The horrific suicide attack at a Sufi shrine in Sehwan in Pakistan’s Sindh province that killed at least 80 people, underscores fears about the Islamic State gaining strength in the country. A suicide bomber blew himself up at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, among the most venerated of Sufi saints.
People of all faiths in the subcontinent have flocked here over the centuries, making it a prominent symbol of syncretism, and thereby a particularly potent target for the IS. The terrorist group, which had announced its Pakistan branch more than two years ago, has claimed a string of attacks in recent months, mostly on minority Muslim sects. Initially, Pakistani authorities had denied that the IS has any organisational presence in the country.
However, attacks such as this, which the IS promptly took responsibility for, suggest otherwise. In Iraq and Syria the IS has methodically targeted Shias, Alawis, Kurds and Yazidis. In Pakistan and Afghanistan, Shias, Hazaras and Sufis are being attacked.
Pakistan, particularly, has a rich Sufi tradition, a mystical and generally moderate form of Islam that is loathed by fundamentalists. In 2010, Lahore’s Data Darbar shrine had been brutally attacked. In June last year, the popular Sufi singer, Amjad Sabri, was shot dead in Karachi. Three months ago, a Sufi shrine in Balochistan was bombed by the IS, killing 45 people. The attack at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar came when it was full of devotees, to cause maximum harm.
The IS is clearly following a strategy that was successful in mobilising fighters and gaining publicity in Iraq and Syria. The highly planned, well-publicised attacks on Shias in these countries helped the IS whip up Sunni sectarian sentiment and win recruits. There is still no evidence that the Pakistani branch of the group is directed by the IS core in Mosul or Raqqah.
But IS fighters in eastern Afghanistan, where the group has established a province of the ‘Caliphate’, and those in Pakistan seem to have aligned themselves with local terror groups for organisational support.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a ferociously anti-Shia group, and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, are two such groups that reportedly have a tactical alliance with the IS. Most of the major recent suicide attacks in Pakistan were carried out by these three groups. This indicates a dangerous trend. After the massacre in an army school in Peshawar in 2014 that left more than 140 dead, the security forces had finally turned against the Pakistani Taliban and dismantled parts of their terror network.
But such operations did little to minimise the threat Pakistan faces from terrorism as such. If the Pakistan Taliban are on the back foot, others are coming forward with a more vicious, sectarian worldview and firepower. Tragedies such as Thursday’s are a reminder that Pakistan needs a more comprehensive action plan against terrorism.
Receive Daily Updates
Recent Posts
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.