Hobbes says that without a proper, legitimate government, 'the
life of man is poor, nasty, brutish and short'; History proves that there
has always been violence, injustice, and pain. The resulting destruction and
desolation have not deterred the mighty, who present countless reasons and
excuses for the different kinds of war they wage in troubled foreign lands.
They founded the UN but never promoted unity, peace, equality. Ironically,
great concern about human rights is shown when any violation happens in other
countries, thanks to the Ostrich Syndrome. Thus, big global noise is created
when a woman is abused in a Third World country, particularly if it is Muslim.
There is politics involved, of course, Islamophobia being a major factor. It is
an open secret that those raising their voices against religious or gender
discrimination receive extra attention and praise from lovers of human rights
within and abroad. Sadly, not much is done to understand or right the
situation.
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Champions of human rights need to be realistic, not idealistic.
Take, for instance, the endless exodus. The number of people moving
from small villages to big cities is both alarming and heart wrenching. Large
families carrying bare essentials keep leaving their homes for supposedly
greener pastures. They are not nomads who can pitch their tents wherever
possible. The need for proper shelters throws them into the hands of the
small-housing-mafia that operates at the edges of cities, luring them to rent a
room or two in ugly buildings with no kitchens, no gas nor water, and an
erratic electric supply. There is hardly any privacy, giving rise to untoward
incidents.
Then starts the ordeal of knocking at every affluent door. The
scorn and suspicion apart, just imagine the humiliation felt while begging to
be employed, particularly when they have never done before. Since they are
untrained and inexperienced, and often quite unpresentable, only the very
brave, compassionate, or desperate are willing to take a chance with them. The
interview is daunting, long, and embarrassing, Most of them say they have been
forced to work to pay the heavy debt they are under due to illness and death,
marriage and divorce. Some have even left a family member behind as ransom.
One must ask what the men do, as we see more than one child
clinging to the women. It is horrific to hear that most husbands are drug
addicts. In many cases, the husband is either missing or has taken a second
wife. Divorce is also rampant. One wonders why the burden of raising children
falls on the mother when they bear the father's name and ultimately belong to
him. A mother's heart, or a man's lack of it?
The idea of patriarchy/masculinity is very strongly ingrained.
Whether the man fulfills his financial, conjugal, and parental duties or not,
he is the MAN of the house with the right to abuse, beat, even abandon his wife
and children. These men are born with a sense of great pride and honor and they
carry it in a very macho, zingy manner: a few are quite dignified, but most
come out pathetic.
It is the obligation of the imam and preachers, the state and NGOs,
civil society, and human rights organizations to help, advise and educate these
people deprived of basic rights. Even awareness of personal hygiene is
non-existent. Switch on the idiot box called television, and look at the
countless experts and advisors on religion and politics, beauty and physical
grooming/fitness, and affairs of all kinds.
Don't we need to talk and do something about these helpless migrants, or
are they mere pawns — mere hands like those in the colonial plantations and at
the brick kilns close at home? Do we fear that if we give them equal rights,
who is going to do all the labor and drudgery for us? We all know that the
majority of boys and girls coming out of government institutions fail to get
into good colleges or workplaces, nor have they been given any vocational
training. Similarly, no one is ignorant of the plight of thousands of poor
wretched men and women who are working or longing to get into a good household.
We all can help in our way; both firmness and compassion are
essential. There are some stubborn ones, not all are eager or loyal, but most
of them can be trained and groomed. We can teach them to cook, knit, and sew;
their children can not only be made literate but also be taught skills and
occupations like driving, gardening, and cooking so they can do well in later
life. The highly educated civil servants who grace the big cities should visit
all little villages and towns and assign due responsibility to the imam and
elders, administrators, and teachers so the herd is rightly shepherded. The
media, all champions of human rights, and social activists have to play a more
positive and active role, especially in the counseling of the young and the
rehabilitation of addicts.
There is dignity in work: even the scavengers and garbage
collectors deserve respect and acknowledgment, so do the men and women who
leave their homes and loved ones to feed their children. We know all this in
our minds, but as Knowles has rightly said, all our problems and our wars are
the results of "the ignorance of the heart".
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