ISLAMABAD, Dec 1: The women wing of Pakistan People’s Party has urged the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, to ensure participation of women in the new government set-up in Afghanistan.

This was said in a memorandum presented to the first secretary of the United Nations, Norah Nilant, on Saturday.

Hundreds of women, led by the PPP’s women wing presidents in Punjab and NWFP, Beelam Hasnain and Mahrunisa Afridi, respectively, gathered outside the UN office to raise voice for the Afghan women.

The memorandum said, “the Afghan Women have been denied universally accepted fundamental rights. Their right to education was subverted, their right to healthcare denied and their right to employment banned. The Taliban regime deliberately ignored the fact that Islam had guaranteed these rights to women over 1,500 years ago.” “Women representation in the new Afghan government will ensure that their economic, political and cultural rights are protected and enforced in the light of their traditions and religion”, the memorandum concluded.

The demonstrators, carrying PPP flags, were later addressed by Fauzia Habib at the end of the protest. She called for the emancipation of Afghan women and said that they had been neglected in the past and not allowed to play their due role in the development of war-raged country.

Ms Fauzia said that Islam had given equal rights to women but the previous government in Afghanistan had deprived the women of their right to education and employment.

She called upon the United Nations to give due representation to the women in any future set-up.

A karge number of former women MNAs, MPAs of PPP, sitting councillors and other leaders including Fauzia Behram, Nusrat Rasheed and Nargis Faiz Malik participated in the demonstration.