RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Woman Politician Wins Even by Losing

• by Zofeen Ebrahim (karachi, pakistan)
• Monday, March 22, 2010
• Inter Press Service

'There is no better way to fight injustice,' she told IPS from Hyderabad, a city in Pakistan’s Sindh province, where she was leading a rally recently.

'How can I be angry when so many people are on my side? My strength is the people,' she added in her mother tongue, Sindhi, as her remarks were translated by her cousin Abdul Karim, 26, who was her covering candidate. 'This is just the beginning; there will be more elections and we, the people, will eventually win.'

An illiterate peasant who is a mother of nine, Jori had made a bid for the PB-25 Jafarabad seat in the Sindh provincial assembly that had suddenly been vacated with the killing of its occupant, Sardarzada Rustam Jamali.

Few had expected her to win in the by-elections held on Mar. 10. But Jori nevertheless piqued public interest, being the first female to run for office in feudal and male-dominated Jafarabad.

Just two years back, Jafarabad had gained notoriety when three young women there were allegedly buried alive on the pretext of having dishonoured their families because they had wished to marry partners of their own choice.

Jori, who hails from the remote Jafarabad village of Ghulam Mohammad in western Balochistan province, is also the first unlettered and poor candidate to run in an election in this South Asian country.

'She has kept up with the tradition of great Pakistani women leaders alive, like Fatima Jinnah (sister of the founder of the nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah) and (the late former Pakistan premier) Benazir Bhutto of challenging traditional and dictatorial norms,' Anis Haroon, chairwoman of the National Commission on the Status of Women, told IPS approvingly. 'Even if she lost, it’s a breakthrough for Pakistani women.'

'It shows that the peasants and the poor are developing more courage,' said Najma Sadeque, a senior journalist and a rights activist. 'Maybe the desperation is such.'

Sadeque, however, like so many others had predicted that Jori did not have 'a ghost of a chance' in a country where 'votes are bought, voters are intimidated, polling agents are kidnapped and ballot boxes routinely stuffed.'

In fact, Jori’s supporters have now filed a petition with the Election Commission, complaining about the alleged 'massive rigging' of the polls that resulted in the male candidate of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, Nasir Khan Jamali, emerging as winner.

Aside from Jori, Jamali fought against fellow feudal lord Mir Attaullah Buledi, an independent with support from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), for the assembly seat. Buledi was the early frontrunner, but in the end Jafarabad was still 'Jamali territory'.

'I have never seen so many Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers and guns at such close quarters in my life,' said Shahina Ramzan, central executive committee member of the Awami Party, which had given Jori the ticket to contest elections.

In encouraging Jori to run, the relatively new Awami Party had reportedly wanted to show that there was more to politics than money and feudal connections, and that women were now ready to stand up for their rights.

Jori herself had said that she decided to stand for elections to fight against barbaric customs where violence against women is routinely perpetrated in the name of custom and tradition.

Among her other campaign promises was water supply -- not just enough for her fellow peasants to irrigate their land, but also for drinking and household use.

Jori said that the rural health centre would have a doctor and a supply of fresh medicine. She even gave her word that women would not die on their way to the nearest town -- about four hours away - to give birth. She also said that the primary school built by the British way back in 1846 would be upgraded to secondary level.

While her opponents went around in convoys of sports utility vehicles, Jori and her team campaigned door to door, village to village, on foot and at times on a donkey cart.

As Jori’s campaign gained pace, the crowd that supported her grew as well. From the initial 200 people her early rallies attracted, her audience on average grew to a swarm of 5,000, half of them women, in just a span of one week. Commented Ramzan, who accompanied Jori in her sorties: 'This in itself was unusual given the restrictions placed on women’s mobility in this remote district of Jafarabad in Balochistan province.'

Jori stood her ground and refused to cower even as her opponents resorted to coercive measures, including issuing death threats.

But then apart from her life, she had little to lose. Jori has no landholdings and no bank balance -- two essentials to contesting elections, an expensive exercise. For her campaign, her fellow villagers pooled their money.

'It does not matter how many votes she fetched,' said Farooq Tariq, spokesman for Labour Party Pakistan. 'The sheer fact that a working-class woman showed the courage to stand is a tremendous step forward for the politics of the left.'

He said that Jori had led a 'wonderful class-based' campaign. 'It is beginning of a new era of working-class politics.'

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, a political activist associated with the Workers’ Party Pakistan, commented that the circumstances must have been 'exceptional and unusual' for a peasant woman to have been coaxed to stand up against feudal lords.

While calling this an 'important' event, Akhtar wondered if it is really possible for someone like Jori to win in this country, where the election process is already 'compromised'.

'In a democracy everyone should get a chance, but practically speaking, this is not possible outside of the bigwigs,' he said. According to Akhtar, people know that those they are voting for 'are anything but great' but the realistic world view is that 'people like Jori can’t do anything to lessen their troubles'.

Rakhshanda Naz, resident head of Aurat Foundation in Peshawar, also said that while 'we should appreciate her courage that with such meager resources, she decided to fight', the fact remains that 'voters want someone who is more accessible to them, and women are not.'

She shared Akhtar’s fears that the Jori’s supporters may soon bear the wrath of powerful people. Noted Naz: 'In the tribal area, which Jori belongs to, powerful people can resort to just about anything. They brook no dissent and may resort to violence. They may even stoop lower and resort to character assassination of the poor woman.'

'It would help if a mainstream party could offer her membership,' she said.

'There will be some reprisal,' predicted Akhtar, including 'social exclusion'.

Journalist Sadeque, while in admiration of Jori, pointed out, 'A revolution simply cannot come without land reform and the feudals out of politics and office. Until urban women activists link up and identify much more with ground-level rural women and factory labour, I don't see much meaningful progress.'

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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