Former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senior Vice Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani has said that the filing of the nomination papers by two women from tribal areas to contest National Assembly elections is a heart-warming development on the political horizon of the country. He accredited this act to the PPP-led democratic government that extended the promulgation of the Political Parties Act in FATA.
Gillani said that it was good news for the women of FATA in particular because it would embolden them to take active part in the country’s politics and join the decision making process on the issues of national importance.
The former prime minister observed that the Benazir Income Support Programme elevated the status of the poor women of the country providing direct financial assistance to thousands of poor families. He exclaimed that the PPP government passed landmark legislations which declared violence against women and harassment of women at work as a culpable offense entailing fine and imprisonment He further said that Vani, Karo Kari, Quran marriages and child marriages were also made an offence in order to save the women from the patriarchal social norms. He maintained that in PPP’s new manifesto, special focus had been given to the uplift of the women folk with a view to providing them with equal opportunities to take part in the nation building process.
He added that Sheheed Benzir Bhutto enjoyed the singular honor of becoming the first elected female Prime minister in the Muslim world. She defeated the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq with courage and perseverance and successfully led the movement for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. She is the pride of Pakistani women, he concluded.
