August 18th, 2020
By Abdul Baseer
Hangu;
Women in Hangu can now shop unaccompanied in the Doabba bazaar after an uproar on social media forced the authorities to act against the local organization that had ordered shopkeepers to bar lone females.
The outfit, Pasban Doabba, had earlier put up a notice in the Doabba Bazaar that had asked shopkeepers to allow only those women into their shops who were accompanied by male relatives. Shockingly the notice was backed by prominent local politicians from all parties of the area as well as former nazims and councilors.
But Mansoor Arshad, the deputy commissioner of Hangu, has said that the local leaders have now withdrawn their earlier demand. Arshad said anybody who would challenge the writ of the state would be dealt with sternly.
The Pasban Doabba seemed to step back from its earlier stance saying that the notice was only meant to curtail any ‘immoral activities’ in shops. Women rights activist, Amna Sardar, a former provincial assembly member from PML-N, condemned the social ban on women. She said the government and district authorities act only after the media highlights such instances.
The local outfit has withdrawn the orders but these vigilante acts are becoming more and more common in the province.
