Up North: Women not allowed to vote in five villages

Men did not allow their women to cast their votes as per the local Pakthun tradition.

PESHAWAR: Men folk in five villages on the outskirts of the city adjacent to the Shalober area of Khyber Agency Landi Bala, Landi Payan, Sangu, Achini and Haji Banda did not allow their women to cast their votes as per the local Pakthun tradition and all the women polling stations in the area presented a deserted look throughout the day on Saturday.

All these villages lies in the PK-6 and NA-2 constituency and its inhabitants proudly claim that in the history of these village women had not been allowed to cost votes in any election.

Talking to the Express Tribune a local elder and ex-nazim Wahidullah Khan said that in the past villagers took a unanimous decision not to allow women polling but this time no such thing had happened but even then women did not come to polling stations to vote.

Another elder Rahmat Ali also said that it was considered against the local tradition and that was why nearly all the surrounding villages allowed women to vote but these five village let the head of each family decide it and in the end there was no female polling like the previous years.

Yet another local elder and Awami National Party (ANP) representative Shaukat Khan also expressed the same feelings. “It is not our tradition and I think people respect it,” he explained.

The polling station no 203, reserved for women voters in Landi Bala, was wearing a deserted look throughout the polling day despite the fact that in the same village people were standing in long lines outside the male polling station waiting for their turn.

“We came here around 6 in the morning and till then not a single woman voter has showed up,” said one of the polling staff. She said that there were 1500 registered voters in the list provided to them by the Election Commission of Pakistan. “Not a single vote has been cast,” she added, saying that women were not allowed to vote in these few villages even in this modern day world.

Outside these women polling stations, there was unusual hustle and bustle and locals claimed that they had not seen people coming to polling stations in such large numbers. “It is unusual and a record turn over for these villages as far as male voters are concerned but there is nothing new for women voters,” they added due to its location all these villages had been declared most sensitive and extra ordinary security arrangements had been made.