Tribal tradition: Upper Dir elders, parties bar female voters

Civil society groups criticise the move, stage protest in Saidu Sharif.

MINGORA/ PESHAWAR:

Unable to break away from the shackles of tribal traditions, women in certain parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been barred from voting today by a unanimous decision of local leaders. The move came amidst threats by outlawed militant groups.

Elders of Upper Dir district, under the head of Malik Jehanzeb and Malik Faiz Muhammad and leaders of political parties in the region reached an agreement that women will not be allowed to cast their votes.

Jehanzeb though did not clarify whether the political parties’ local leadership had made a joint decision. “Even if allowed to vote, women would not be able to cast their votes because polling stations are in far flung areas in Upper Dir,” he said.

According to him, there are other issues preventing women from voting such as the absence of separate polling booths for women along with security concerns.

The move comes despite the Election Commission of Pakistan making it mandatory for women to vote and cleared a law which called for a mandatory 10% of the votes at every polling station to be cast by women.

The party leaders also unanimously decided that if anyone violated the ban, they would pay a 10-million-rupee fine.

Political parties in some areas of Swat have also decided to prevent women from their right to franchise.

“We attended a meeting at Lwarey Jamaat in which members of all political parties and elders of the area participated. They all unanimously decided to maintain their tradition of not allowing women to poll,” an elder of Amankot village told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

Civil society groups staged a protest in Saidu Sharif against the decision. “What is the reason behind the decision? Who are these men to stop us from our legal right? Why are they holding jirgas and meetings to stop women from using their constitutional right? We clearly convey this to the ECP and other related institutions that if women’s voting ration is less than 10%, we will never accept the result,” said Tabassum Bashir, a women’s rights activist.

PPPP to empower women, not disenfranchise them

Secretary General Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said that PPPP believes in emancipation and empowerment of women and it did not enter into an overt or covert agreement to deprive the women of their right to franchise.

Ashraf said this in a statement on Friday in response to reports that alleged PPPP had entered into an agreement with other political parties like Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Upper Dir to ban women from voting.

“I wish to make it abundantly clear that the policy of the party has been and will continue to be to empower women and there is no question of doing anything that would lead to disenfranchising women.”

Former Awami National Party Senator Zahid Khan also said on Twitter that his party was not involved in any deals that barred women from voting in Dir. “Any speculation to the contrary is incorrect.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2013.