Brave Pakistani women have been in the vanguard of social change in a country infested with religiously radical and extremist groups. The women have also emerged as the first line of defiance against extremism in a country with a poor record in protection of women’s rights.
Over many years, they have refused to be silent spectators of social injustice and gender inequality, and have openly denounced the Taliban’s radical agenda. Many determined women have sacrificed their lives for these causes and many more remain active despite facing grave threats to their lives.
In the latest campaign of violence against such women, terrorists gunned down the prominent social worker Parveen Rehman this month in Karachi, the southern port city where the Taliban are believed to have increased their presence over the past few years. Ms Rehman was a long-time director of the renowned Orangi Pilot Project, which works to uplift poor areas.