Rooting for change: Five or 85, age is just a number for Karachi’s voters

Some of them are thankful they were among those who got to vote without a mishap.

KARACHI: Not every voter in Karachi has a horror story to tell. There were some people for whom the 2013 elections didn’t mean wrangling, pleading or bearing the oppressive heat for hours to secure their right to vote.

Even in NA-250, where there was uproar over reports of mismanagement and blatant hijacking of the election process, there were polling stations where the staff worked diligently and spirits were high. At the Naval Secondary School located near PNS Shifa, people had been lining up since 8:00am without a major incident. A few voters here had even brought their children along to witness a slice of history in the making. Six-year-old Sania, clad in the colours of the national flag, stood next to her father, proudly displaying a tiny, inked thumb. “Daddy gave me the stamp and told me which picture to put it on. He says he will let me put it on whichever picture I want when I get older.” Just a few feet away from her sat an 86-year-old man, Yousuf. “I came here despite my son telling me not to. I’ve been standing here for two hours. My knees are aching, but given what’s been going down in the city, I’m glad I got to vote at all.”



At the DHA women’s college in Phase VIII, another polling station in this constituency, the whole affair might have been disorganised but one thing was clear: voters wouldn’t take any violation of the election commission’s rule. Someone who was surreptitiously peeking at ballot papers got screamed at by the polling staff. The guard were promptly called in as the people booed loudly.

Located near the Rangers Headquarters, Ibrahim Ali Bhai Primary School, which falls within NA-251, was also a polling station where the voting process went relatively better. One concern here was the lax security checks. The small building was bursting with people, mostly the young crowd casting votes for the first time. The assistant presiding officers at this polling station were school teachers. “No need to hurry. Take your time and decide who you want to vote for. Stamp the correct symbol and wait for the ink to dry before folding the paper,” an officer told 22-year-old Hafsa, a first-time voter. “The turnout of young voters has been big this time.” Even people with physical disabilities had turned up with zeal. A young girl with a walking stick entered the polling station with her mother and brother. “I came here to cast my vote because I want to make a Naya Pakistan.”

At some polling stations in the city, some voters were able to overcome hiccups without having to wrangle for hours. When Tania Imam, the mother of a 10-day-old baby, turned up to vote at a private school in NA-253, she discovered that her name wasn’t on the list to begin with. Someone else’s name was listed against the serial number the election helpline had told her she had. But she wasn’t going to have any of it. “I asked the polling officer to let me cast my vote and he obliged,” she said with a huge smile on her face.

Even in NA-257, where voters and polling staff were terrorised throughout the day, there were some pockets where people were able to cast their votes without much difficulty. Malir Cantonment was one of the safest place in the city to cast votes. Clad sharply with CNICs gripped firmly, voters queued up patiently outside ten polling stations here without a hint of anxiety on their faces. “We want our country to become safer. Nothing more than that,” murmured Amina, a teenager.

Despite security concerns and violence in the weeks before elections, there was a large turnout at the polling stations in NA-244. One of the voters was 78-year-old Abdus Samad - former economic adviser at the International Monetary Fund and director of the State Bank of Pakistan’s economic and research department. “Despite all the security concerns I’ve come with my family because it is a make or break election for Pakistan,” he told The Express Tribune. “It’s not only about the government this time, it’s about the state which is on brink of disaster financially and economically. I urged my family members to put aside their safety concerns for a day in order lay foundation for prosperity over the next five years.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2013.