launched to educate the young generation and look up to them to be able to achieve the desired results because it would take over a decade to educate them. “And even to start this effort we would be required to launch a community mobilization campaign, convince the influential players in the society, especially the elders and seek their support for promotion of female education, which again will be a time consuming process,” Mehreen Afridi pointed out. “But there are educated female with Fata background and they should be taken on-board in decision making as early as possible instead of waiting for the next generation of females to get educated and start struggling to get their rights,” she said. She also demanded setting up a ‘Commission for the Status of Women in Fata’.
Marvi Sirmad, a well-known political analyst and social activist, while speaking on the occasion said that it was crucial that the opportunities and advantages for the youth, particularly the female youth of Fata be guaranteed. “The female youth of Fata in particular is being deprived of these opportunities. The most worrying point is that our youth is already getting disenfranchised, especially the female youth in Fata and the latest and most noticeable incident was depriving them of their right to cast vote in the recently held local body elections in the KPK,” Marvi Sirmad said.
She said that there were hardly any education facilities for female in Fata. The existing education facilities, specifically for girls are less than 10 per cent, leave alone other basic rights.
“The people in Fata are perpetually living in a war zone for the last three decades. At least one generation of Fata has grown old over these three decades while another two generations have born and have grown to become adults.
And one of these two generations born in war-time has already started their downhill journey of life in this war like situation,” Marvi Sirmad added. “We need to make a commitment to achieve our objectives. And just commitment is not enough. We need action to transform our dreams of commitments into realities. For this the females of Fata have to become part of a political party of their own liking. They have to get closer to the party leadership. Try not to be confined to the ‘women wings’ of these political parties but try to remain in the mainstream politics and contribute their share in political struggle,” Marvi Sirmad said.
She even suggested to form a female political party and make sure to create a ‘Men’s Wing’ to make sure not to leave the men out of the national politics.
Ms Meraj Humyun, a Member of Provincial Assembly from the KPK said that participating in such events is reinvigorating for her that makes her think as to what she had been doing, what she is doing at present and what she is supposed and required to do for the future.
“There may be assertions about political backwardness of female in KPK and Fata. But I assure you that the change is coming over and it has already started showing with my own presence here in this function as well as through the presence of female like Mehreen Afridi, Shad Begum, Shaheen Begum and Saira Shams sitting here and so many of you sitting there in front!” Meraj Humyun said.