Karachi: Young girls in jeans and t-shirts roam freely in the upmarket Zamzama road of Pakistan's largest city that houses many fashion boutiques and cafes. So do many women clad in the traditional salwaar-kameez, though they cover their head with a hijab.
Women in burqas, however, are not a regular sight in this cosmopolitan port city.
"Wearing a hijab or a burqa or not covering your head at all is just a matter of choice. If a woman wants to wear the hijab — and not the burqa — it's because she has been brought up by a steady dose of modernity," Aamna Haider Isani, a senior fashion journalist, told a visiting IANS correspondent.
Changing perceptions
"You will see a lot of single women, single mothers, all types of working women here. Many corporates are giving Pakistani women an opportunity to change the perceptions of people around the globe who think Pakistan is a conservative country," she added.
This correspondent, to her surprise, found a lot of women from various walks of life choosing to just cover their head.
"Islam preaches that a woman should be well covered so that she doesn't attract unnecessary male attention, and the reason why she has to cover her head is because hair is considered to be an attraction for men," said Huma Adnan, a fashion designer.
During private parties, a lot of women don elegant dresses, evening wear and off-shoulder gowns, but exposed skin is limited. The majority of women shy away from showing their legs, arms or back — the idea is elegant dressing.
An average woman in Karachi covers her head and dresses in a salwar-kameez and heads off to work.
Usma Khan, who works as a helper in a wealthy household of Karachi, doesn't believe in wearing a burqa though she does cover her head.
More practical way
"With inflation on, one can't think of running a household only on the husband's income. So I started working and I do follow Islam religiously, but I only believe in covering my head because you can't work in a burqa. This is a more practical way of living," said Khan.
According to designer Sahar Atif, Pakistan is a multi-cultural society, particularly Karachi, and Lahore is more conservative when it comes to women's dressing sensibilities.
"You see, considering an Islamic country, there is a lot of difference in a way women dress in Karachi and Lahore — Karachi women are more liberal, but there are some parts which are very conservative. Karachi people are loaded with money; so are Lahore people, but Karachi is more cosmopolitan than Lahore," said Atif, who is a Lahore-based designer.
