The picturesque beauty of the Kohistan region, which connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Gilgit Baltistan, belies a darker side. The area has made headlines in the past due thanks to religious zealots and violence against women, and has been in the news lately after local clerics issued a purported edict against women’s participation in the electoral process.

But undeterred by these roadblocks and buoyed by the Election Commission’s rejection of the purported fatwa, 34-year-old Sannaya Sabeel aspires to find a place in the provincial legislature.

A Masters in International Relations, Ms Sabeel is the PTI-backed candidate contesting from the PK-33 constituency. She told Dawn she made the decision to enter the political fray after analysing the problems she saw around her. “Given the pervasiveness of poverty-related issues, coupled with the conditions that women are unfortunately subjected to, I was forced to introspect. I decided I would need a better platform to tackle and solve my people’s problems.”

Previously, Ms Sabeel has been involved in welfare initiatives. She assisted individuals in receiving grants under the Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP). She has also spent time working on projects relating to access to education and infrastructure development to boost the region’s trade linkages.

The purported edict by a group of Kohistan clerics, which threatened to throw a spanner in the works of her campaign, had declared that both women canvassing for elections and individuals voting for a candidate with views that ‘contradict the Islamic system’, were ‘great sins’.

But Ms Sabeel questions the rationale behind the declaration, drawing parallels with the wider Islamic world, where women do play an active role in public life, such as Saudi Arabia.

“They (the clerics) believe women cannot contest and/or cast votes. They are adamant on maintaining prevailing socio-political structures. Some of the scholars are associated with the JUI-F and even they have candidates who are contesting. They should have highlighted the importance of the pardah (veil), or certain details about the way women should campaign,” she says.

Apart from the cultural and religious hurdles in her path, Ms Sabeel will also encounter political hurdles in her path to the provincial legislature.

In PK-33, she is up against Junaidur Rehman Qureshi of the PPP and Ismat Ullah, who is contesting under the banner of the JUI-F.

If she succeeds, she plans to contribute to reforms in the education sector. The region of Kohistan has a literacy rate of around 20 per cent, which she says is dreadfully low. “I will increase the quality [of instruction] and the number of students that are enrolled. If we educate both boys and girls on Islamic teachings and cultural mores, we will be able to make inroads,” she says.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2024