(Translated from Bengali into English by Abul Kasem)

A deep conspiracy has been pitted women against women. A working woman is a rival to a housewife. Men can be in the workforce or not be in it. This does not set one group of men against another group. But the case of women is quite different. To create permanent discord among women, this is a ploy by some unscrupulous men to incite one group of women against another group.

Women enemies of women: British Muslim women protest in support of veils.

Readers must not misjudge me. Due to the liberal and progressive ambience in our home, I was a non-conformist, not accepting things at their face value. In our home we always valued one another’s opinions, even when they were diametrically opposite. This created an atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance of opposing views. I am a product of such a milieu. Of course, this does not mean everyone was happy with my unconventional views. To some people I was dear, to others I was not. While many people just wanted to avoid discussing contentious issues, I could not, even though I could have easily followed the mainstream and avoid trouble.

On 21 June, the Prothom Alo, a Bangladesh daily, reported that a girl of class two (grade 2, primary) of village Alamdanga is being married. The atmosphere was one of grand celebration. To solemnise such an occasion the mother of the child was busy preparing delicious dishes. Along with the little girl and her would-be husband, the father of the girl was on his way to the marriage registry office. Learning about this, the enforcement officers from the relevant government department arrested them. The mother of the bride was utterly in grief, complaining why such a marriage could not be allowed to proceed. Her logic was very simple. The girl got to get married today or tomorrow. So what is the problem if she wanted her to be married at such a tender age? The mother is not concerned at all about the pitfall of underage marriage. But the girl was happy when she learned that the marriage will not proceed. Her first reaction was: “From tomorrow I shall again go to school. I shall continue with my studies.”

The above example illustrates what damage could be done due to the apathy of women on women’s affairs. To a certain extent, we women are responsible for the degrading situation of women in our society.

The violence against women is nothing new. It has been perpetrated from time immemorial. Even though, around many parts of the world, significant improvements have been achieved vis-à-vis women’s right, nothing much has changed about the low status of women in our society. Women are still oppressed, in various ways. Let me illustrate this with an incident.

On February 10, 2000, Ferdousi (a woman) declined the marriage proposal by her classmate (a man). Through the back door the jilted lover entered her house and threw acid on Ferdousi’s face. Her hands, face, and two eyes were severely acid-burnt. Even after the treatment for one-and-half month the Ferdousi could not regain her eyesight. Despite such handicap Ferdousi continued her studies through the Braille System, and passed her HSC examination in 2006. She is now a student (honours) of the at Dhaka University’s research Institute. On April 20, 2007 she appeared in a television interview. The camera attempted not to display her mutilated face. But this could not be avoided. When the microphone was brought near her the viewers had a partial view of her scarred, grotesque face. It was horrible. She was like a mobile coffin, laid on a white bed.

Let us witness another ghoulish incidence. A woman had failed to offer the dowry of fifty thousand taka (Bangladesh currency) to her husband. As a result she was doused with kerosene and burnt alive. At that time she was six-month pregnant. With her also died the foetus.

In Bangladesh there are many erudite people who often extol the importance of improving the position of women. Despite so much rhetoric, movements, meeting, processions, and seminars, what is the result? In one word this can be summed up—zero, nothing, if we were to take any lessons from the incidences cited above.

Let me be back to my main topic. Clearly, we note that one section of women is against another section. Thus, women themselves, to a large extent, must bear the responsibility for their dishonoured standing. It will not be appropriate to always blame the muscle power of men for the weak status of women. This muscle power is purely biological; it has lost its importance in today’s world.

The principal reason of women’s subservient status is their financial dependence on men. Because of this a woman can never take for granted any relation with men; she is always, insecure, restless, worrying about what might happen to her if her husband abandons her. Even the wife of a billionaire could become a destitute one day. She permanently becomes a parasite, living on others. This renders her to be conservative, because she finds security in conservatism—she does not want to rock the boat, lest she loses the financial security provided by her husband. Just as a slave considers his/her master’s richness, as his/her, so does a woman. She considers the increase in wealth of her husband or son as her own. In a patriarchal society, it is the norm that men prefer an imbecile (read stupid, dumb) woman to an intelligent one. These men often praise the imbecility of women as a virtue, the symbol of femineity.

If, by chance, this ‘stupid’ woman becomes aware of her rights and status, and starts protesting the status quo, she undergoes terrible suffering—acid attack, kerosene, sexual, physical, mental abuse, just to name a few.

The most amazing aspect of such a sorry state of women is that it is the women who blame the victims of such torment. Thus, we the women, having divided ourselves are engaged in internecine. But we forget that this internecine is the invention of the world ruled by men. Having succeeded to pit women against women, from their secured position, these men enjoy this infighting.

As said before, violence against women is nothing new; it has been the practice for millennium, as can be illustrated through many incidences. If a woman stays in a hostel, on her own, she is often viewed with suspicion by her peer. In this peer group, the majority are women. Let us cite the case of Mow (a pseudonym) who stays in a hostel. Every week she might have three or more visitors from her family. Still most women in her neighbourhood will not hesitate to call her a prostitute. Mothers will not allow their daughters to mix with Mow. In many families, the mother-in-law torments the daughter-in-law or vice versa. But the mother-in-law forgets her past, that once she was also a daughter-in-law. Ditto for the daughter-in-law. Thus we note that nothing really has changed regarding the internal hostility among women.

In conclusion, we must admit that the women’s enemy is not the undignified men alone. Their enemy also includes a group of women indoctrinated by men. These women act as sleuths of men.