Don't Vote, Tribal Elders Tell Women

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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A Miserable Face of Tribes Towards Women, EXPOSED!!! How come it is unIslamic for women to vote? They were women who came farward and helped Prophet Muhammad(Peace Be Upon Him) . These people need to grow up!

SOURCE: DAILYRECORD

Tribal leaders in Pakistan’s north-western frontier are warning women not to vote in coming elections, threatening to burn down their homes if they do.

They claim it is un-Islamic and against their traditions for women to vote.

The elders say they will destroy the homes of families which disobeyed the order, and fine them more than £10,000 they said.

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Pakistan Women Told Not To Vote

Peshawar, Pakistan - **Tribal elders in a deeply conservative district in Pakistan’s northwestern frontier warned women not to get involved in upcoming elections, threatening on Sunday to burn down the homes of any family that allows its women to vote. **

Elders in the tribal region of Khyber Agency, near the border city of Peshawar, said it was un-Islamic and against their traditions for women to vote. They said families that disobeyed the order would be fined about $16 650 and have their homes destroyed, and warned candidates that if they attempted to court women voters, they would be fined double that amount.

“We will not allow women under any circumstances to vote,” said Syed Pir Badshah, a Pashtun tribal elder who presided over Sunday’s council, or jirga, in the town of Bara. **“This is against our traditions.” **

Badshah warned that armed volunteers would be at polling stations in the district for Thursday’s election to make sure women don’t vote. He said just two percent of the women in the area have registered anyway.

A local government official, Syed Jamaluddin Shah, said the elders’ ruling had no legal merit, and that the government would take action against anyone trying to tamper with a free vote.

“Nobody has the right to stop women from voting,” :k: said Shah, who is also an elections’ supervisor. He added that the government would provide security to voters.

Badshah and other council members said candidates in the region had agreed not to allow women to go to polling stations.

“All candidates have decided that women’s votes would not be polled,” :disgust: said Mohammad Saeed Afridi, who is running on a Pashtun nationalist party ticket.

The tribal regions, near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, enjoy semi-autonomy, with law enforced by councils of tribal elders. While the councils are given wide latitude, they must also adhere to the laws of the federal government.

Thursday’s vote to select a national parliament and four regional legislatures will be the second general election in the tribal areas that have had direct balloting. Previously, tribal councils chose an elder to represent each region. Some councils made similar threats in 1997, when the first direct vote was held, but no houses were ever burned down. -

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These tribals and chauvinists illiterates are a dying breed, desperately hanging onto their fading power.

In the coming parliament there will be 60 seats reserved for women, and it is hoped that 10 to 15 others will be elected on general seats. So we will have upto 75 women MNA’s comprising some 22% of elected parliamentarians, and a similar proportion of women senators. Plus 33% of local councillors are women. Never in Pakistan’s history, or in any Muslim state, or for that matter any Asian state has there been such a high proportion of female parliametarians. I don’t think there are many western parliaments that have such a high proportion of women in parliament? Certainly not the UK parliament for sure.

Whether these tribals like it or not, women will vote, a historic number of them will be elected to parliament, and a high number of them will be part of the government.

All credit to President Musharraf and his team for making such historic changes. :k:

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Agreed :slight_smile:

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Malik, well said! I just want to add that Fed. Gov. needs to invest more in backward areas of the country, such as tribal areas, in education, health care, providing job opportunities to these people, etc. That will help these tribals see outside of their clan. And, there should be no more free goodies for tribal chiefs, they should be made to pay texes, and Pakistan laws should be enforced there just like else where in country.

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These tribal leaders wont listen to people in business suits coming in trying to lecture them into adopting a different ideology. The best thing to do is pit other mullahs against them that dont have such strong sentiments about women.

Kill two birds with one stone.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Shamraz Khan: *

Malik, well said! I just want to add that Fed. Gov. needs to invest more in backward areas of the country, such as tribal areas, in education, health care, providing job opportunities to these people, etc. That will help these tribals see outside of their clan. And, there should be no more free goodies for tribal chiefs, they should be made to pay texes, and Pakistan laws should be enforced there just like else where in country.
[/QUOTE]

Yes, I agree. But it must remembered that FATA is not the only problem area when it comes to such medieval attitudes. There are many backward area's in the Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP where you will find such ideas prevelant as well. Thank fully since the creation of Pakistan and particlarly after the industrialisation of the 1960's such backward areas are becoming less and less, especially in the four provinces.

FATA because of its protected political status has remained the same, and will be harder to win round to such ideas. But there have been marked political changes there nevertheless. Until 1996/97 people in FATA, whether male or female were not allowed the vote for national elections, making it the only area of Pakistan where popular elections were never held. Instead you had the tribal chiefs of FATA "elect" or rather choose the 16 MNA's and Senators they had in the national parliament in Islamabad. President Farooq Leghari changed that and allowed direct elections, albeit only for independent candidates. So for the first time in their history the 1.5 million or so voters of FATA elected their national representatives. I think President Musharraf has gone further and now allowed political parties (rather than just independents) to also contest seats there, though I will have to check on that?

So political change is happening in these area's imposed by various governments in the centre. And with a record number of women being elected to parliament this time round, the whole political complexion is changing, and will accelerate moves to rid Pakistan of such backwardness.

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I seriously question the validity of this news… Its coming from a British newspaper, and we know how they report stuff…

I have to agree with the tribal leaders though, whats the point in voting when its already decided that the PML-QA is going to win? Might as well
:snooty: on the election day…

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The FATA elders will always hold sway as long as the FATA areas are nt brought under control. Empower the youth of the FATA areas, give the jobs, and income, and they will start ignoring these so called elders. Money can make wonders. :)

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Malik :k: