• 8 months ago
Meet the pride of Pakistan Zunira Khan

#cia #tudent #education #bakhabarsavera #arynews
Transcript
00:00 Our show has a tradition that we bring the talent of Pakistan
00:04 who has made Pakistan's name known all over the world.
00:07 By the way, Sadaf, our guest today,
00:10 the girls with that name are very mischievous
00:13 because she is my niece.
00:15 -Really? -Yes, she is my 4-year-old niece.
00:17 And she is very bright and very mischievous.
00:20 And yesterday she ruined my plants.
00:22 But I won't scold you. I'll come home and teach you how to grow plants properly.
00:27 But let's talk about the big Zunera.
00:30 Okay, so we're talking about Zunera.
00:32 We have such names in our country that are making the country proud.
00:37 And Zunera Khan is just like that.
00:41 She has obtained a Master's degree in Intelligence Security from the UK.
00:46 So, she has become the first Asian woman to have done a Master's in Intelligence Security.
00:52 She has been in the CIA, the US intelligence agency,
00:54 before and after the Civil War, and has also done research on the role of women.
00:58 Very impressive.
01:00 And Zunera has proven with her skills that
01:03 the field of intelligence is not only for men,
01:07 but women can also make their name in it.
01:11 Women can also make their mark with their skills.
01:14 So, she has also worked with the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of Defence in the UK.
01:18 So, Mashallah, her profile is very impressive.
01:21 Absolutely. So, Zunera Khan is with us today.
01:24 Zunera, Assalam-o-Alaikum. Good morning to Baaghabar Savera.
01:26 And hope that you are doing well.
01:30 And I will start the conversation with you
01:33 because our children are stuck in Doctor-Engineer.
01:37 But your subject is so different and so gutsy.
01:42 We have only seen it in Hollywood movies.
01:44 Yes, and especially its research topic is
01:46 the role of females in the pre- and post-Cold War.
01:50 So, please tell us why you chose this subject and what was all about this topic.
01:57 Assalam-o-Alaikum. Thank you for inviting me today.
02:00 I will start with this thing that
02:04 first of all, the subject is obviously
02:06 understood in our society that it is specifically for men.
02:11 But I just wanted to go beyond the traditional settings
02:14 which are set in our society, especially in Pakistan.
02:19 This subject is obviously hard and
02:22 in Europe, mostly men select this subject.
02:26 So, it's been a pleasure that I selected this subject.
02:30 And I'm just trying to pave ways for the women in this field specifically.
02:37 When it comes to my research area,
02:40 my dedication was towards the women of Karbala.
02:47 I was being inspired by the courage they have shown many and many years ago.
02:55 My inspiration was that when women were left in Karbala,
03:05 they defended Islam on the battleground.
03:09 And here, women were limited to clerical roles in this field,
03:18 in the CIA, in MI5 and MI6,
03:21 even though they were not given higher positions.
03:24 They were not sent to operational grounds
03:26 because they are considered emotional and unable to handle pressure.
03:30 So, that was my inspiration.
03:33 And I started from there and then I just did research on this area.
03:37 The inspiration you just mentioned,
03:40 what can I say about them?
03:42 Zainab, Salam Alai.
03:44 Obviously, that inspiration is a very bright example for us.
03:50 But your research is about women's role before and after the war.
03:55 So, I would like to come to the modern times.
03:57 What role did you see in this?
04:00 I mean, there is never much discussion about this,
04:03 there is never much open discussion about this.
04:05 But obviously, when such situations occur,
04:07 what role do women play?
04:09 What is their role?
04:10 What are the injustices they face?
04:13 What did you see in this research?
04:16 In the research area, when I worked on the Cold War,
04:20 in the Cold War period,
04:22 and in the contemporary times,
04:24 the modern times,
04:25 there were some changes.
04:27 But what I saw was that 86% of women
04:33 were limited to clerical roles.
04:35 Whereas they worked in a very high profile
04:39 during World War I and World War II.
04:41 But despite this, it was said that
04:44 you are a woman and you should just stay on the desks.
04:47 And they were not given assignments.
04:51 Good assignments were given to men.
04:54 They are still given in this field.
04:56 They are not given feedback on their assignments.
05:00 Motherhood is attached to it.
05:02 And the media also played a very important role
05:05 in portraying women as inferior to men.
05:09 So, I am talking about fiction in this.
05:13 So, in the contemporary times,
05:14 two things have changed.
05:16 A very important report on this is
05:19 the Petticoat Panel and the Glass Ceiling that was in 1991.
05:25 In which gender stereotypes were discussed
05:27 and it was told how women have faced gender segregation
05:31 throughout the globe in this field and in this community.
05:34 In this, in the CIA and in Europe and in the UK,
05:39 women have now been given directorial roles.
05:42 But only a few, like Stella Remington
05:47 or Gina Hespel, have played directorial roles.
05:50 No other women have been given this role yet.
05:52 So, it is still a battle.
05:55 It is a lengthy battle.
05:57 But awareness, because it is not especially in our country,
06:00 it is not related to the subjects,
06:01 so the challenges are still there.
06:03 Absolutely. You, Mashalera, Sabatori Zunera,
06:05 a very interesting topic and your personality is also very interesting.
06:08 We wish you best of luck.
06:10 Thank you so much for participating in the show.
06:12 Thank you.
06:13 You have seen how clear the vision is
06:16 when you talk to such people.
06:18 The field of study, the field of research
06:20 is not limited to a few topics.
06:22 It's a vast world.
06:23 So, you should go and do research.
06:25 You have got plenty of opportunities.

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