Dhaka, Feb 2 (IANS) Bangladesh, led for decades by two women –former Prime Ministers Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and late Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — stands in sharp contrast to the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami’s assertion that a woman cannot be a party chief or head of government – a stance widely seen as absurd and deeply regressive, a report said on Monday.
Writing for Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily, Prothom Alo, Hasan Ferdous, an author and columnist, cited Jamaat chief, Shafiqur Rahman’s recent interview with an international media outlet in which the latter stated that a woman can never become the head of his party. The Jamaat leader argued that men and women are not equal, each having distinct roles–women give birth to children, men cannot and that the “Creator who has laid down this order”.
The party had previously stated that it does not support any woman serving as head of government or head of state.
“If one breaks down this argument, the core message that emerges is that women are not equal to men. What men can do, women cannot. Men will be the leaders of the party and the country. Women, on the other hand, are best suited to giving birth to children and raising them. Therefore, keep them confined to the home. That is deemed their most appropriate place,” Ferdous stated.
According to the report, the fact that Jamaat, along with at least 30 other parties, failed to nominate a single female candidate in any of the 300 seats for the February 12 national election underscores the depth of their gender bias.
“When such an attitude becomes the basis of state or government policy, what the consequences look like can be seen clearly in today’s Afghanistan. There, citing divine decree, girls have been barred from school after the age of 12. With the exception of one or two very limited areas, participation in the workforce has been prohibited. Women have been barred from moving alone in public. Even speaking loudly has been designated a punishable offence,” it noted.
As the Jamaat leader cited women’s capacity for childbearing as his argument, the report stressed that this is a biological process with no connection to leadership.
“Leadership requires strategic intelligence, managerial skill, and the ability to guide a party or a country with a cool head in times of crisis. In none of these areas are women any less capable than men,” it added.
Highlighting Jamaat’s recent statement on women’s rights, including promises to introduce a five-hour workday for female employees instead of eight to make child-rearing easier, the report said, “ The problem is that it is not only women who raise children; in many cases, men must do so as well. The issue is not employment, it is childcare.”
–IANS
scor/as