Court marriage in Pakistan and family disputes:
Why is it that in family
disputes, the concerned girl or woman almost always finds her unable to get a
fair deal from the prevailing system specially in case of court marriage in
Pakistan? The same applies to other fields too. The odds are stacked against
the woman in court marriage in
Pakistan. So much so that whatever the contest she has very little
chance against a man. Three major commissions or committees were set up from
time to time in the past to identify the areas of discrimination against
Pakistani women and suggest remedial measures and changes in the existing laws
for the betterment of the tragic plight of women. Although, as asked, these
bodies did make various recommendations, in practical terms little was
achieved.
Accepting of Girl after Court Marriage:
The governments concerned often
lacked the will, vision or self-confidence, or all of these, to accept most of
these reforms. Even the few that were accepted suffered in the implementation
because the drive and seriousness were quickly spent in the face of the habits
of centuries, the iron-hold of the system, and the opposition of the orthodoxy
in cases of court marriage in Pakistan. Also, although most people recognized
how abominable the status quo was, few felt the compulsion and the urgency to
organize the effort needed to break it. Women did not have a strong enough
lobby, nor were they sufficiently organized themselves to make an issue of
their rights. They were inured to their status of subordination, their legacy
of generations.
Law for the couples who did court marriage and their families:
Happily, that has been changing
in recent years. And one consequence of this was that the Senate decided in
late 1994 to set up a high-powered commission to go anew into the country's laws
as a step towards ending the grosser iniquities against women. It was a
reflection of the concern and consciousness about the issue that not a
discordant voice was raised in the House and, after several supportive
speeches, a resolution to that effect was unanimously passed there is a
widespread misconception about the place Islam accords to women, which is not
just a distortion spread in the West but it exists even among the
intelligentsia in the Muslim World, including Pakistan. It is believed that Islam
relegates women to an inferior status; it confines them inside the four walls
of their homes, and it restrains them from taking up employment outside the homes
or running their own business. This is wholly contrary to fact.
Whole Gamut of Rights:
Muslim scholars are agreed that
Islam accords women virtually the whole gamut of rights, including the rights
to property, to work and wages, to the choice of spouse, to divorce
in Pakistan if the court marriage does not prosper, to education and
participation in economic, social and political activity. These are guaranteed
to Muslim women by Shari at. The high-status Islam gives to women is also
evident from several Ahadis of Prophet (Peace Be upon Him). Paradise, he said,
is under the feet of the mother. On another occasion, he said: "the best
amongst you are those who are kind to their women." This Commission is
submitting its Report with the hope and prayer that it will help the people and
the concerned authorities to understand the problems faced by Pakistani women
in a hostile atmosphere.