What strategy has been adopted for women participation in national affairs under the Devolution Plan?

Answer:

Women participation in national affairs under the Devolution Plan:

The issue of gender equity in terms of representation and participation in various governing institutions
has gained global attention. The concept of good governance has certain rules such as equity, effective
participation, and strong legal structure, which considers the contribution of both men and women in
different developmental activities.

Therefore, when the Chief of the Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf came to power on October 12,
1999, and assumed the office of the Chief Executive, he envisioned a new political system in the country
in which power was to be devolved on the common person at grass-root level and women were to be
made an equal partner in sharing of power with men as women comprise of 48% of the total population
of Pakistan. He launched a “Devolution of Power and Responsibility Plan.” The Devolution Plan consists
of 33 % quota for women in local councils and 17 % quota for women in legislative assemblies. This
measure was perceived as an elevation of the status of women within the political structure of Pakistan.

Strategy for Women’s Participation in Union council:

Union Council is the basic unit of the new District Government System. Under the Devolution Plan, every
Union Council shall be composed of 21 members out of these 6 seats shall be reserved for women. Of
these 2 seats have been earmarked for ‘Kisan’ female members. (Women working as peasants or
agriculture labourers). This quota shall not bar the women from contesting for the remaining 15 seats.

Woman Participation in District Council:

District Council is the highest institution of the District Government. Women have been given 33 percent
representation in the District Government. This is a very big ratio as compared with the representative
bodies in the rest of the world.

Woman Participation in Legislative Assemblies:

The Government has also enhanced the quota of women in the legislative assemblies at provincial as
well as at the federal level. After the constitutional amendment brought about for this purpose, women
representation in Pakistan’s legislative assemblies works out as:

The Legislative Assembly Women Seats under the 1973 Constitution Present Position of the
women Seats

National Assembly 20 60

Punjab Assembly 12 66
Sindh Assembly 5 29

NWFP Assembly 4 22

Balochistan Assembly 2 11

This quota does not bar the women to contest for general seats. It was envisaged that the district
governments should play a role socially in nature, while the legislative assemblies are law-making
bodies. Law made by the Assemblies has a wider range of influence. In addition to these statutory
arrangements, the media has launched special programmes for women. These programmes are creating
a better understanding of women for social problems and giving them a sense of participation. APWA,
an organization working for the rights of women has been reorganized to work more effectively.

Conclusion: Women’s equal and full participation in decision-making is extremely important for good
governance, poverty alleviation, and equitable human resource development in developing countries. It
is widely believed that without including women that constitute nearly half of the world’s population in
the process of governance, nations cannot reach their economic development. They now have a more
substantial role to play in every sphere of life, which has changed their traditional relationship to work
and family. Equality in terms of gender representation and participation is recognized as a crucial factor
for development worldwide. The Devolution Plan shows that a new revolution in the life of Pakistani
women has set in, with reference to safeguarding their social and political rights and ensuring their
constructive participation in the task of nation-building.

9) Write an essay on “Be Pakistani, Buy Pakistani”.

Answer: The economy is the most important factor that plays a vital role in the development of a nation,
which is largely based on imports and exports. If a country is able enough to produce goods to complete
its own needs then it will have a strong economic base. Underdeveloped countries like Pakistan do not
use their own producing goods widely. The phenomenon of using imported and branded goods and
neglecting local goods in Pakistan is growing gradually which is resulting in backwardness and economic
decline of the country.

Be Pakistani, Buy Pakistani:

History bears that only those nations made real economic progress, which had once decided to adopt
the habit of using their indigenous products and had remained religiously committed to this vow.
Pakistanis have never adopted the habit of patronizing their national products and perhaps one of the
paramount causes of our retarded economic growth. The People of Pakistan are in an immutable habit
of using imported goods instead of using locally manufactured items. The consumer decision to buy a
particular brand is affected by different factors such as to express the personality, social status etc.

Measures to prevent using of imported goods:

History is evident that only those nations made real progress who at one decided to use their indigenous
products and maintain their national identity. Therefore, the following measures should be taken as
initial steps to reduce the dependency on imported goods:
Abandon the Use of Imported Goods:

The leaders of the public opinion should serve as a role model for the people by publicly announcing to
abandon the use of imported goods.

Improvement in the quality of Products:

The standard and quality of the local products should be improved and brought at par with the imported
goods.

Provision of incentives:

It is necessary that tax holidays and other incentives should be provided to local manufacturers to
improve the standards of indigenous products.

