Results of last week's by-elections may not have held any surprises, but the manner in which the polls were conducted and outcomes celebrated highlight at least three bad traditions that we need to do away with. First, women were prevented from exercising their right to vote in Mardan and Mianwali constituencies. Another affront to civilised sensibilities came in Sindh from a ruling party candidate who freely hit two persons at a polling station.
Third, supporters of almost all winners went wild with celebratory aerial firing without a care for the safety of the people around. All through this, the Election Commission, newly strengthened under the 20th constitutional amendment, kept sitting as an idle spectator.
The saddest part of these elections was an agreement, between the ANP and JUI candidates contesting a National Assembly seat in Bare Cham area of Mardan, to bar women from casting their votes in the name of local traditions. Similarly, in Mianwali where Nawaz League won a National Assembly seat from a PPP candidate, 'elders of the area' decided not to let women go to the polling stations. This has been going on for a long time in these areas as well as certain other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Mainstream parties - the PPP (which rightly takes great pride in its slain leader Benazir Bhutto having attained the distinction of being the Muslim world's first woman prime minister) the PML-N, the ANP and the JUI (F) - have all been colluding, for reasons of expediency, with local influentials to disenfranchise women. 'Elders of the area' have demonstrated they have no hesitation in resorting to violence if that is what it must take to keep women down in the name of tradition.
It may be difficult to root out this bad old tradition but not impossible. Protection of self-interest can easily overwhelm the urge to preserve tradition, ie, if the Election Commission plays its due role. All it needs to do is to declare, in line with its mandate, election in the two constituencies null and void on grounds of excluding a sizeable section of voters, laying down the condition that reelection would be called only when all registered voters, including women, can participate. When the men know they can be excluded from the electoral process for their insistence on upholding a tradition, they won't take long to get rid of a way of life that holds them back, too.
What happened in Tando Mohammad Khan in Sindh where a PPP candidate Wahida Shah Bokhari was contesting a provincial assembly seat, left vacant by her husband's death, is another example of shameful traditions from which our feudal class derives the right to suppress the weak. Arriving at a polling satiation to cast her own vote she was in conversation with an accompanying police officer when she suddenly decided to turn around and slap a female assistant presiding officer of the Election Commission right across her face. Soon afterwards, she landed a seemingly unprovoked jab on the face of a polling agent. Was it because the person had shown the audacity to raise a voice of protest against the candidate's offensive behaviour? Maybe. Anyway, the normal reaction for most others in a similar situation would be to respond in kind. Not so in this case. The two victims cried helplessly while the police officer acted like nothing had happened. Nor did the presiding officer, who enjoyed powers of a magistrate, pluck the courage to say or do anything to stay Bokhari's hand. The officer must be used to seeing the rich and powerful get their way while causing pain and humiliation to ordinary people. It was normal behaviour for someone belonging to as influential a family as the candidate's.
That seems to be the reason also why the women she attacked did not hit back. The one slapped first, Shagufta, is reported to be a lecturer in a government college. The candidate is a powerful person by dint of her party and family connections. She could easily get the lecturer transferred to the back of beyond or cause trouble in some other way.
And what did the Election Commission do to protect its own assistant presiding officer? Nothing. Instead of taking immediate notice of the incident and holding the candidate to account for beating the officer and causing obstruction in official work, the provincial election commission remained unmoved. It rejected an initial complaint on the incident, saying it did not contain statement of the witnesses, the victims of Bokhari's fury, or her own. It was only after the story was splashed on the TV screens and newspaper pages that the seriousness of the situation sunk in. Following the media focus, the EC's dilly-dallying stopped. It announced withholding the result and start of investigative proceedings. Sensing trouble, Bokhari held a news conference, the slapped EC officer sitting by her side, who repeated her line that what had happened was the result of a misunderstanding. She herself explained she had mistaken Shagufta for somebody else. Which merits the question, would it have been alright to hit somebody else at the same place under same circumstances?
Yet another bad tradition on display during the by-elections was celebratory gunfire in almost all the constituencies, including that of the Prime Minister's son, Musa Gilani. The worst scenes of firing took place at the election office of a winning candidate belonging to the ANP, which claims to be a proponent of the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence. One of the bullets struck and killed a 24-year-old young man. Some other reports spoke of a casualty in Gilani junior's area as well. The relevant provincial governments must hold those responsible to account. This ugly tradition will stay alive unless and until those who cause harm to others, even if inadvertent, are made to pay for their irresponsible behaviour.
It is time the Election Commission realised it truly is independent now. It must act without fear or favour to end all polls related unsavoury traditions. As for the wayward PPP candidate, if she deserves the three-month imprisonment the law provides for, she must get it. All three issues are a challenge for the newly independent EC's competence. Hopefully, it will do the right thing so that people think twice before repeating any of these wrongs during the upcoming general elections. saida_fazal@yahoo.com