July 29, 2005
True Courage
Frontier women to defy Islamists' men-only ballot
MORE than a hundred tribal women have taken a stand against creeping fundamentalism in northwest Pakistan by declaring themselves candidates in local elections that Muslim leaders had decreed a male-only preserve.Despite one in three local government seats being designated for women candidates, the governing Islamic alliance has ruled that women should neither contest the polls nor vote. It has warned women that they will be forcibly barred from polling stations and face hefty fines if they try to cast their votes.
At the last election in 2001 the women-only seats were left empty because of a ban by Islamists. However, the federal Government insists that women be guaranteed the same electoral rights as men. More than a hundred women have defied the locally imposed ban in North West Frontier Province.
The women, covered from head to toe by veils and protected by police, went to file their nomination papers in the remote Dir district yesterday.
[....]
The right-wing Islamic government in North West Frontier Province has recently passed legislation called the Hasba Act to enforce strict Sharia and to establish a religious police to “promote virtue and prevent vice”.It proposes on-the-spot punishment for people who fail to adhere to Islamic values.
The federal Government has described the Act as unconstitutional and has vowed to block its implementation.
Political observers maintain that the law would lead to the “Talebanisation” of the province. The provincial government has already banned male doctors from treating female patients and segregated educational institutions. It has also banned male coaches from working with female sports team.
My apologies to NOW and their ilk. I realize the above isn't as important as getting into Augusta, but I thought I'd pass it on nonetheless. /sarcasm
Via The Corner
Posted by Ithildin at July 29, 2005 3:36 PM | PROCURE FINE OLD WORLD ABSINTHE