Purchasing of Pakistan-made Products:

Pakistani people, who live outside the country, should buy the products from Pakistani stores, which
also contain the products made in Pakistan. They can buy Pakistani made clothes and Pakistani food
items. This will help in improving the image of Pakistan in the world.

Media Campaigns:

The media should be employed for creating awareness among the people. People should be told that
they should ‘be Pakistani, buy Pakistani’ and that this is the only way to make our nation economically
strong and stable.

Conclusion: Pakistan is a country, which highly depends on trade because the country needs to import a
variety of goods to fulfill the increasing demands resulting from its economic recovery and development.
Unfortunately, Pakistan’s Imports have generally been greater than its exports and it has to face the
problem in balance of trade. The government and media should play a vital role to reduce the effect of
imported trade and goods on Pakistani people and to export its own goods in the international market.
So that Pakistan’s standard can be raised in the global world. Give an account of the obstacles in the way
of Islamization and how, in your opinion, these can be removed?

Answer:

Nizam-e-Islam Movement:

During the days of the independence movement, the Muslim League had pledged the establishment of
an Islamic state. Therefore, when the Constituent Assembly was established after the partition, the
people demanded that it should make a clear commitment regarding the Islamic character of the future
constitution of Pakistan. These demands were known as the Nizam-i-Mustafa Movement. The public
sentiments expressed that the people were extremely dissatisfied with the process of Islamization being
carried out by the government of Bhutto. Consequently, the government of Bhutto was overthrown. The
new government took up the issue of Islamization with new vigour and zeal and accepted some of the
demands relating to social evils i.e. horse racing and drinking were banned, while Friday was declared
the weekly holiday.

Obstacles Interposed in the Way of Islamization:

The obstacles interposed in the way of Islamization in Pakistan were:

1. Shortcomings in Strategies: The Objective Resolution was passed in March 1949. All the basic
principles required for making Pakistan an Islamic State were incorporated in the text of this Resolution.
All the three constitutions of Pakistan i.e. 1956, 1962, and 1973 confirmed the basic principles laid down
in the Objective Resolution. However, the strategies of Islamization, which were adopted in the past,
had many shortcomings.

2. No Sincere Efforts: The governments of Pakistan made no sincere effort for the implementation of
Islamization. Rather the ruling class always resisted the enforcement of Islam. When General Zia-ul-Haq
took the power, he was aware of such feelings, so he directed his attention to the taking and
enforcement of practical Islamic measures. However, just two months after the promulgation of the
Shari’ah Ordinance, Zia-ul-Haq was killed on August 17, 1988, in a plane crash.

3. Restoration of Democracy:

The People’s Party formed the government after the general elections of October 1993. Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto was not much interested in the process of Islamization and the restoration of Democracy
became the slogan of her government. However, this government also failed as the political leader of
P.P.P was charged with corruption.

4. Failure of Shariat Bill: The next Prime Minister was Nawaz Sharif. He brought the ‘Shariat Bill’, which
was passed by the National Assembly, but it could not gain the support of the majority in the Senate. It
was pointed out that the bill contained nothing new and was meant only to increase the powers of the
Prime Minister. In this way, the policies of Islamization failed to achieve its main purposes and goals.

Measures to remove the obstacles in the ways of Islamization:

Some of the measures to remove the obstacles in the way of Islamization are:

Islamic state emerges from an Islamic society. Only a person with real Islamic character and committed
to total subservience to Allah’s commandments can form a society truly Islamic in character.

Character building is a democratic process and requires an enormous amount of sustained effort.

The major components of Islamization struggle are education, purification of the soul and calling people
to the right path by invoking their reason and sense of justice, which could be done through peaceful
persuasion and opinion forming.

In a democratic society, the law is considered the reflection of the “general will” of the society and not
vice versa.
Laws do not create societies, societies create laws. Therefore, an Islamic state cannot be created merely
by proclaiming or implementing certain constitutional instruments.

The Prophet S.A.W adopted the strategy of converting the people through education and da’wa (opinion
forming and persuasion through peaceful means) and instead of creating an Islamic society, the
establishment of an Islamic state should be preceded.

Conclusion: To conclude, it is clear that our politicians, bureaucrats, traders, and all the classes of the
society are addicted to corruption, which is the production of materialistic approaches and ignoring the
Islamic and spiritual values. It must always be kept in mind that the real obstacles in the way of
Islamization are the low character of the people. For achieving the goals of Islamization, we should take
up the task of building a nation spiritually sound and morally strong. This is an enormous task which can
only be accomplished through education and da’wa and not merely through coercion or authoritative
measures.