Speakers say women status in Chitral has greatly improved

CHITRAL: The speakers at a function said on Thursday that the status of women in Chitral had greatly improved over the last

three decades which ensured

their participation in all walks of life, including education,

health, service delivery, politics and sports.

They were addressing a seminar on ‘ Political and economic emancipation of women in Chitral’ in ‘Hi-Tech Idara for women’ for the needy and poor people here.

The speakers said that the womenfolk in Chitral were proving mettle in all walks of life and contributing significantly to improve the living standards of their respective families.

A former member of the district council from Garam Chashma and administrator of the institute, Sifat Gul, said the role of women

folk in Chitral is not narrow as it used to be till the 1980s when

their enrolment in schools and treatment at hospitals was considered taboo.

She said that although the society is still male-dominated yet the general attitude towards the women is responsive and encouraging and there is no deterrence to contain her personality development and express herself in any field including sports.

Sifat Gul recalled that 40

years ago, it was not possible for a solitary woman to step out of

her village without a male attendant and that too veiled from top

to toe.

“The narrow-mindedness against women has evaporated from society, leading to a greater degree of freedom for her mobility and now she can travel from one place to another all alone for different purposes and the heartening point is that society gave them respect and a sense of security,” she said.

The speaker said that poor and needy women from different valleys of Chitral are being imparted vocational training of various trades and various duration as well as stipends in the centre which provided state-of-the art machinery and gadgets.

Professor Syed Shamsun Nazar Fatimi said that the woman from Chitral had entered even the upper house of the parliament, joined the central superior services, emerged as independent entrepreneurs, earned doctoral degrees from foreign universities and arose as an accomplished sportswoman second to none.

He said women have been empowered politically and economically during the past three decades with the result that they are an integral part in any forum of making a collective decision for the family, clan or the area.