by Zubeida Mustafa
-Pakistan-
The “weakness of women”, widely believed to be a natural phenomenon, is actually a myth. Women are resilient and there are many cases where “woman power” won the day because women fighting for a cause refused to back off.
The valiant social activist Perween Rahman was gunned down two years ago in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. Perween was the director of the Orangi Pilot Project-Research and Training Institute, in which capacity she was working to improve the life of the poor. An architect by training, she shunned thirty years ago the opportunity to make a successful corporate career. After joining an architectural firm, soon after her graduation, she said to herself,” I do not want to spend my life building palaces for the rich. I’d rather build homes for the poor.” And that is what brought her to the OPP, at the time the recent creation of its founder Dr Akhter Hameed Khan. And she did exactly what she wanted to do, help the poor build shelters for themselves at affordable prices. She went on to do much more – show the poor how they could live with dignity and self esteem. In the process, Perween instilled confidence in the people she worked for – both men and women – and empowered them. Such was her charisma and the magic of her personal humanism. Continue reading Justice in Pakistan: Unmasking Perween Rahman’s Killers →
The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) is well-known for the healthcare it provides free of charge to the marginalised. Not so well known, however, is the egalitarian philosophy that its founder, Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi, has instilled in the Institute’s working guidelines. This means providing equal opportunities to all in other walks of life as well. Take the case of Muhammad Imran, 53, who is the head of the operation theatres at SIUT.
