PESHAWAR: For Fazal Haq, a Pakistani octogenarian academic who grew up in the country’s conservative northwest, acquiring education was a gateway to empowerment and self-reliance for his children, especially his daughters.
In an era when education was a rare privilege in Pakistan’s northwestern Karak district, Haq stood as a beacon of progressive thinking by sending his first-born daughter, Nighat Parveen, to school in the 1970s.
Although he never formally attended college himself, the 82-year-old has earned postgraduate degrees in Arabic, Urdu literature, and Islamic studies. And all of his children — 13 daughters and four sons — also have higher-education qualifications.
“Fewer men attended school during his time, and the notion of women pursuing education was virtually unheard of,” Haq told Arab News this week. “Yet, despite societal constraints, I made a pioneering decision to send my daughter Parveen to school.”
Haq said his daughters’ early education proceeded smoothly but as they grew older, murmurs of dissent within his family became louder. Relatives questioned his wisdom for allowing his girls to be educated and the resistance escalated to threats of disownment, but Haq said he remained resolute and Parveen’s results in exams in both the 8th and 10th grades were better than many in their area. Her academic success reinforced Haq’s belief in his decision.
“That was a big relief, I would say one of my happiest moments,” Haq said.
Parveen, who passed her matriculation exam in 1986, told Arab News that, initially, she did not grasp the necessity of education and only saw herself fulfilling her father’s wishes on a path fraught with obstacles.
“I would often find myself as the only girl in a classroom full of boys. Sitting in a corner, isolated from my peers, I faced the weight of societal scrutiny and the discomfort of being an ‘outsider,’” she said.
“The psychological toll of being the only girl in a boys’ class was immense, but I remained steadfast in the pursuit of education.”
Parveen now stands as a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of education as she serves as the principal of Government Girls’ High School in Karak, shaping the minds of future generations.
She set the bar high for all 16 of her siblings, who now hold master’s degrees in disciplines including English literature, political science, history, botany, zoology, and physics. All of Haq’s daughters became teachers.
Haq has always seen education as a gateway to empowerment and self-reliance for women, contrary to the common perception in Pakistan’s rural communities, where most believed that investing in daughters’ education would only serve to benefit the household they joined when they married.
“Education equips women with knowledge and confidence to contribute actively to their family’s economic affairs, eliminating the need to depend on others for financial support,” he said.
Haq’s wife, Jahan Bano, had no formal education, but her ability to converse in English and engage in discussions about politics demonstrates her intellectual growth and self-confidence.
Both Haq and Bano feel proud that their perspective on women’s education, which was once widely disapproved by society, has now been embraced by those same critics.
“At this later stage of life, when I watch young girls in school uniforms going to school, college, and university from my balcony, I feel a strange sense of happiness,” Haq said.
