THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

You’ll see women on the streets, but never their faces. Many of them wear what looks like a black ski mask with slits for their eyes under their hijab. The others wear a burqa that makes you feel naked under your dupatta. The burqa’s fabric falls from a skullcap fitted to the woman’s head. A thin funnel rises from this cap. The burqa has no slits for the eyes. The funnel allows air into the burqa so the women do not suffocate. If you have ever been caught in a dust storm, you’ll understand how these women see the world. When you stare at them, your contact in Dera Ghazi Khan, a journalist, tells you about a place not too far from here where the tribal belt of Balochistan province starts, where he says the women are not given any shoes. When you don’t understand, he explains impatiently, ‘If you’re not wearing shoes and you walk outside, where will your eyes remain? You’ll never look up – never look at any man – if you’re scared of where your naked foot might fall when you leave your home.’ 

Maher/Qandeel