பல பாகிஸ்தானிய பகுதிகளில் பெண்களுக்கு ஓட்டுப்போட அனுமதி இல்லை

பல பாகிஸ்தானிய பகுதிகளில் பெண்களுக்கு ஓட்டுப்போட அனுமதி இல்லை
Women stopped from voting in PakistanFrom correspondents in Peshawar
February 18, 2008 10:31pm
Article from: Agence France-PresseFont size: + -
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VOTING stopped at women-only polling stations in parts of northwest Pakistan after elders decided that women should not cast ballots, police and officials said.

Peshawar district mayor Ghulam Ali said voting had to be discontinued in Maryamzai, Budaber and other areas on the outskirts of Peshawar, which is close to the Afghan border where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are active.

Men and women vote at separate locations throughout Pakistan, an Islamic republic.

"I have reports that elders in the area decided that voting by women is against our culture," Mr Ali said.

"This is their tradition. We can do nothing."

Chief election commissioner Qazi Farooq, in a televised speech yesterday, warned that stern action would be taken if people tried to prevent women from casting their votes.

Pakistan has 81 million registered voters, about 36 million of whom are women.

The country's voters today were casting their ballots in critical parliamentary elections overshadowed by violence and fears of rigging, with the fate of key US ally President Pervez Musharraf hanging in the balance