When University professor Anita Weiss first began doing research in Pakistan, people were puzzled as to why she would research an obscure area, especially when India seemed to be a greater focus in current events. She decided very early on that, “Everyone studies India; I want to study Pakistan.”
Today, the international studies professor says she is rarely asked, why Pakistan? People just seem to understand that the country is now a vital part of the world’s economic and political vitality. It is hard to imagine that Weiss has been visiting Pakistan for 30 years.
She first visited the country as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley through the Urdu language program. She stayed for four months and returned a year later to do dissertation research for her doctorate in sociology. Since that time, Weiss has been virtually everywhere within the country, has developed a close circle of contacts and friends and has felt hospitality and warmth wherever she has gone.
Even after her last trip, which was at a time when the country was under a government-ordered martial law, Weiss said, she has never felt in danger while being in the country.
Her devotion to her work and deep connection to the Pakistani people have made her deeply drawn to their political struggles. When asked what her dream for Pakistan would be she answered by describing three critical steps that she hoped they would accomplish. First, Weiss said, the political parties of Pakistan need to open themselves up to holding the democratic process within their own parties. Right now, the parties function very autocratically. Weiss describes it as being a “Party of Patronage.”
“They don’t respond to their constituents and they need to,” she said.
Next, she said that the military government needs to be disbanded as the governing body of the country. Finally, Weiss believes that if the first two steps are carried out, the United States should take a few steps back and let the political process in Pakistan happen on its own.
Unfortunately, with the political situation as it is, and the recent assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Weiss admits those dreams seem far away from being realized. Weiss noted that after Bhutto’s death, both political and symbolic voids were left in the country because of her importance in the upcoming presidential race and because of the legacy her father left for the people of Pakistan.
When Weiss is not in Pakistan researching gender issues within the country or following the political outcomes of the upcoming election, she teaches at the University, which she chose because of its unique international studies program. Weiss believes the University does a beautiful job of respecting indigenous rights.
This term she is teaching courses on aid to developing countries and gender and international development. Next term, she will teach a class on development and social change in South Asia.
Students in her class boast how “privileged” they are to “have a professor that is so knowledgeable about South Asian topics in a real world view.”
“Real world views” are most certainly something Weiss has a plethora of. She recently finished editing a textbook entitled “Pathways to Power, Domestic Politics in South Asia,” and is currently working on her own book, “Interpreting Islam, Modernity and Women’s Rights in Pakistan.”
She is also putting together a conference on to be held March 29 in Washington, D. C., which will cover the political transformations in Pakistan. Academics, officials and policy makers are expected to attend.
As an alumna of the Urdu Language School, Weiss is hoping to return to Pakistan to further her research on women’s rights and legal issues. She plans to serve on Pakistan’s National Commission on the Status of Women as a member of the commission’s research advisory board. She will advise the group both on research that needs to be done to improve the status of women in the country and to critique research that is being done on it.
When asked how long she sees herself researching Pakistan, she responded, “I don’t even think of that.”
Surely someone who is as devoted to Pakistan as she is realizes that it is not a connection that can ever truly be broken.