is also the first time I want to leave the country and choose a safer future for my family. Despite having the means to move for several years, I had not fathomed that guaranteeing a good future would mean leaving the country.

Today as a Pakistani woman I don’t want lofty promises to be made to me. I am too tired to hear words that may only serve as a balm to the ears with no definite action behind them. All I want as a citizen of this country are the basic rights to life and safety, the very same ones promised to me in the constitution. I do not want to live under constant fear of being attacked in my house or on the roads in front of my children. I do not want to be scared my entire life just because I am a woman and because for some reason my safety depends on the very same men who keep proving time and time again that they are not worthy.

Respected chief minister, you must understand that I was not compelled to write this letter just because of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway rape survivor. I was compelled to write it for all the women that have been victims to and have survived rape. I was compelled to write for all those women who are equally tormented by the motorway rape and feel violated and unsafe. We as women are devastated, miserable, abandoned and feel like we are lesser beings. We also feel like we can be attacked by anyone, anywhere at any given time. Can you restore our shattered confidence and sense of peace again?