Women’s say: Where voting is a cardinal sin

None of the women in Mohripur voted in the May 11 elections.

MULTAN:

As many as 1,100 registered women voters in Mohripur, a town in Khanewal district, did not cast their votes.

“Our elders decided long ago that it is a sin for women to vote,” said Baba Omar, 80, a resident of Mohripur.

“Women have never voted here…we believe women who vote will go to hell,” he said.

The regional election commission had set up three polling stations in Mohripur for the general elections 2013 including separate polling booths for women. Women presiding officers and polling staff were also appointed.

“None of them voted,” said Samia Bibi, a resident of the area.

She said most women in Mohri Pur worked as daily wage labourers and it was not purdah that stopped them from voting.

“We work in the fields and at other places…it is about following our traditions,” she said.



Malik Khadim Hussain, the head of a village panchayat in Mohripur, told The Express Tribune “We feel honoured that the women here have never opted to vote.” Mohripur is part of the NA-156 constituency. Raza Hayat Hiraaj, an independent candidate, won this seat for the third time this year securing more than 78,000 votes.

Hiraaj told The Express Tribune that he had tried to persuade women to vote but failed.

“They [women] have brought religion into the matter,” he said.“90 per cent of the women here are illiterate and cannot even speak the national language [Urdu] properly.” Hiraaj said.

Ayesha Mai, another native of Mohri Pur, said women were under the impression that if they voted they would go to hell.

“You do not even talk about it… I fear that even hearing about casting votes will attract hell,” she added.

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