ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Monday said democracy was the collective wisdom of the nation and its respect lied in the democratic system as a whole.

He was speaking at a seminar held in connection with the International Democracy Day titled ‘Inclusive democracy: priorities and challenges in 2022’ organised by Aurat Foundation in collaboration with Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC). The day is celebrated on September 15.

The participants included representatives from all major political parties, civil society organisations, women political workers, academia, media as well as special persons and the transgender community.

Speaker Ashraf said before 1970 the population of Pakistan was 100 million out of which only 40,000 people in East Pakistan and 40,000 people in West Pakistan were allowed to vote on behalf of their communities.

Says democracy in Pakistan is young and needs time to mature

“Hence, only 80,000 people voted to bring in the representatives of 100 million people. Democracy in Pakistan is young and needs time to mature like its western counterparts,” he said.

PPP Senator Kishoo Bai said the majority should not be afraid of a tiny minority and allow them to live freely in Pakistan.

“We need to stand up for minority rights as it benefits the society at large. I thank my party co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as he supported me to reach the Senate of Pakistan,” she said.

Independent Senator from Balochistan Sana Jamali told a harrowing tale of the damage that the recent floods had wreaked in her native province. She said rainfall was ongoing for a consecutive 18 days. Balochistan usually received only 10mm of rain, however, during the recent floods it received 240mm of rain which destroyed the infrastructure of Pakistan’s largest province.

“Around 60,000 women are pregnant and are due to give birth in the next few months and they are not getting any sort of medical care which their situation requires,” she said.

MNA Farrukh Khan of the PML-Q said that a woman had so many rights given to her in Islam. She said showing restraint and patience was a key part of democracy and people should not stray away from it.

WPC Secretary Shahida Rehmani said no democracy could work without the meaningful role of women.

Aurat Foundation Executive Director Naeem Mirza said from 2008-2013 women legislators were very active in parliament and this showed through their work since most of the legislation regarding women’s rights was done during this period.

He said democracy had become a value in the modern age, adding out of the over 190 countries put together, only Bangladesh and Pakistan had a clause inserted into their constitution which stated that breaking the constitution itself was a criminal offence and carried the death penalty.

Abia Akram, founder of the national forum of women with disabilities in Pakistan, said almost all the differently-abled were brought to the venue on wheelchairs, which she explained in a manner that the cars she sits and travels in has a wheel and a chair, just like the wheelchair of a person with a disability.

Maya Zaman, a transgender rights activist, said there was a debate ongoing about who was a real transgender? She said the protection Act of the transgender had been challenged in court by a right-wing political party which claimed all transgenders were fake.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2022