By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: The speakers in the function held in connection with international women’s day expressed their contentment over the state of the rights and privileges enjoyed by the women folk in Chitral who were never debarred from casting their votes and getting education.
Held under the auspices of social welfare department and Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), the function was participated by the women’s rights activists, academicians, social workers and students in large number.
Speaking on the occasion, the district officer, Social welfare Nusrat Jabeen and team leader of AKRSP, Razia Sultana said that women folks have started to express themselves over the years and they enjoyed nearly the same status in the society as did their male partners.
They said that the efforts of empowering the women by the government as well the non-governmental organizations have started to deliver to the women which are tangible in every walk of life which included entrepreneurships.
They also pointed out a number of problems faced by the women in Chitral out of which the increasing tendency of suicide among women which had assumed a full-fledged social problem during the last two decades which needed a thorough investigation and research to find the root cause and remove it.
The speakers also enumerated the issues as their exclusion from decision making process in the family, absence of transport facility and hostel for working women, lack of facilities for the working women in the public sector offices and absence of darul amaan for them in case of any crisis and that the absence of psychological counseling facilities for the women suffering from depression.
Addressing on the occasion, the district nazim said that women had special and delicate role to play after the completion of Lowari tunnel which has exposed the area to the outer world and asked them to rise to the occasion.
He said that a large chunk of the funds has been proposed for the women development in the mega development project of Rs. 5 billion named as Chitral Growth Strategy to be launched shortly by the district government.
Mr. Shah said that women folk will get economic and political emancipation at par with men once the outcomes of the project started coming out and it will prove a new era for them ridding them of financial dependency and undue social bondage.
The additional DC Minhasuddin said that women in Chitral had a traditional role which they had played in the social fabric which they had accomplished with boldness and gallantry and the history of Chitral was replete with women of epic character.
In the panel discussion, the participants discussed in detail the issues which hurdled the development of the weaker sex in the context of Chitral and pleaded for complete equality of men and women for which they put forward a number of proposals.
On this occasion, awards and prizes were given away to the women who had accomplished in different spheres of life specially for empowerment of women.
