Ayesha Zehri the brave daughter of Balochistan
By Syed Muhammad Yaseen:
“I feel pain and heartache when I see the plight of women”, Engineer Ayesha Zehri, who serves as assistant commissioner in Balochistan’s Mastung district says. Despite all odds and tribal taboos, Ayesha Zehri continued her educational journey in Khuzdar and subsequently qualified for the Provincial Competitive Service (PCS) in 2017.
On the eve of international women’s day, the Quetta Voice has exclusively spoken to Balochistan’s brave daughter who has also served in the province’s one of the most backward districts i.e. Chaghi, where Pakistan conducted the first nuclear explosions on May 28, 1998.
“I can feel the pain when I see women from down-trodden class”
“I can feel the pain of women when I see women from down-trodden class here”, Ayesha Zehri who got the double gold medal in 2015 from Khuzdar Engineering University. She got the first position in the middle-level examination throughout the Khuzdar district and the highest position in the school.
In Balochistan, women have almost no political, social and economic rights in a male-dominated society with less tolerance for the women segment. The female literacy rate paints a bleak picture in Balochistan with most of the women deprived of education.
Her name came into the limelight when she recovered a kidnapped boy Abdul Hadi
Ayesha Zehri’s name also came into the limelight when she conducted a raid and recovered a young man Abdul Hadi. Hadi was kidnapped from Balochistan’s Chaghi district and kidnappers were demanding Rs. 40 million as ransom. One kidnapper was arrested and Hadi recovered unharmed. Similarly, she fined a Qatari royal party conducting illegal hunting in the Chaghi district.
In Balochistan’s Chaghi district socio-economic indicators are extremely with increasing poverty and unemployment rate. In Chaghi’s Barabcha area there are no girls primary schools for over 32000 population. The area borders neighboring Afghanistan.
“Women can make a difference”, Ayesha Zehri
“Women can make a difference”, she said. Look at Finland where from Prime Minister to all key ministers are all women”, Ayesha Zehri said. Women can run States if given chance, she insisted.
No dearth of talent
In Balochistan, there is no dearth of talent among the women segment of society. Ayesha Zehri is not an exception rather there are countless daughters, sisters, and women who challenged social and tribal taboos and brought exemplary changes in their families and society. To be precise, there are countless unsung women heroes in Balochistan among the female segment of society who are yet to make any news. Today’s AuratAzadiMarch may highlight the woes of women in the mainstream but the female segment is yet to be heard and supported in Balochistan. Growing militarization and radicalization have pressed women’s voices in Balochistan in the recent past.
The author is a medical student and writes on various issues from Balochistan
He can be contacted @YStorai on Twitter
Ayesha Zehri the brave daughter of Balochistan
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