RAWALPINDI: South Asian feminism activist and writer Kamla Bhasin on Saturday said patriarchy placed restrictions and imposed violence on women but it also affected men by stealing them of their humanity.

She said men were not born with ideas of male privilege but were socialised into patriarchy by the society.

“I do not consider a man who hits a woman or who rapes a girl to be a human,” she said.

She said in its essence feminism was about viewing the world from the point of view of women rather than just men, and that this was essential to establish equality and democracy in society.

“India and Pakistan both claim to be democracies but there is little democracy inside people’s homes when it comes to gender relations,” she said.

Ms Bhasin was speaking at an event organised by the Awami Workers Party (AWP) in connection with the International Women’s Day.

There is little democracy inside people’s homes when it comes to gender relations, says Kamla Bhasin

A large number people attended the event to listen to the visiting Indian activist about feminism in South Asia.

Speaking in Punjabi at the start of her talk, she said she was born in a village near Mandi Bahauddin just prior to the partition of the subcontinent.

The talk began with questions from AWP Punjab deputy secretary general Alia Amirali and Tooba Syed, and was later opened up to questions from the audience.

Ms Bhasin negated claims that feminism is a Western concept and pointed out anecdotes from Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic history showing that ideas related to gender equality had existed long before the emergence of feminism in its formalised shape in Europe.

When asked why women had been unable to claim their rights despite making up half of the world’s population, she compared it to the condition of the working class of the world who had been largely unable to claim their rights despite making up over 90pc of the world’s population due to a lack of organisation and unity.

“In the case of women, they live far from each other in separate homes with little mobility which adds to the obstacles in organising,” she said.

“Boys are taught from a young age that when they come home from school they can drop their bags and expect their sisters to pick it up for them.”

Ms Bhasin ended the talk by leading an exuberant series of chants calling for the freedom of women and all oppressed people.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2017