A veiled run for office: Pak polls open new doors for women in Balochistan

Next week's election in the restive province marks a small step forward for women in the region

With a pink dupatta draped around her shoulders and a black veil covering her head and face, Shumaila Ismail addresses a meeting inside a gated compound in Jinnah Town in Quetta. 

A member of the Central Committee of the left-leaning political outfit, the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Ismail is explaining to a group of veiled women what her party’s victory in next week’s general elections could mean for them. 

“Our party will work to end harassment against women and provide business and scholarship opportunities to you if we come into power,” she says in a confident tone. To make sure they cast