Interview of Zaibunisa Mallah By Rebecca Ursani

Interview of  Zaibunisa Mallah

 By Rebecca Ursani Roll No  81

 BS- II 2^nd semester October 23, 2015

 Zaib-un-nisa Mallah originally belongs to a small village known as Moula Dino MirbBahr where she together with some other women started Marvi Samaji Taraqiati Tanzeem that specifically works for women only in 1994. She is currently the vice chairperson of her organization.


Q: How did you start your organization?
A: Initially, we started from our own home along with five to six women in our village which caused the other women to laugh on us. We heard taunts from them that now the women of our village will also start working like men. Nevertheless, by the time, thirty to forty women were gathered when we held our first session in which we elected the bodies for president, vice president, general secretary, joint secretary. We elected those women who were more or less familiar with the education. My mother was the elder one in our village. She was always helpful to people when in need and people used to obey her so we made her the president of our organization. Then we started moving forward by starting our first credit scheme that was to take thirty rupees monthly from every woman and then we opened an account in the First Women Bank in Hyderabad where all the money was saved. In 1996 we were invited by the two institutes for a visit to Ghotki to attend some program. That was the first time in our lives we left for the trip to Ghotki which was followed by astonishment. We were surprised to see a different and a big world for women there. There we realized there was much space for women and we have just started working for them in our small village so we better build contacts with the institutes and the women present in the program in order to make our organization successful. We also composed a song for all the ladies 'Tum Sindh ki maa ho socho zara, tum hi se humain ye kehna hai. Aulad tumhari daulat hai, taleem tumhara gehna hai'. This was being sung by us all the time that we made all the women cram the song both in Urdu and Sindhi which was later on sang by a poet more beautifully. Our second step was to communicate with the outer world i.e the city side. Though our village was near to Hyderabad but there were no roads to get linked with the cities. Therefore, for this matter we approached the wife of DC Rizwan Siddiqui and requested her for the roads to be made which she approved. Now that the roads were made, we realized the making of roads had simplified the lives of many people, the marketing system had increased for women due to incoming and outgoing from village, the girls that were only confined to study till fifth class were now able to study further in the city. We also constructed a school named Agha Khan Community Based Education Society. Besides that, our village pull was broken due to which it was being hard for people to reach at the other side of the pull, for that we encountered MPA Kulsoom Nizamani she repaired us that broken bridge. Likewise, all the problems that were not being resolved, we five women always tried our efforts and solved those issues. We provided water. We presented water supply scheme in our village and some more small villages from our own quota, we constructed roads in all those villages, provided drainage system within five years. 

Q: There must be narrow minded people in your village to allow their daughters to go schools. How did you afford to gather the girls for education and control the situation?
A: There are so many people who still don't allow their girls to educate themselves because they think either they will run away or will marry of their own choices. In last five to ten years we have succeeded in proving them wrong by standing firm in our objectives, not moving back from our positions and by acting on what we spoke, they gradually started allowing their women to go schools. When I and my husband started working together, the people of our village used to abuse us, they used to talk filthy after us but by the grace of Allah, teachers that are teaching today in our school are the same girls that were once restricted by their families. I suppose this is one of our biggest accomplishments.


Q: What so far are your achievements till now?
A: I have been received awards of Sindh level and also the best social activist. PTV channel has also made a drama on my life, my education. The story of that drama is based on real stories of women who have succeeded in their life.

Q: What is Marvi Samaji presently working for?
A: It works for women's rights, jobs, facilities, health, education, agriculture. In health we have worked on hospitals, dispensaries. In agriculture we have lend the women loans so that they work side by side with their husbands because a woman does work all the time but her role is never noticed. We have provided tube wells in the villages as well. As from the legal point of view we help those women who marry against their families and then their husbands also leave them. When neither her family nor her husband accepts her, we refuge such women.

Q: How and when did you realize that you should play your role in society or any other important role that spreads awareness?
A: Actually my husband used to work in an organization Hamdard Nojawan Itehad Samaji Tanzeem. They used to arrange blood for the patients and other social works. As my husband used to stay busy all day in his job which caused many fights between us that he doesn't give enough time to his family which made him show me his activities by showing me the photographs and movies of his organziation's labor. That was the time I realized that our village is way backwards than other villages and that we should also start working for our village's progress. My husband permitted me for this but he also asked me to get permission from our elders. My mother who was a helpful lady to everyone agreed, my brother in law who was a big doctor in the village also agreed and my father in law who was the chairperson of panchayit committee also supported me for this plan. So, I never had any problems from my family. They always supported me for this good deed.

Q: How important and hard it is for a woman to work in our society?
A: It is definitely very very difficult for a woman to work but Allah has blessed her with a strong heart, she is confident enough, she can do whatever she wants and she can cross all the hurdles that come across her way. All she requires is self confidence and. As a loaf is distasteful without salt, a society is incomplete without a woman. Its important for a woman to work in every field. Be it politics, health department, or any social job because a woman is another name of change. If you inactive a woman then you will find the man of that family inactive as well.

Q: From which social activist you have been inspired?
A: My mother and my husband.

Q: You have had your role model in your life. Would you like to be an ideal for others too?
A: Of course I want to. In fact I already am for my family, my children and other people.

Q: Have you ever felt emotionally attached towards any victim you come across?
A: Yes, there was a girl who escaped her home and her village with a boy whom she loved since the age of ten. When they were caught by the police and went back to their homes, the girl's family fixed her marriage with her cousin that caused the girl commit suicide without informing anyone. When she was brought here in the hospital she was in a very critical condition and her only last wish was to see the boy she loved. She died at the spot and we came to know the boy she loved has lost his mental ability. That was the time I thought we have became such enemies of love and the happiness that too of our own children. People care about their ego but not about their children. Parents have the right to teach the right or wrong to their child but they do not have the right to bound them in anyway. I was feeling extremely enraged at that time and I still feel sorry for this, we could not do anything for her.

Q: Woman in today's world is still treated inferior. How do you think can we overcome this gender discrimination?
A: First of all the very main thing is education wether for a man or a woman. Secondly, mental health is important. In our society what happens is our parents keep their children away from theirselves. They do not pay much attention to what is happening in their children's lives. So the roots for gender discrimination start from our own homes. Parents should build a friendly relationship with both boy and the girl so that they may share their issues with their parents and not get afraid in talking anything. Parents think if it is a girl we should keep her fr
ightened from the outer world. It is therefore totally wrong and parents should encourage their children equally.

Q: How do you help the rape victims? Do they get any justice?
A: I am afraid we are unsuccessful in this case. We are upset from justice. I have never seen or heard any justice being done with any rape victim except for a woman in Punjab who was raped but she never lost her spirit. But in Sindh the girls who are raped either committ suicide or are murdered because the court system of ours is worthless. The cases are not heard properly by the judges, lawyers are usless to fight the cases. This is the reason rape cases have became a very odd thing in today's world.

Q: Have you done enough for the society or do you want to see yourself more successful?
A: No, I have my further plans.

Q: What is Marvi Samaji further looking for?
A: We have planned to upgrade our school. Increase the number of classes till college. Secondly, build an awareness centre where all the problems should be solved and do not approach police for every little problem. Thirdly, we want to build a hospital for health problems.

Q: Do you want to convey any message to the upcoming generation?
A: My message for all man, woman and children is that focus on your studies, build good relations with your parents and maintain your character and concentrate on your destiny. Your problems will automatically be vanished. Learn to move step by step but don't jump. If you will jump you will fall badly. Inshaa-Allah our new generation will be very successful.

October 2015
This practical work was done under the guidance of Sir Sohail Sangi, 
Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Sindh.