National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

"The Meena Bazar Is Going To Be Held To Raise Funds To Help Widows Of RNA"

- Saadia Akram

Saadia Akram is the wife of Pakistani ambassador Zamir Akram. A masters in International Relations, Mrs. Akram loves traveling and studying different cultures. At her initiative the Pakistan Embassy Women’s Association is organizing a ‘Meena Bazar’ in Kathmandu on November 29, in collaboration with the Army Officers’ Wives’ Association to raise funds to help the widows of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) personnel, who were killed by the Maoists. A highly read person, Mrs Akram has given a number of lectures on the Islam and status of women in Islam post 9/11 when she was stationed at the Pakistani mission at the Washington D.C. where her husband was the DCM. An enthusiastic squash player, Mrs. Akram, who came to Nepal a little more than a year ago, is keenly interested in social service. She spoke with SANJAYA DHAKAL about the upcoming ‘Meena Bazar’. Excerpts:

Why did you decide to organize the ‘Meena Bazar’ event?

In fact, several months ago Mrs. Kamala Thapa, the wife of army chief of Nepal, had talked to me about the situation of the widows of Royal Nepalese Army personnel. Many of these widows were very poor and had no means of livelihood. Mrs. Thapa told me that the Army Officers’ Wives’ Association is also providing them with vocational training and so on. I thought it was a very good opportunity for me as a Pakistani to help. Since I love this country very much, we decided to organize an event like this to raise funds to help those widows.

Can you tell us about the ‘Meena Bazar’?

It’s a bazaar where we will be selling a wide range of Pakistani goods and a rich variety of Pakistani food. Its got a two fold purposes. We show our goods, the people will buy them and the profit will then go to the widows.

What will be the major highlights of the event?

We will have the bazaar on the 29th of November at the Hotel Hyatt from 10 am to 5 pm. The bazaar will have various Pakistani products like Salwar Kameez and Dupatta (unstitched), which I find very popular here. We make them of pure cotton. We also have men’s Salwar kameez. We have leather products like jackets, purses, wallets and handbags. We have sports goods, bed linen, towels, embroidered cushion, melamine sets, spices and Basmati rice. We also have onyx items, for which Pakistan is very popular. Then there will be the food festival. It hasn’t been very easy to procure these items as we do not have direct flights. That’s why it took us several months to organize this. We contacted the Pakistani army and they are also going to provide some goods. Even Mrs. Musharraf, wife of the president of the Pakistan, is also going to be helping us financially.

What are the characteristics of the Pakistani food?

Well, South Asian foods are very similar. But they have very distinct tastes. The taste of Biryani from Pakistan is different. Our Bar B.Q. is also different.

How has been the response to this event?

We find that people are very excited by Pakistani products. God willing it will be a very good affair.

How have you found your stay in Nepal?

I have really enjoyed it. People have welcomed us. In fact, this was our posting after Washington D.C. and a lot of people had said we were going to a small country. But for me this was like a homecoming. Basically, we are all South Asians. Our culture is more or less the same, our thinking and emotions are the same, which is why I feel at home here.

How do you spend your leisure time here?

For one there are a lot of social occasions and diplomatic parties here. I do take part in several organizations up here. I have been quite active and I have been promoting certain things that relate to my country. I am in one organization called Active Women of Nepal and another called the United Nations Women’s Organization. I have been actively participating in both these organizations. I have also invited people to give a lecture on status of women in Islam because I feel it has been very wrongly interpreted all over the world. People do not know how the women behave in Islam, there is actually freedom for them in Islam, which nobody knows about. Islam makes a woman very free to do a lot of things; she can work side by side with men.

How do you find the situation of Nepalese women?

I am not in a position to comment on the political aspects of this issue. I feel that here women can freely roam about, nobody teases them, they can wear what they like, I find them riding motorcycles. It’s a nice feeling. But, yes they have problems like property rights and so on. And I feel that they need a lot of voice in politics. Like in Pakistan, we have 33 percent seats reserved for women in the national assembly, provincial assemblies and district councils. I hope Nepal will also come up with brilliant ideas in future because I see Nepalese women are very bright and intelligent. I know they are capable of working side by side with men, particularly in the political sphere.

Being a wife of a diplomat, you have to go from one place to another. How do you feel about this?

I enjoy studying different cultures. As I myself am also a student of international relations, I love going from one country to another. Even my children like it. n