In February, I attended "The Power of the Word: South Asian Women Writers Colloquium" in Delhi, organized by Women's WORLD, an international organization which concerns itself with gender-based censorship. The Indian chapter is headed by the feminist publisher and writer Ritu Menon of Kali/Women Unlimited. She was the moving spirit behind the conference, which included a public address by Gloria Steinem, that icon of the feminist revolution.

A tall, elegant woman with a quiet, impressive presence, Steinem is a natural communicator with her measured voice, her wit and her incisive comments. She asserted that "changing consciousness was the first step to activism" and described different forms of censorship that women face due to the pressures of society. She expressed concern that today, discourse on gender-based crimes such as sex trafficking and rape, presents women as victims, but does not include men as perpetrators. She spoke of the different ways that literary output is controlled. She was critical of the dearth of poetry and fiction in US women's magazine because advertisers want publications to support products and will refuse those which feature "depressing" subjects. Also she urged the preservation oral traditions and literature and the need for good translators to enable talent from languages to reach a wider audiences.

The Indian delegates included English language poet, Rukmini Bhaiya Nayar, Hindi poet Gagan Gill, Urdu novelist Jeelani Bano, Tamil playwright A. Mangal, Bengali poet, novelist, essayist. Nabaneeta Dev Sen, as well as writers of Kannada, Maharati, Malayalam, Telegu. In the opening session Tasleema Nasreen spoke about the difficulties of exile, the loss of homeland. The Pakistani novelist and filmmaker, Feryal Ali Gauhar described her search for an identity as a woman writer cutting across Pakistan's geographical borders. There was a particularly well-presented speech by Manjushree Thapa, the Nepalese English novelist and erstwhile exile. She spoke of the complexities of writing during political flux, as Nepal finds its way from monarchy and autocracy to democracy.

Several writers represented minority groups such as Mamang Dai from Arunchal Pradesh, Temsula Ao from Nagaland, Esther David the Jewish novelist from Gujrat, Bama a Dalit writer all had to battle to make themselves Ameena Hussein from Sri Lanka described the marginalization of Muslims in her country and their subsequent retreat into orthodoxy. She founds her opinions as a woman were not popular among the Muslim community, yet she was afraid of having them manipulated by the community's critics to reinforce prejudice.

Self-censorship was a reccurring theme at the conference and was addressed, among others, by myself, as well as Neeman Sobhan and Shabnam Nadiya from Bangladesh. As women we are so conditioned by society, that as writers we are often beset by the worry "What will people say? What will my family think?" Some revealed that they had two writing lives: one which was public, published and known, the other, a secret world, of unpublished work which they were too afraid to share for fear it was too radical, would offend or be considered a betrayal.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen criticized the literary domination of English, the pressures of international publishing and marketing which promoted diaspora Indian English writers as India's authentic voice while vernacular literatures languished in comparative obscurity. Kamila Shamsie paid rich tributes to Mai Ghoussoub the Lebanese-born founder of Saqi books who had passed away suddenly in London. Kamila described Mai as a woman who had decided "to publish books that weren't being published" in Britain, found a niche and made Saqi financially viable too. Saqi's publications have included short story collections by women from Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Dr. Niaz Zaman spoke of Mai with great warmth too and of her readiness to have 'Galpa: Short Stories by Women from Bangladesh' edited by her and Firdous Azeem reprinted in Dhaka because Saqi's British price was unaffordable in Bangladesh. Niaz lamented that few Bangladeshi writers are known internationally, despite their high quality work because their writing does not conform to the demands of the western market.

Some women writers have broken through the taboos of society but brave constant censure. Anoma Rajakaruna, the Sinhala poet had faced a barrage of criticism since childhood because she wrote on subjects considered improper. Fahmida Riaz spoke about misunderstandings surrounding her feminist Urdu poetry which was erroneously confused with her personal life, because she employed the female gender in poetry forms which had traditionally been written in the male. She also described her research into Baluchistan's oral traditions and folk poetry such as lullabies and wedding songs in Baluchistan to establish the intellectual capacity of women across the ages.

Back in Karachi, International Women's Day was celebrated across the city with speeches, dance, drama and music. To many the one woman who symbolized the struggle and resilience of women in Pakistan, was Mukhtar Mai. Women journalists urged that she should be given life membership of the Karachi Press Club. Her courage has led to awards in US, Europe and by Pakistani NGOs. Her book 'In The Name of Honour: A Memoir', dictated to Marie-Therese Cuny, has been received with widespread acclaim. Her struggle for legal justice is central to her narrative. Mukhtar was gang-raped according to a jirga's decree in the village of Meerwala, to avenge the honour of the upper caste Mastoi clan. They claimed her brother, aged 12, had had 'illicit relations' with a Mastoi girl. The incident drew national and international outrage. In a series of legal twists, the perpetrators were jailed, freed, jailed. The case drags on. Mukhtar, conscious of her own illiteracy and its disadvantages, has set up a primary school in her village for girls and later, boys, with donations received. She now has 700 pupils.

Muneeza Shamsie has edited three anthologies of Pakistani English writing. She is a regular contributor to Dawn newspaper, Newsline and She, The Journal of Commonwealth Literature.