There are many shelter homes for women in Sindh towards making the total number of such homes, but only four in actual count. This brings out in bold relief the neglect women face in our patriarchal society. Given that the province has a population of around 47.88 million, this situation can only be seen as a matter of concern needing the attention of the government as well as of society. There is Darul Aman, as the shelter home for women are officially known, only in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana, where women subjected to domestic and societal violence as well as forced conversion can find safe homes. It is at these places that women feel secure from violence. However, tormented women from rural areas and small towns have to travel long distances to reach these safe havens. These women are exposed to grave dangers during their long journeys. Those from the Thar area have to traverse 200 kilometres to reach the nearest Darul Aman in Hyderabad for lack of Darul Aman in towns of the region such as Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, and Mithi.
The government had announced a grandiose plan to build shelter homes in Mirpurkhas and several other cities and towns, but despite the allocation of millions for the purpose and the passage of 10 long years, most of these schemes have not made much headway. Only in Sukkur, a multi-storey building with 21 rooms has been completed, but the planned Darul Aman remains dysfunctional for the lack of staff. Now women can only be temporarily accommodated in two rooms of the building before shifting them to a proper shelter home. There are 85 women in the old shelter home at Sukkur, 60 in Larkana, and 20 in Hyderabad. Things are, reportedly, unsatisfactory at the Sukkur facility. The government had also planned to provide medico-legal and other required facilities under one roof at the Darul Amans. This plan too continues to rot in government files.
Bonded labour
It is the same old story. Laws are passed and they are seldom heard about until it is revealed that they are not being enforced. Under the Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 2015, district vigilance committees were to be set up in all districts of the province but even after the lapse of five years, these bodies have not been established in most districts. A notification for constituting vigilance committees in 12 districts had been issued though, they are yet to be made functional. In other districts, the committees have not been set up altogether. The delay in establishing vigilance committees and making the ones already established functional have rendered it very difficult to monitor the implementation of the laws related to the emancipation of bonded labourers.
Obviously, the authorities have developed cold feet as to the implementation of the relevant laws, and in consequence of this bonded labour is on the rise in rural area of the province, and is also delaying the release of those bonded labourers who could have been freed from the bondage of doing forced labour or working without payment of wages. From 2017 to 2019, courts in Sindh, with the help of NGOs, have released 553 bonded labourers. However, circumstances produced by the coronavirus pandemic are not only leading to an increase in the number of bonded labourers, they have also halted efforts to expedite the release of bonded labourers in the province. The delay in setting up vigilance committees has added to the problem. Another law, enacted in 2019, that recognised female agricultural labourers as formal workers entitling them to several benefits, too, is yet to be implemented.
All labour laws should be extended to the agriculture sector and to all those workers engaged in other sectors in rural areas, and these workers should be brought under the social security net. There is also the need to eliminate the curse of bonded labour through phased land reforms.
May 1 deadline
US President Joe Biden confirmed that the deadline for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan will probably not be met. The May 1 deadline was agreed to as part of the US-Taliban peace deal and is conditional on the Taliban meeting several conditions, most of which they already have. However, several analysts and even serving US military officials have been saying since last year that the deadline agreed by the Trump administration did not take ground realities into account. “That was not a very solidly negotiated deal,” Biden said in a TV interview.
But this does not mean that a complete withdrawal is off the table. Biden also said that if the deadline is extended, it won’t be by much. He said the US is consulting with the Afghan government and other US allies on the finer details. This is significant because the Afghans have complained about being shut out of the original deal. Indeed, ignoring an aggrieved party was a signature of the Trump administration — look at his so-called peace proposals for Palestine, which were crafted with zero input from the Palestinians. Of course, any deadline extension will have to be negotiated with the Taliban as well. While the Taliban warned that there would be “consequences” if the US failed to meet the withdrawal deadline, there is a general consensus that they would not scuttle the deal if the proposed extension is only a few weeks or months.
Part of the reason that the US wants troops to stay back in Afghanistan is the Kabul government’s failure to make progress in their own talks with the Taliban. This failure is mainly because the Kabul government has not been negotiating in good faith. Instead, they are gambling on the US being unwilling to let the country fall under Taliban control. This would only take a matter of weeks because US air support is one of the few things giving Kabul a military advantage. But the US has clearly had enough and is now forcing Kabul to the table. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s ‘response’ to Biden’s comments is another risky gamble, insisting that he wants elections instead of installing an interim government with Taliban participation. Good gamblers know how to stop before they lose everything.
