NA-25, PK-69: Independent political aspirants to fight for the physically disabled

Ajmal Dervaish, Gul Badshah will contest against Maulana Fazl, Faisal Kundi.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Tank district has remained a political stronghold of either the influential Kundi family or the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).  But this time, posters and banners in support of two independent candidates, Muhammad Ajmal Dervaish Bhittani and Gul Badshah Kundi, can be seen around Tank city.

One such poster bearing both candidates names was hung by the roadside on Gulab Pump Street, where Gul Badshah sells toffees and chewing gum to earn his livelihood. Dervaish and Badshah will be contesting as independent candidates for the NA-25 (DI Khan-cum-Tank) and PK-69 Tank constituencies, respectively.

Badshah has lost the use of both his legs, which are unable to support his weight. However, in addition to being president of the Sada Bahar Welfare Organisation for Disabled People, the enterprising PK-69 candidate also owns a small shop which sells sweets and chewing gums as an operation base for his election campaign.



“I will come forward to fight for the rights of people with disabilities, women, labourers and other oppressed classes,” said Badshah. These groups would have to claim their rights themselves as the elected officials had done nothing for them in the past. “We will demand votes on the basis of what is right,” Badshah added.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, Dervaish claimed there were around 2,500 people with disabilities in district Tank. “They have formed a union and decided to vote for Gul Badshah and myself,” he added. “I will contest against JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, former deputy of the National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi and former MNA Zafar Baig Bhittani,” Dervaish said confidently.



Rs25,000 had been collected for both candidates’ election campaign.

In February, members of the Sada Bahar Organisation had demanded the government build a physiotherapy centre in Tank, ensure a 2% quota in government jobs, issue special ration cards and establish institutions which endowed knowledge and practical skills to people with disabilities in Tank.

Faisal Karim Kundi, the former speaker of the National Assembly, had won the 2008 elections from Tank’s NA-24, while Fazlur Rehman’s brother Attaur Rehman had come into power from NA-25. Residents say Faisal has disappointed residents and paid little attention to development during his five years in power.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2013.