Badam Zari and Nusrat Bibi – the symbol of emancipation for Fata’s women?

In this photograph taken on April 2, 2013, Pakistani Badam Zari (R), a candidate for upcoming general elections, speaks with a woman during her campaign in Khar, the main town of Bajaur. -Photo by AFP

There is more to Fata  (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) than drone attacks, illicit weapons, drug bazaars and militancy; there is a side of it which has pleasantly surprised everyone after Badam Zari announced she will contest the upcoming elections in May. 


For years Zari, 40, a housewife, from Bajaur, would walk several kilometres to fetch water and collect firewood. Her travail ended after her husband got a job as the principal of a boys’ school in Khar. But it pains her to see that women in her village still carry on with this harsh work day after day. If she is elected, she told Dawn.com, her priority would be to “work towards providing clean drinking water for her area women and to ensure health facilities for them”.

Unlike the traditional tribal men, her husband Mohammad Sultan, is “very happy and excited” about her decision and has given her a green signal. “I am very proud of her,” he said, adding that he will support her against all odds.

Zari, the first ever woman from Fata, made history when she submitted her nomination papers for the coming elections. The second woman who is sharing he limelight is Nusrat Khan, a 28-year mother of seven, who has decided to take matters into her hand and contest the coming elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Lower Dir as an independent candidate.

http://dawn.com/2013/04/03/badam-zari-and-nusrat-bibi-the-symbol-of-emancipation-for-fatas-women/