There is a perception that it is in the recent times only that the women of Pakistan have stood up for their rights or have started to challenge certain restrictions imposed on them. Haseena Moin, a Pakistani drama writer, challenged all execrable traditions of patriarchy through her female protagonists back in the 70s and 80s. Although all her heroines possess a dauntless disposition, only two will be discussed in this article, for they fight a specific norm. The norm is such that in our society, before a woman is wed to a man, the family of the man or he himself visits the woman’s house in order to take a look at her. The motive behind is to see whether the woman is beautiful enough or not who has to submissively stand before the guests for some time so that they can scrutinize her completely. Haseena Moin, in her drama serials, looks down upon this act and condemns its practice.
In her drama serial Tanhaiyan released in 1985, the character of Faran, after having proposed his tenant Zoobi, expresses his wish to his elder sister, who sneaks into Zoobi’s house in order to inspect what sort of woman her brother has chosen for himself. Enraged at the act, Zoobi stamps towards Faran’s area and makes the following statement:
“What do you think I am? A carrot or a radish to be bought from a grocer? Those days are gone now when there used to be no difference between goats and girls. The goats may not butt, but the girls would surely shoot now. My fury had not yet abated, and your sister came sneaking up in order to see me. Were girls being exhibited over there? You people do not examine your own countenances, and come over to ogle other people’s daughters. How dare you enter my area without my permission? You will have to apologize for such a behavior!”
Where Zoobi’s character is quite bold, the character of Roshan Ara from drama serial Parosi makes use of satire on a similar occasion when a landlord comes to see her. When Roshan Ara notices the landlord staring at her, she says:
”If you are done with your examination, may I know how much sugar would you like? When people like you come, the likes of me are inclined to serve tea. By the way, my eyesight is quite perfect. In fact, it is so perfect that at times I am dismayed, for the scenario before becomes clearly visible. I have no tooth missing. I have two eyes as well. A nose too. I have healthy hair and I never dye them. You told about your animals. Which animal have you come to buy here?”
The landlord, lacking intelligence, replies that he has found Roshan Ara quite “good”, in lieu of which he receives the following answer:
“How good am I? As good as a goat or as good as a hen? Listen! I am not a sweet present at a bakery, which any layman can buy. I am a human being. I possess a heart as well as a mind.”
This leads us into believing that Haseena Moin has always strongly opposed such attitudes which place one sex above the other, and in such a way that the sex below is in a position quite undignified. If someone might turn up with an opinion that these are mere dialogues written in order to give a comic touch to the drama serials, then we can look at them from a biographical perspective. In almost all the interviews Haseena Moin has given, she has claimed that no one has the right to ridicule women and then expect obedience from them in lieu. Women must be independent, self-confident and brave.
Haseena Moin’s repeated references to goats in her dialogues tells that she believes that people of our society consider women no less than animals to be slaughtered for sacrificial purposes, which are thoroughly examined before the act is performed, and believes that women must not submit to it and allow people to observe them from head to toe. This tells that it was years back that Moin had started striving to make the fair sex aware of its rights and place it at a respectable position. Had social media been present at that time which could have spread her works among people in a matter of a few seconds, then an enlightenment would have started to spread quite earlier in this part of the world. But since her works were confined to television only, people did not learn.
It is still not late, for all her drama serials are available on the internet, and if women aspire to know how they must live in this society, they must go for her serials. What differentiates Haseena Moin from her contemporary and an equally good writer Noor-ul-Huda Shah is the fact that where Noor presents a realistic picture of how women are treated here, Haseena Moin puts before the viewers, an idealistic picture telling how to combat the brutality.