The Muslim Woman

There is plethora of suicide attempts in Pakistan and in both the cases the reason has been the same- forced obedience. A 2-year analysis of all such reports in a major newspaper in Pakistan showed 306 suicides reported from 35 cities. While, we are only talking about the reported incidents, the actual number might be a lot higher. Thousands of Pakistani women have fallen prey to the stone-age concept of ‘chaining’ a woman at home – from birth to death. The isolation and fear of women living under such threats are compounded by state indifference to and complicity in women’s oppression. Police almost invariably take the man’s side in honor killings or domestic murders and rarely prosecute the killers. Even when the men are convicted, the judiciary ensures that they usually receive a light sentence, reinforcing the view that men can kill their female relatives with virtual impunity. Specific laws hamper redress as they discriminate against women. Why do girls commit suicide? The fact that parents in so many Muslim societies decide that they must choose the future spouse of their offspring is a root cause of the problem. In Pakistan, arranged marriages are the norm, but ultimately, this morph into forced marriages. And when a person in authority can decide that his own flesh and blood is a chattel to be bartered and bargained with, this becomes instrumental in strengthening the authority of the rural Islamic councils. And for young women in Pakistan, some of whom are promised in vani marriage before they are even born, no amount of legislation or education is going to change the thing. Islam always favors the boy children in a family and girls are to be traded off, forced into marriage to satisfy their parents’ desires and not their own. What is the situation like? In Pakistan, the story of a woman’s deprivation starts even before she lands on the planet, because the girl-child is not a particularly ‘wanted’ child. Their visibly pain-studded lives are nothing less than journeys of subordination. Cases like these clearly depict the vulnerability of females in a culture that turns a blind eye to such practices. They defied the prevalent customs of a society where multiple forms of violence against women continue to gain roots unabated. The media may have spread awareness about women’s rights but it has failed in stemming the ever-soaring incidents of rapes, suicides, domestic abuse, mutilation, burning, beatings, ritual honor-killings, custodial abuse and even acid attacks causing facial disfigurement. Needs a re-think! A society must always be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable individuals. Pakistan’s appalling treatment of children and women do not make it seem like a civilized nation. The fact that no-one has been convicted for vani, the fact that Muslim groups campaigned to prevent any amendments to the Hudood Laws, only highlights how religion and cultural tradition is regarded in Pakistan as more important than justice and human rights. Read