Nusrat Khan

This year has so far been historic for Pakistan. For the first time, a government has completed  its five-year tenure since the formation of the state in 1947 and the candidates have been thoroughly scrutinized. The constituencies are also being monitored in a way like never before.

But what surprised the nation most are two Pashtun women from the war-hit tribal area in the north who are the first women to ever run the election from this region. The news of women candidates from a region where no women have voted until the 2008 elections has come as a shock that not only surprised the nation, but those outside the country as well.

For days, Badam Zari from Khar in Bajaur agency and Nusrat Begum from Lower Dir adorned the newspapers’ headlines and television tickers. By challenging men in the polls, the two women have made history already.

Zari, who is believed to be 45 years old,  dropped out of school a year after she enrolled. Over a telephonic conversation, she told me it was “unusual” for girls to attend school, so her parents took her out fearing social pressure

25 years after her marriage to a local, Zari was encouraged to change things for the women in the area. She is now running for one of the two National Assembly seats (lower house of the parliament) from her area (NA-44 constituency) as an independent candidate. All her opponents are men.

We talked in our native language, Pashtu, since that is the only language Zari knows.  Although she says she does not need to know another language to serve her people, she now feels the need to learn Urdu- Pakistan’s national and official language.

Badam Zari

Regretting the fact that no lawmaker from the tribal areas has ever raised women’s issues from the region in the National Assembly, Zari vows to work to make things better for the women there, who she says have immensely suffered.

Her voice reflected her commitment and confidence as I imagined the expressions on her face that she covers with a veil. Only her eyes can be seen.

She promised to call me over for tea at her house next time I visit Bajaur. I hope to see her face for the first time then.

Another strong woman that emerged from the tribal areas is Nusrat Begum, formerly the district vice-president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, the political party chaired by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. She has decided to run as an independent candidate for a National Assembly seat (NA-34).

Nusrat Begum, in her 40s, is the first ever woman to run for elections from Dir district.

Adamant to serve women, children and minorities in her area, she, too regrets the failure of past parliamentarians to do something constructive for the people in Dir.

She kept excusing herself during our telephonic conversation to listen to her team members, who she later told me were managing her election campaign.

The two women leave their homes early in the morning every day to visit people in a door-to-door campaign. They both believe in inter-personal interaction with voters to reassure them  that they too have experienced tough times with the rest of the people in the region.

With these two women candidates and many more across the country, women’s rights activists now hope to see an increase in the turnout of women voters on this election day.

Author: Ayesha Hasan

Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan