Ahmed Salim from SDPI in his presentation Women Sufi Poets: Living Dangerously narrated the life histories of women sufi poets from South Asia. Ahmed Salim's presentation was a rich narration, cataloguing their mission to challenge the institutions of class, religion, and patriarchy in verse. Ahmed Salim said their task was not easy and many were ostracized from their families and communities, while many lost their lives in the pursuit of their struggle.
A Razzak Sabir, from the Balochistan Study Centre at the University of Balochistan, Quetta, in his presentation Rabiya Khuzadari: A Cultural Figure of Khuzdar explored the story of Rabiya Khuzadar, who, though a significant part of Khuzdar's cultural memory, has not been recorded in formal history or local literature. Sabir explained that many consider Rabiya as the first woman poet writing in Persian and admire her moving Persian verse. However all that is remembered of her now is her doomed love affair with a soldier in her brother's army and the violent end to her life.
Samina Rehman from the Department of Philosophy in her presentation Patterns of Pakhtun Written by Women: From Mysticism to Social Content tracked women's voices in Pushto poetry shifting from romanticism, Sufism, nationalism to a gendered critique of Pukhtoon society. She presented a selection from the work of Bibi Gula, Syeda Bushra Begum and many other voices from Pushto poetry. In her presentation she emphasized that even 150 years ago, Pukhtun women criticized the patriarchal state, the controls on their mobility, and expressed their sexuality through verse. Many wrote on Pukhtoon nationalism and attempted to build a women's collective which could challenge the power structures in society.
Zahida Hina, a prominent poet, and novelist chaired the session. Humeira Iqtidar from Cambridge University was the discussant for the panel. She found the presentations rich and informative. She pointed out the irony of the Pakistani state attempting to ‘sponsor' Sufism. Throughout history Sufis operated as a parallel to the state sponsored ideological apparatus, but now we have a case of the state supporting a faux Sufi ideology for its own purposes. However, there are few groups in Pakistan that can be classified as Sufis. Sufism has its attraction for certain Pakistani citizens but not many grasp it comprehensively and have reduced it to popular culture.
Reported by Aneela Baba
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