Women protest outside Bannu Press Club. PHOTO: EXPRESS
BANNU/ DI KHAN: Women from four union councils in Bannu have demanded the local government elections in the region be declared null and void as many of them were not allowed to vote.
A large number of women from Kalakhel Masti Khan, Koti Saadat, Mamandkhel and Mandio UCs held a sit-in outside Bannu Press Club on Saturday. The protesters also blocked Regal Cinema Road. Former women councillors Amir Marjana, Naila Pari, Dilshada, Jabeen and Robina, among others, also participated in the demonstration.
Participants said they were not allowed to vote in neither the May 30 LG polls nor the re-polls that were held two months later.
“The Constitution gives men and women an equal right to vote,” a participant said. “However, a large number of tribal elders – who are invariably men – stopped women from voting and kept them away from polling stations. This is an injustice towards us.”
Another protester said such violations of the Constitution are reprehensible and should not be tolerated.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan was informed about the issue,” she said. “However, it turned a deaf ear to our complaints. I strongly urge the government and the election commission to declare the election null and void in all the four UCs. Re-elections should be conducted so women can also participate in the electoral process.”
Power crisis
Separately, women took to the streets in Mohallah Jogyanwala in DI Khan city over Water and Power Development Authority’s failure to repair faulty transformers in their areas. According to the protesters, the transformers in Mohallah Kataryanwala, Mohallah Shaheen and Rahim Bazaar have been out of order for the last three days following heavy rain.
Business owners from Rahim Bazaar also closed their shops and joined the women in their protest. They shouted slogans against Wapda for not taking action to repair the transformers.
Raja Shaukat Ali, a local, said a complaint had been filed with the police against a Wapda superintendent who had allegedly misbehaved with women from the area and not repaired the transformers.
They demanded the official should be transferred. When contacted, a Wapda official said the repair is under way.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2015.
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