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News & Comment
Sheikh Hasina’s False Claim of Women’s Success Will Bring No Hope to the Women of Bangladesh
News:
According to the news published in bdnews24.com on 18th May 2016 while delivering the keynote speech at the Global Women Leader’s Forum in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has expressed her government’s firm commitment to break all barriers with a view to achieving men-women equality and said women’s empowerment is an issue very close to her heart. Referring to the women holding several key offices in the country, Hasina said Bangladesh appeared to be an ‘outstanding political role model’. “Bangladesh is perhaps the only country in the world today that has a woman as the prime minister and leader of the House, deputy leader of the House, leader of the opposition, and speaker,” she said. The prime minister said in her speech that at present Bangladesh has 70 women MPs, constituting 20 percent of the House. She also said, “Women are serving in UN peacekeeping operations; women are diplomats, fighter pilots and leading business entrepreneurs….Thus, women in Bangladesh have truly broken all barriers and are now active development agents in the nation-building process.” http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/05/18/bangladesh-committed-to-breaking-barriers-to-men-women-equality-sheikh-hasina
Comment:
While Sheikh Hasina was quite effective in painting a fictitious image of her government’s success through gender equality and women empowerment, millions of women in her country are suffering due to economic stranglehold, and oppressive policies towards women that resulted from the flawed capitalist economic system. Extreme poverty has forced millions of women to work in the garments industries below minimum wage and in dire conditions just so they can feed their children and themselves. To escape poverty, thousands of women have left the country to work as housemaids in Middle Eastern countries where they are abused physically and sexually on a regular basis. In the name of women empowerment, this system has stripped off a woman’s right to receive financial assistance from her male relatives and the state. In reality, this oppressive system has dehumanized women to an economic commodity and turned them into economic slaves only to generate wealth in the economy. The PM should know that holding a handful of key positions in the parliament does not represent any success regarding the wellbeing of women, as most Bangladeshi women does not share the PM’s story of success. For example, Rwanda is the only country in the world with more women in parliament than men, but despite this millions of women in that country live below the poverty line. In Malawi, Mozambique and Burundi, women make up a larger portion of the workforce than men; yet their women suffer from severe poverty and financial hardship.
The truth is all over the Muslim world including Bangladesh, women have been suffering and facing severe financial hardship due to the capitalist colonial policy imposed upon the Muslim world by western states. The vague concept of gender equality and women empowerment only made the situation worse for women as beside their primary role as a homemaker, women are forced take on the role of a breadwinner. Yet, to only earn the pleasure of their western masters and to build personal fortune, incompetent rulers like Sheikh Hasina are promoting this false ideology of successful women empowerment and its corrupt concepts in their lands, claiming that it has brought exemplary success for women while knowing that this has brought endless misery upon Muslim women.
In fact, this flawed capitalist system and its corrupt concepts and oppressive government have lost all credibility to organize the affairs of the well-being of the Muslim women. Muslim women now need a new system, a new ideology and new policies that will not turn them into economic slaves or build its prosperity on the back of the sufferings of women and protect them from poverty, exploitation and enslavement. This system is the system of Islam, i.e. the second Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashida, which will truly free Muslim women from economic enslavement, poverty and infringement of her financial rights given by Islam. Under this noble state, a woman will not be forced to pursue a career or work to death to feel empowered, nor does she have to compete with a man to be valued. This state does not allow her to work on the condition of humiliation, enslavement and oppression but rather it will ensure an environment of dignity and honor and her high status as a women, mother and daughter in. Hence the Muslim women of Bangladesh should not be deceived by the false claims of Sheikh Hasina. To make Bangladesh a truly outstanding model of women’s success, the women of Bangladesh should strive for establishing the second Khilafah "Caliphate" Rashida (Caliphate) on the method of the Messenger of Allah (saw).
Written For the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Fehmida Binte Wadud