January 30, 2024
By Farzana Ali
SWABI
“You have always voted for men, why not vote for a woman this time?”
Sitara Ayaz poses this question while passionately addressing swathes of fishmongers at the main market square in Swabi. Her declaration is met with an enthusiastic reply from one trader who announces he will cast his vote in her favour. The people in this market can see Ayaz, who does not hesitate to approach potential voters with poster in hand and manifesto committed to heart, is a formidable challenger to the three male candidates contesting for National Assembly from the conservative area of Swabi.
A similar scene unfolds in Swabi’s Jhanda area, where Meraj Hamayun Khan sits in a hujra, surrounded by dozens of men to whom Sitara Ayaz explains her election campaign.
Swabi’s lands are said to be extraordinarily fertile, with emerald green fields stretching as far as the eye can see. It is this very soil that has birthed extraordinary women who are not only proving but also establishing themselves as exemplars in politics, the civil services, and the armed forces. And this year, five such women have stepped into the electoral field for the 2024 General Elections on February 8.
Although women from this region have been part of Parliament on reserved seats, this seems to be the first time in Swabi’s history that five women out of 86 candidates are contesting for the general seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies. Five hopefuls are locking horns over NA-19: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Asad Qaiser, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal’s (JUI-F) Maulana Fazal Ali Haqqani, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Shahnawaz Khan, former Senator as well as Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Sitara Ayaz, and former Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) Meraj Hamayun Khan.
Sitara Ayaz
Ayaz originally was elected to a reserved seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on the ANP’s ticket in 2008, but this time around she is contesting the general elections from NA-19 as an independent. Her outreach strategy involves knocking on every door of every house in Swabi and visiting every bustling market to deliver her campaign to male traders.
Speaking to Voicepk, Ayaz said that she decided to contest the general elections as an independent candidate, to send a message that Swabi’s women face no barriers. Although she is aware that NA-19 is a major constituency, it has been through the support of people sans any party backing that she now sees herself a stronger force than her male competition.
“My people raise my spirits, that although there may be a mountain in my way it will only take a handful of supporters to level it and build a clear path forward for me,” she says. She believes that there is no distinction between the genders when it comes to honest work. “I did not have a voter bank here as I came on a reserved seat. I was taunted for not having a constituency. But now I say to them that I have a constituency as well as votes.”
Meraj Humayun Khan
Khan, who has served as a reserved seat MPA on the ticket of the Qaumi Watan Party as well as the caretaker Provincial Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Education in 2013, is the second female candidate contesting the general elections from NA-19. At 78, she is running a vigorous campaign, delivering her political message to the local men in village hujras. She believes that politics is a beautiful career. Not only should people work hard in it, but it is important that women also participate in it as their voices should be a mainstay in the Assemblies.
Khan explains that she has been trying for the reserved seats for a long time before she finally became a part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, but contesting the elections and clinching the general seats in the National Assembly is far more special. Therefore, she has decided that this time she will enter the fray and directly reach out to the masses.
Why has she chosen to run for a seat in the National Assembly?
“Our voice is needed where all power and authority is concentrated, and it will be from there that we will devolve powers to the local government as it is the district representatives who do all the real work.”
She adds that power is held in Islamabad and then conferred to Peshawar, leading to problems that cannot be addressed, much less resolved, at the district level. And, vice-versa, the needs and concerns of the locals barely ever reach the center.
“I decided to contest the National Assembly election on general seats so that I can bring the voice of my people to the center,” she declares.
Khan understands that although contesting the general elections is usually an uphill battle for independent female candidates, it is however a need of the hour. And she did not enter the race unprepared – she fully believes that her strategy of doing her homework and working hard will yield the results she needs.
“But one positive thing that has come out of this is that I can visit my people, I sit with them in their homes and they talk to me about their problems. This I consider a personal success.”
Ghazala Atta
Atta is contesting the elections on the ticket of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) against seven men from PK-49 Swabi 1 on a general seat in the Provincial Assembly. A doctor by profession, she considers the late Benazir Bhutto her idol.
She tells Voicepk that though competition is tough, it is not impossible. Just as Bhutto fought against a patriarchal society and carved a niche for herself as the first-ever female Prime Minister of a democratic Muslim-majority nation, Atta too is determined to succeed. Having thrown herself completely into her election campaign in the Gadwin area of Swabi, she feels that the warmth of the people is testimony that there are no longer any obstacles to women in the race for the National Assembly. All people like seeing in a candidate is hard work and dedication, which she believes she offers in spades.
Nazma
Nazma is contesting for a general seat in the Provincial Assembly from PK-53 on the ticket of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP). A resident of Razar tehsil, she is a newcomer to the political arena.
Yasmeen
Yasmeen is contesting as an independent candidate for a general seat in the Provincial Assembly from PK-52.