SAHIWAL, Oct 13: One of the known villages in Sahiwal kept its tradition reminiscent of dark times alive on Thursday when no woman turned up to cast her vote in the PP-220 by-election at the polling station No 111.

The polling station is located at Noorshah’s Chak 65/4-R and there are 515 women registered voters. It is learnt that some village elders had forbidden women to cast their votes and the tradition is continuing here for the last 47 years.

The practice is similar to the one in vogue in South Waziristan, Swat or Tribal Areas, where tribal elders steeped in ‘Pakhtoonwali’ tradition don’t allow women to use their right to franschise during elections. That this happens in one of the central districts of Punjab is shocking to say the least.

65/4-R is located on Qadirabad-Noorshah Link Road which is hardly seven kilometres off Lahore-Multan Motorway main section. Most of the villagers belong to Rao and Jut biradaries having around 600 households.

According to the 2007 electoral list issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, there are 929 registered voters (515 female) in the village.

The village has two polling stations (110 & 111) at the Government Boys Primary School. The PS 111 is reserved for women voters.

Returning Officer Masud Ahmed Malik appointed five women as polling staff for two polling booths. Mrs Shahida Saqib, a secondary schoolteacher, was appointed as presiding officer.

Mrs Saqib told Dawn she had learnt that no woman had cast her vote here in the last 47 years. Interestingly, the ECP’s official website in its 2008 general election results shows ‘zero’ vote in PS NO 111 at PP-220.

Yasir Javed, who manages Free and Fair Election Network, Islamabad (FAFEN), confirmed the fact that no woman had cast her vote at the polling station.

Dawn learnt through background interviews with villagers that some elders during 1962-63 (President Ayub’s BD election era) decreed that no woman would cast vote.

“Since then the villagers are honouring the tradition of their elders,” says a teacher, Ashraf.

Rao Akram, who was elected naib nazim during Musharraf era’s local election, said no woman cast her vote at that time when 33 per cent of the quota was reserved for women.

The four village elders who took this decision were: Chaudhry Ghulam Muhammad, Maulvi Abdur Raheem, Rao Safdar Jang and Muhammad Shafi. Only Rao Safdar is alive and is in his seventies.

When this correspondent tried to contact him, his younger son Ramzan said his father could not properly hear because of old age.

A senior PPP leader, Zaki Chaudhry also corroborated the claims about restriction on women.

“The decision was taken by our male elders and we have nothing to do with it,” a middle-aged woman informed Dawn.

Rao Akram and many other young educated people are of the view that if the ECP sets up a separate polling station for women at the Government Girl Primary School, there are chances they will show up without any resistance.