Monday, February 18, 2008

"We Can Do Nothing."



Women in some tribal areas of Pakistan could not vote, because the tribal elders decided that their culture does not allow such activities:

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," Ali said.

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

This problem is not any greater than the other problems of voting in Pakistan. But I find it fascinating how it is so easy to "do nothing" when it comes to women, and how this attitude appears to be pretty global.