Get up, stand up: Students at JCW review book on historic female activists

UoP arts and humanities dean says a lot more work needed on the subject.

PESHAWAR: Jinnah College for Women held a book review contest on Great Ancestors on Thursday. The book was written by Farida Shaheed and Aisha Lee Shaheed, aimed at breaking the myth of the Muslim women being passive, oppressed and apolitical.

Great Ancestors retrieves the forgotten voices of women from the eighth to early twentieth century in Muslim countries, where they spoke out for rights and promoted justice in the private and public spheres.

Sponsored by Oxford University Press Peshawar, 37 students competed in the review contest. The participants shared their critical observations regarding the role of women in Islamic history, and on power and gender struggles.

The competition was also followed by a question and answer competition where six students were awarded prizes.

The chief guest at the event was University of Peshawar’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities Dean Dr Mujibur Rehman. In his address, Dr Rehman said contemporary writers need to include a lot more content in their work about the subject, since history is full of women who have promoted justice and stood up for rights for themselves and others.

Aisha Lee Shaheed is a researcher in the field of women’s rights. Farida Shaheed is the director research of Shirkat Gah Women’s Resource Centre. She has also received the Prime Minister’s Award for her co-authored book, Women of Pakistan: Two Steps Forward One Step Back?

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2014.