Breaking barriers: In Lakki Marwat, women in vanguard of ANP campaign

The Express Tribune

Ka da zilmo na pora nash wa Garana watana jenakai ba da gatina (If the youth fails, Dear motherland, the girls will guard you)

This old Pashtho Tapa (form of poetry) pays tribute both to the Pakhtuns’ love for their homeland, and also to their indomitable spirit. In essence it means that defeat is unacceptable to the Pakhtuns. The Awami National Party, it seems, has taken this maxim to heart, remaining adamant not only in the face of competition from other parties but also in the face of constant militant attacks and threats. And in keeping with the couplet, it is the women of the ANP that are leading the charge, at least as far as Lakki Marwat is concerned. In Lakki Marwat, a southern district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, women are stepping forward to campaign for the ANP – going door-to-door and holding corner meetings to convince people to vote for the party. “Our campaigners focus on the women of the households who then go on to convince the men in their family,” Yasmeen Zai, a former MPA from K-P, told The Express Tribune. Her husband, Advocate Sadrauddin is contesting on PK-74 on an ANP ticket. These legions of female campaigners cover entire neighbourhoods armed only with red pamphlets which include a message from the ANP, along with a list of the party’s achievements. It’s a strategy forced on them by necessity, as the ANP is not able to campaign like other parties in the face of terrorist attacks. Their opponents are under no such constraints. The chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl recently held a public gathering in Lakki Marwat, while the party’s workers are campaigning freely day and night. On the other hand, the ANP cannot hold large public meetings, and even corner meetings are often cancelled since the police have restricted their movement due to the security threats. Aftab Munawar, a female ANP leader and worker told The Express Tribune that this is the time for the ANP’s rank and file to stand up and be counted. “I know that some people will say that it is not right for women to take an active part in politics … but it is not a sin to campaign for my party,” she said. Advocate Sadrauddin told The Express Tribune that he running against JUI-F’s Anwar Hayath and PPP’s Anwar Saifullah, both of whom are able to campaign openly – something that he cannot do. And even if he were to be able to move about freely, he says it’s a fact that the ANP’s influence in Lakki Marwat is not as strong as that of the JUI-F’s, which is why he is banking on the ANP’s female campigners to met his message to the people. They say that behind every successful man is a woman. In Lakki Marwat, if the ANP is successful despite the odds, behind them would be not one but a whole group of extremely motivated women.