Saniya Naz Baloch
Interviewed by iKNOW Politics volunteer Ashfak Ahmed Siyal
Saniya Naz Baloch is a member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, elected from the platform of Pakistan’s second largest political party, Pakistan People Party (ppp). She belongs to Lyari - which has been beset by violence and gang war over the last 8 years crippling the lives of Lyaraian. Ms. Baloch is advocating the cause of her leader, Ms Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, “democracy is best revenge”. She has been staunch supporter of women’s empowerment and working in her constituency to improve the socio economic condition of Lyari. She was active volunteer and did philanthropic work for the betterment of women. She is not just volunteer, philanthropist and politician but she is good actor and has played leading roles in TV dramas in Balochi -the orthodox language spoken in Lyari. She entered into politics accidently when Party’s main leader Mr Rafiq Engineer died and people specifically women preferred Ms Saniya as their real redeemer.
Do you believe that women of Pakistan and specifically of Lyari are politically empowered?
Women of Pakistan comprise half of the population yet do not hace fair representation in the national assembly and other policy making institutions. It is saddening to hear that most of the policies related to women are decided by the male members and those for whom the policies are made have no say. So, I would say that women of the country have little access to politics.
What are the common issues of women of Pakistan?
From birth to death she suffers a lot. Women of our country are neglected in all spheres of life. There are a multitude of reasons for such negligence. Partly due to an irresponsible government and partly due to cultural trends. You see, girls in rural areas have little access to education. Schools are built for boys, but for girls education is less of a priority. Moreover, Parents prefer sending girls to work than to school due toeconomic and security reasons. Husbands prefer death of their wives to sending them to male doctors for delivery or treatment. Women labor from dawn to dusk, but in return they are not given commensurate wages. So you see women are in chains at every stage of life.
What are common barriers for women to become parliamentarians?
My party is the sole party in country that encourages women to be politically empowered. The party has formed a women wing with basic purpose to work for the betterment of this much neglected gender. Our women have tremendous enthusiasm to work for the country but there are risksto their lives. First, Women are barred from voting, the registration process of obtaining a national Identity card that enables women to vote is not accessible to many. Secondly, the election commission offices do not facilitate things for women as it should. Considering the fact that women do not go outside due to cultural barriers, women staff should have been recruited instead of male one.
What did you do before enetring politics?
Before coming into politics I was teaching in schools which were shut down due to intermittent violence and upheaval. Due to Gang war academic activities remained suspended for years. I did it for the sake of girls since I was woman and realized that if I didn’t do anything for the girls’ education then their future would be at stake. prior to this I was working for korangi Pilot project biggest project in south Asia for slum areas and I also worked at Lyari Resource Center(LRC) for women and therefrom I realized how the daughters of eve are in chains.
What you have done for the women of your constituency?
The condition of girls’ education was deplorable, as parents were not willing to send their girls to schools located at a distance. This was a challenging moment for me and I discussed this issue in the provincial legislative assembly and demanded restoration of academic activities in schools by deploying rangers in schools and this demand was conceded.
What change do you see in future for women of Pakistan?
The future is very bright and I am optimistic. Political parties, even the religious parties have begun to accept the participation of women in a way that did not exist before. Women are coming into many fields including politics, health, science, media and entertainment and showing their talent.It is high time that people recognized the importance of women.
Interviewed by : Ashfak Ahmed Siyal
Interviewed by iKNOW Politics volunteer Ashfak Ahmed Siyal
Saniya Naz Baloch is a member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, elected from the platform of Pakistan’s second largest political party, Pakistan People Party (ppp). She belongs to Lyari - which has been beset by violence and gang war over the last 8 years crippling the lives of Lyaraian. Ms. Baloch is advocating the cause of her leader, Ms Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, “democracy is best revenge”. She has been staunch supporter of women’s empowerment and working in her constituency to improve the socio economic condition of Lyari. She was active volunteer and did philanthropic work for the betterment of women. She is not just volunteer, philanthropist and politician but she is good actor and has played leading roles in TV dramas in Balochi -the orthodox language spoken in Lyari. She entered into politics accidently when Party’s main leader Mr Rafiq Engineer died and people specifically women preferred Ms Saniya as their real redeemer.
Do you believe that women of Pakistan and specifically of Lyari are politically empowered?
Women of Pakistan comprise half of the population yet do not hace fair representation in the national assembly and other policy making institutions. It is saddening to hear that most of the policies related to women are decided by the male members and those for whom the policies are made have no say. So, I would say that women of the country have little access to politics.
What are the common issues of women of Pakistan?
From birth to death she suffers a lot. Women of our country are neglected in all spheres of life. There are a multitude of reasons for such negligence. Partly due to an irresponsible government and partly due to cultural trends. You see, girls in rural areas have little access to education. Schools are built for boys, but for girls education is less of a priority. Moreover, Parents prefer sending girls to work than to school due toeconomic and security reasons. Husbands prefer death of their wives to sending them to male doctors for delivery or treatment. Women labor from dawn to dusk, but in return they are not given commensurate wages. So you see women are in chains at every stage of life.
What are common barriers for women to become parliamentarians?
My party is the sole party in country that encourages women to be politically empowered. The party has formed a women wing with basic purpose to work for the betterment of this much neglected gender. Our women have tremendous enthusiasm to work for the country but there are risksto their lives. First, Women are barred from voting, the registration process of obtaining a national Identity card that enables women to vote is not accessible to many. Secondly, the election commission offices do not facilitate things for women as it should. Considering the fact that women do not go outside due to cultural barriers, women staff should have been recruited instead of male one.
What did you do before enetring politics?
Before coming into politics I was teaching in schools which were shut down due to intermittent violence and upheaval. Due to Gang war academic activities remained suspended for years. I did it for the sake of girls since I was woman and realized that if I didn’t do anything for the girls’ education then their future would be at stake. prior to this I was working for korangi Pilot project biggest project in south Asia for slum areas and I also worked at Lyari Resource Center(LRC) for women and therefrom I realized how the daughters of eve are in chains.
What you have done for the women of your constituency?
The condition of girls’ education was deplorable, as parents were not willing to send their girls to schools located at a distance. This was a challenging moment for me and I discussed this issue in the provincial legislative assembly and demanded restoration of academic activities in schools by deploying rangers in schools and this demand was conceded.
What change do you see in future for women of Pakistan?
The future is very bright and I am optimistic. Political parties, even the religious parties have begun to accept the participation of women in a way that did not exist before. Women are coming into many fields including politics, health, science, media and entertainment and showing their talent.It is high time that people recognized the importance of women.
Interviewed by : Ashfak Ahmed Siyal