The Shangla district (KP) by-polls and the illegally imposed prohibition — under the false banners of “tradition and norm” — on women’s right to vote reflects, again, that Pakistan has miles to go in its struggle against patriarchy. The issue is problematic at both the societal and institutional level and the gravity of the matter cannot be stressed enough. This incident is also a reflection of how little things really change. It was in Shangla that 59,000 registered women voters were barred from voting in the PK-87 by-polls back in January 2011. Then more recently, in Lower Dir, none of the 50,000 registered women voters was allowed to cast ballots because political and religious groups had joined hands to prohibit them from political self-determination. From then until now, at least in terms of mindsets, Pakistan remains stuck on the same page. While it is welcome news that the National Assembly has passed legislation giving election authorities the right to disqualify any candidate found involved in restraining women voters, this is clearly not enough. Parliament must do better. The bill tabled to declare null and void any election that has less than 10 percent of women voters remains pending months after it was proposed. This delay, however, is anything but surprising. All political parties fare considerably low in their inclusion of women in political and electoral processes. It is a story that is repeated across the board from rural to urban areas. For instance, in the 2013 general elections the three main political parties — the PML-N, PPP and PTI — had a total of 112 candidates in Lahore, only five of which were women. Until male dominance is confronted at every level of the political process, Pakistan will never progress. Political parties must show that half of the population and carriers of social change matter. They would do well to take women’s participation in the electoral process beyond reserved seats. It is also most crucial for us, as a society, to reconsider the pedestal upon which we place tradition. This infatuation with the latter has always come at the cost of women and is used as a justification for violence, whether the burying alive of women or murder in the name of honour or domestic abuse. Baring women from voting may not appear to be a biggie in the grand scheme of things — but it is undoubtedly on the same spectrum for it takes away a fundamental right of citizenship and allows for continued exploitation and oppression in the name of culture. There is not enough internal debate on the subject and more often than not when such news comes from less developed areas such as Shangla — it is brushed aside as “cultural backwardness”. This is not a matter of culture, but one of rights. With elections looming — time is running out to have forever closed the doors to the patriarchy’s power play. *