CASE SPOTLIGHT
A female provincial official known for fighting for women's rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on 12th April 2009, following a day of fighting in the region that left 22 militants dead, officials said.A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.Gunmen killed Sitara Achakzai outside her home in Kandahar city and then drove off, said Matiullah Khan Qateh, police chief of Kandahar province. He said the four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Achakzai as she was getting out of her car. (Source: The Huffington Post)
I am Hasi Khan (anonymous) of age 50.I became one of the Women MPs for the 30 reserved seats in 1986.People were annoyed against the BJP as an anti-Ershad movement was taking place at that time. I experienced violent situations just before Ershad was toppled. There was an attack on the Bangladesh Mohila Party and I was one of the victims. To attend the mass gathering called by BJP in Sayedabad, near Dhakha City, we collected party women from all over the country and hired 10-12 buses to carry them to the meeting ground. Just after arriving, people recognized us and yelled against us .Within minutes, an anti-Ershad crows ran towards us forcing us to run away. Being a bulky woman it was not easy for me to escape. Unfortunately I fell down and people stamped my body causing me serious injury. (Source: Incidents That Changed The Course Of Women Politicians: A Case Study. Published by SAP-International on 2007)
Dhoolla Ratnam, Panchayat member of Surungavruksha village, was burnt to death along with her grandson Veerababu.The incident took place exactly a year after the elections in this backward caste ward. Ratnam overrode the objections of the upper caste landlords and insisted on filing her candidacy instead of accepting a ‘consensus’ candidate. Ratnam was elected and challenged procedural irregularities in the panchayat’s functioning and questioned expenditure without proper records and payments made to ghosts. As a warning, her two heaps of paddy (kuppas) were set on fire. Determined to continue she filed a police complaint. The personal threats increased – she would be stripped and beaten. Ratnam was not to be cowed down. A week before her killing, she complained against and had arrested a Fair price shop owner for malpractice. On July 14 2007, she was sleeping with her grandson outside and sleeping nearby was her friend visiting from a neighborhood village. Ratnam and her grandson were doused with petrol and set alight and killed. Her friend suffered severe burn injuries. (Source: The Hindu)
Uma Regmi has been actively involved in politics since her student life. In the first general election after the political change in 1991 the Nepali Congress gave her a ticket to run as a candidate in Parbat district. She won and became one of only seven women members of the Parliament that had 205 members. After she entered into the central politics the relationship with her husband who had been working in the same field professionally and politically got adverse. Finally she was divorced just because she was into politics. (Source: The Annapurna Post)
Shehrbano "Sherry" Rehman or Shahrbano Rahman (born December 21, 1960) is a senior Pakistani politician, journalist and the member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Early in February 2007, Sherry Rehman was in a truck leading a PPP procession, when an assailant stabbed her in the neck with a sharp object. He was angry at a woman being in politics. (Source: Daylife.com)
"I belong to the Ceylon Worker's Congress (CWC) Party. Upon the encouragement of Mr. Karunarantee, I was nominated and elected as the only woman member of Nuwara Rliya Pradesiya Sabha .Being a young chairperson I had to face heavy opposition from my male counterparts. They felt I was too young and therefore they did not like to work under me, a woman. Unavoidable circumstances and pressure led me to resign from the post just in six months. (Source: Incidents That Changed The Course Of Women Politicians: A Case Study. Published by SAP-International on 2007)
