Baloch Women & Patriarchy

 Dr. Ahmad Reza Taheri

      Even the most fundamental religious Baloch woman of today is not satisfied at heart with some certain fixed commands, yet reluctantly may accept them.

To begin with, I must note several points. These points help us to clarify our thinking of the subject.

      Firstly, this presentation is about the Baloch women of Iran. It centers on the role of local social traditions and religious institutions in the Balochi society and their implications to Baloch women.    

      Secondly, as it goes without saying, the term 'women & patriarchy' is not confined only to the Baloch women of Iran, rather the phrase can be applied to other societies of the world wherever women suffer from patriarchy; these societies can be found everywhere. However, in some communities we have higher degree of intensity and in some others lower degree of intensity. This degree of intensity is determined by the role of law, religious institutions, social traditions, customs, globalization, modernity, and political climate.

      Thirdly, why I target the Baloch women of Iran? It is because, very few works of this nature or perhaps no work so far is done on this theme. 

      Balochistan is a vast land. It is a mullah-dominated society. Social traditions and customs play a very vital role in the daily lives of the people. Women are loyal and honest. They are hard workers and obedient to the law of their elders. They do not know much about the rules. They put up with and accept many things, things that are ambiguous. Earlier on, women in Balochistan lived in a male dominated society. Girls had to get married at an early age, and had no choice of opinion. Girls and boys of the same clan would be engaged to each other at birth, and those (girls) who were to be married had no rights to air their views. Any objection perhaps could lead to severe untoward repercussion. Once a girl was married, she passed from the authority of her father to that of her husband. Usually, girls and women neither allowed to walk out alone nor allowed to face any strangers, which would mean violating the principles of their so-called privacy. In some parts, women were only seen by their husbands and their nearest kin as if they were men’s private property. Usually, a woman had no right to re-marry after her husband’s death, and had to remain a widow. They could get easily divorced just by husband’s irrational will who could repeat the word 'divorce' just three times. Women were not allowed to dress according to their own choices nor allowed to take part in decision making, and were confined to taking care of houses and raising children. This is a glimpse of the past. The past almost is a reflection of the present. Even today, despite the changes, the above-mentioned issues are tangible more or less in most parts of the land, especially in rural areas. Today, girls cannot dress according to their own tastes, and that case of divorce is still applicable in the same old manner. In some parts of the land, the freedom of facing strangers is still an encroachment of the archaic moral principles, which the so-called modernity has not managed to break these shackles of brutality that have victimized women for ages.

      Women in Balochistan roughly can be made into two major divisions. Each of these divisions has its own subdivisions.

      First, the illiterate and uneducated women who mostly are above fifty; they take the words of their men and learn from their mentors how to live, and what is good and what is bad. These women usually are satisfied with their existing situation. They failed to educate themselves mainly due to lack of educational institutions. However, those who are under fifty may be classified in two parts. A. those who are dissatisfied with the status quo, but are totally unable to bring about a better way of life, due to several factors such as: lack of personal liberty; existing negative facets of social traditions, customs, and lack of education. B. those who strictly follow social traditions and customs and are susceptible to any order passes by the irrational elders. Usually, the latter group prefers to study at religious schools. These women possess a high degree of rigidity. A woman in this group can turn into a Muslim priestess.

      Second, the literate and educated who mostly are students; they belong to a recent development which started taking its birth in Balochistan mainly in the third decade of the Islamic Republic. Women in this division can be divided into three sub-divisions. A. those who are strictly religious and so are not free from prejudice and fanaticism; education has not pushed them ahead. B. the moderate students who mostly come from moderate families. It is quite possible that moderate families may remain the same, but their moderate daughters/girls may bring about new changes and adopt a new way of thinking. C. the open-minded women who come from democratic families; they are very few in Balochistan. They follow the positive aspects of culture, tradition, and customs. Of course, a woman of this category (democratic families) may face restrictions from other sections of the society. Although they enjoy more freedom than other previous mentioned-groups, the stereotyped social traditions and extremism in religion considerably restricts their freedom.

      It is interesting to note that even the most fundamental religious Baloch woman of today is not satisfied at heart with some certain fixed commands, yet reluctantly may accept them. One such issue is the case of divorce. They believe that it is not fair to repeat this word just three times and then get divorced by their husbands. In one of my interviews with a Baloch molavi (Sunni cleric) woman in 2002, she said, "the case of divorce is in Islam and no one can challenge this divine law, but we must follow a more appropriate Islamic method while dealing with such cases." Another case is that of polygamy; Baloch women even the hardliners are against the practice. It is mainly because it violates their individuality. In the same year, I asked another Baloch molavi woman about the practice. In the beginning, she strongly agreed with the practice while referring to the Quranic verses. However, when I asked her "if it is so then do you allow your husband to practice polygamy", she changed her stance and suddenly said, "my husband does not like polygamy and I know his nature"…! Today, in the very Balochistan there are women who realize that men have toyed with their destiny. The girls of yesterday are today’s mothers now. Some of these women feel that the narrow-minded ideas of their mentors are the factors behind their sufferings. Therefore, they do not want to repeat that same old story in the same old manner. Today, in this land, there are women who think of their liberty in different terms. They know that they have been enslaved, a slave of negative facets of their customs and traditions. Today, development in technology, communication, and information has awakened girls and women. This is a vital point that recently has caused religious mentors to accept willy-nilly some of the inevitable minor changes. For example, Baloch Sunni clerics do not appreciate the (normal) way Baloch women drive cars in public or participate in politics. However, contrary to this, there are Baloch women driving cars in public and working outside home, though no Baloch woman has been able to participate in politics by gaining the side of the Sunni clerics so far.

      There are few reasons behind this gradual social change on the part of Baloch women of Iran. To me, the most important reason is the influence of Persian culture, which has had a positive impact on the lives of Baloch, especially on the lives of young generation. I hold this idea because we have Baloch women of Pakistan and Baloch women of Afghanistan. Both are (relatively) falling behind educationally compared with the Baloch women of Iran. However, one should not forget that only a few numbers of women in this land are wide-awake and the rest are under the influence of local norms.  

      This all comes from our own society where most of the humiliation and unjust treatment for women comes from authoritarian men. The main barrier to the development of women has been the presence of narrow-minded ideas of the Balochi patriarchal society. These ideas formed within that dominated section which pointed earlier. It is the Sunni fundamentalism, which believes that "why girls should go to school? What they want to do with their education? Women do not need education; they better stay at home and look after housekeeping. Our religion, culture and tradition do not allow girls to choose their future husbands, because it is not fair". This typical ideology does not exist only in the minds of Baloch Sunni extremists; rather it exists in the minds of many fundamental Muslims including the Arabs, Afghans, and Pakistanis. They oppose gradual changes, let alone radical changes.

      Thus, women’s freedom and development depends upon men’s development, and men’s development depends upon their ideas. Let me remind you of that famous sentence of Hegel who says, “everything depends on ideas. If ideas change, everything (politics, economics, law, society) will change. Ideas are the motor of history.” For societies like Balochistan education is the most important solution to the problems. Socrates perhaps was the first who developed this idea. By education, I do not mean obtaining only academic titles, ranks or grades from a university or school. Surprisingly, many Baloch hold university degrees in different ranks nevertheless lack higher rational capacity, logic, and reason. Rather by education, I mean broadmindedness and character development or all that which may lead to the possession of higher will and openness. This land needs a complete change in thinking.

Source: Taheri Ahmad Reza, Towards Mental Reforms (Lulu.com Publication, 2009), pp.30-38.