Habib Muhammad Khattak
Working for human rights Ms. Shad Begum, a leading activist and recipient of the International Woman of Courage Award from the US Department of State in March 2012, has expressed her happiness and satisfaction at the mobilization of women voters in a conservative society like Dir. They will be able to exercise their right to vote.She said that in the backward areas and the newly merged tribal districts, women’s participation in the elections is mandatory to empower them and take them on the path of development. Talking to our correspondent Habib Muhammad Khattak in Talash during her brief visit to Lower Dir district here yesterday, Ms. Shad Begum also appreciated the role of Election Commission of Pakistan in ensuring participation of women in elections and their concrete steps which have been taken to discourage disenfranchisement.
Shad Begum is the founder and executive director of Association for Behaviour and Knowledge Transformation (ABKT), which works for the economic and political empowerment of the marginalized sections of the society in backward areas like Dir, Chitral, Buner etc. She said that political parties have realized the importance of women as more than 50 percent of the entire population consists of women and candidates can win only with their votes.She said that because of the tough contests, all the political parties want to bring more women to the polling stations, which is a good omen.
She said that the Election Commission took immediate and timely notice of the fatwa issued by the scholars in Kohistan declaring women’s election campaign un-Islamic and rejected the controversial order banning women from participating in elections and warned. That if women are prevented from participating in the election campaign, the entire election process will be nullified.
Ms. Shad Begum said that ECP has constituted a Gender Desk which will closely monitor various activities regarding women participation from February 1 to 8 across the country. She alos said that women workers like her are in close touch with the Gender Desk of ECP and in case of any grievance, immediate solution will be taken.She further added that now it is impossible to prevent women from participating in politics. And asked the political parties to include women workers in their policy-making bodies to give real representation to women.Moreover,she said that this time I am happy to see that all the major political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami, PPP, PTI, JUI, ANP and Muslim League (N) are not only appealing to their women voters to mobilize but also training them on how to vote and also training them to act as polling agents. Shad Begum said that there is more acceptance in the society for women voters and women polling candidates than ever before. Citing the example of Dr Sveera Prakash, the PPP candidate from Buner district, who belongs to the Hindu religion, she said that she was getting great support not only from women but also from men in her election campaign. She said that it is a sign of satisfaction for her that many women candidates are participating in elections in Dir, Kohistan, Buner and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ms. Shad Begum said that there was a time when no one could even think of women participating as voters or contesting elections, but now the tradition has changed and women leaders are advancing in the society within their cultural norms.
Regarding the mobilization of women in Lower and Upper Dir, she said that various political parties including Jamaat-e-Islami, ANP, PTI and PPP have formed special teams of women leaders who are activating women voters in both the districts. These parties are training women workers to act as polling agents, she said, adding that now women from some parts of the province are inviting them to come and help women voters exercise their right to vote and to give training which is a welcome thing..
