Fractured Narratives: Notes on women in conflict in Sri Lanka and Pakistan
- PDF / 42,148 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 535.189 x 697.717 pts Page_size
- 48 Downloads / 184 Views
24/1/02
8:37 am
Page 99
De Mel: Fractured Narratives
Fractured Narratives: Notes on women in conflict in Sri Lanka and Pakistan1 NELOUFER DE MEL
ABSTRACT Neloufer de Mel draws on interviews with women survivors of the violence in Karachi, and research carried out in Sri Lanka in order to look at processes of militarization, patriarchy and feminist resistance and survival in both countries. KEYWORDS militancy; patriarchy; silence; survival; violence
The legacy of violence in Pakistan and Sri Lanka The birth of Pakistan and the emergence of Sri Lanka as a post-colonial nation happened in vastly differing circumstances. The scale of the violence and bloodshed of partition that led to Pakistan was a far removed reality from the sedate ceremony of Sri Lankan independence, obtained on the back of British withdrawal from India. These ‘births’ had their impact on each nation’s military. The Pakistan army was a highly visible force at partition, supervising the evacuation of refugees and their welfare, charged with the task of restoring authority to the civil administration (Askari Rizvi, 2000: 48–9). The Sri Lankan army on the other hand was largely ceremonial. However, this did not mean that both countries did not share a legacy of militarization bequeathed by British colonial rule. Force was used by the British in both Sri Lanka and India to quell anticolonial dissent. Once independence was won, the nationalist leaders used these same structures of state coercion to police, regulate and contain their own citizens. State repression and counter-insurgency have perpetuated a militarized society in both countries. Military checkpoints at the airports, on the roads, at entrances to buildings are common. In Pakistan a military government is in place. Its restaurants and private houses have armed guards. A mixture of feudal authority, religious dogma and disregard of the right to life has seen violence against women escalate. Honour killings have the sanction of the
State. In Sri Lanka the level of political thuggery has risen to a new high with armed guards of politicians patrolling the streets, engaged in private and political vendettas. Elections are routinely disrupted by violence. University students, albeit a handful but a significant number given the disruptions they cause, settle scores and arguments by resorting to violence in the first instance. Army deserters operate freely in Sri Lankan villages. Incidents of armed robbery and domestic violence are high.2 Militarization as a social process and militarism as an ideology has taken hold, affecting all social aspects from political practice to the production of culture, education and the media. In seeping into institutions not directly connected with war, they have a presence even in peace time and are therefore ‘larger’ than a particular war and battlefield (Chenoy, 1998: 101). Totalizing violence Militarization and violence have become, particularly for its survivors in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, totalizing experiences. For the women interviewees their intense tra
Data Loading...
