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Critical Panel Discussion
South Asian Women: Fundamentalism, Religion, Violence, and Governance
4PM, March 30th, Sunday • FREE
Central Cinema
1411 21st Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122, (206) 686-6684
This panel looks into the ways that issues of religion, fundamentalism and governance intersect with each other and simultaneously impact the lives of South Asian women in a multiplicity of situations. The panel is composed of the following speakers:
Prof. Elora Chowdhury (University of Massachusetts) will be exploring the question of violence and women in Bangladesh and in particular will focus on the growing epidemic of acid attack against women in the country. By focusing on the story of Bina Akhter, a survivor/activist of acid violence, she will explore how feminists in Bangladesh navigate Orientalist, modernist, and transnational discourses of women's empowerment in developing strategies and initiatives in response to gendered violence.
Prof. Shahnaz Khan (Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario) will be speaking on notions of rescuing Muslim woman as a form of colonial feminism through which accounts of their de-contextualized lives by some western feminists help produce a discourse that suggests timeless tradition, Islam and their misogynist men as the cause of their oppression. She maintains that in identifying local patriarchies as the sole cause of women’s oppression support for military missions masked as rescue missions are generated. Using examples from Afghanistan and Pakistan, she argues for an analysis which examines the complexities of local arrangements and their interaction with transnational forces so that we may to better recognize the conditions under which women live as well as all the players who helped bring them about.
Prof. Tayyab Mahmud (Seattle University) will address the relationship between modes of governance and the rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan. Bringing four distinct phases between 1950 -2000 into focus, he would argue that the "rise" of religious fundamentalism was orchestrated by a state whose mode of governance rests upon lack of representation and denial of federalism. Regional and global geo-politics furnished the broader context within which this process unfolded. His talk will also incorporate the symbolic and substantive role of women leaders in Pakistani politics. In particular he will talk in a comparative mode about Fatima Jinnah (Jinnah's sister who challenged Ayub Khan in the 1965 elections) and Benazir Bhutto.
Brahmy Poologasingham (Attorney, Dorsey & Whitney, and Human Rights Commissioner, Seattle) will give an overview of the human rights violations in Sri Lanka as they relate to the terrorist activities and the government's part in the ethnic Tamil/Singhala conflict. Specifically as it pertains to women, she will be talking about the cycle of violence the conflict has created as well as the unique position women have within the terrorist organization (LTTE) and their contribution to the peace keeping process.
Prof. Meenakshi Rishi (Seattle University) will focus on issues of Grassroots governance in India, Iconic political persona, Women in Business, and Fundamentalism in India.
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