Speakers urge Women representation in politics

Bagh, Azad Kashmir: August 25,2011

The status of women in the society could not be changed without increasing their role in political space and policy making. All political parties should give appropriate representation to women in party cadres and parliamentary bodies as well. These views were expressed by various speakers in a consultation titled “The role of Women in politics” which was jointly organized by Press For Peace (PFP) and Save The Future (STF) here on Thursday. A large number of political and social activists, lawyers, journalists and others participated in the event. Mrs Faryal Hameed Butt, central leader of PPP, Fozia Ishaq, Rashida Zahoor, Yousaf Kashmiri, Asif Naeem and others spoke on the occasion. Appreciating the reserved seats for women in assemblies the speakers said that the tradition of reserved seats helped in bringing women representatives to the assemblies, however, those few who represented women in the assemblies were either from politically influential families who had inherited the constituencies of their forefathers, or had ingratiated themselves with the ruler of the day. ‘In order to transform the political system all parties would have to bring revolutionary changes by encouraging female officer bearers,’ they added. The speakers also discussed the issue of low turnout in the recent elections which is due to the non availability of women polling stations near to their homes. The speakers also demanded to provide basic health and educational facilities for women in rural areas. They said that women have always played a pivotal role in the society, but they should be encouraged in policy making, politics and other important spheres of life.