November 2, 2003

Even after having tied the nuptial knot, Dr Solangi and Dr Amanat, two consenting adults, are not safe in our society

WHEN Haji Mohammad Suleman, a man from Moro, with no formal education, took his five-year-old daughter Amnat on foot to a madrasa primary school about four kilometres away from his home, he did not know that he was paving the way for his beloved daughter’s misfortune. Whenever he saw his young daughter with a school bag on her back, rushing towards her destination, Suleman expressed proudly that she would go to London for studies.

No, Amnat did not go to London for studies; but she might get asylum there as a result of what she faces now as a married woman. The madrasa student, qualified as a doctor from Nawabshah Medical College. After graduation she was appointed Senior Gynaecologist at Taluqa Hospital Moro. At the same time she has been running her personal medical centre for the past 17 years.

As Amnat was suffering from a gynaecological complication, doctors suggested marriage as a remedy to her ailment. When Amnat qualified as a doctor her father decided to marry her off, but Amnat sought his permission to do her post-graduation. Meanwhile her father died and she became a money mint for her brothers. Being the only woman gynaecologist in the remote area of Sindh, her practice flourished and she was earning more than a hundred thousand rupees a month. As she was living with her brothers, they had a hold on her income.

Although her elder brother had two wives and had also married off his daughters, it never occurred to him that his sister needed to be married as well, if not as a human being but as per medical requirement for her complicated gynaecological problem. There reached a stage when it became essential for her to have blood transfusion after every two weeks.

Dr Ghulam Mustafa, already married, with four children, who had been a class fellow of Dr Amnat, sent a proposal to Amnat’s family to marry her. Apparently there should have been no objection to the marriage as Amnat and Mustafa belonged to the Solangi clan and it was not unusual for a man to marry a second wife. Amnat’s brother also was living with two wives. At that time Amnat was 42 and Mustafa was 43 years of age. It was not a Romeo and Juliet kind of affair but a marriage of convenience for the two.

When the brothers found their sister agreeable to the proposal, they formed a front against it. The mother tried to convince them but nothing worked. As Dr Amnat puts it, “It was their source of income getting out of their hands. I meant a lot of money for them — not a human being.”

Dr Amnat, with the consent of her mother and in her presence, married Dr Mustafa Solangi in Karachi on 30th November 2002. They did not announce their marriage until last month. All hell broke on Dr Mustafa’s family, when Mr and Mrs Solangi announced their marriage. Amnat’s brothers played all sorts of tactics to make life difficult for them and Dr Mustafa’s family, so much so that they were forced to leave Moro. Solangis have a marriage certificate (Nikahnama) dated 30-11-2002. However, Mir Mohammad Solangi, Amnat’s eldest brother moved an application in the court of judicial magistrate, Moro on 12-9-2003 alleging that Dr Mustafa, and a group of accomplices, armed with weapons entered his house at 11:00 on 12-9-2003, held all who were present at gun-point and dragged his sister, Amnat out of the house and abducted her. He also alleged that Dr Mustafa and his accomplices also took away gold jewellery worth Rs18,000/-

On the other hand, Dr Amnat w/o Dr Ghulam Mustafa Solangi submitted a petition under article 199 of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan-1973 in the High Court of Sindh at Karachi versus Government of Sindh. In her petition, Amnat stated that she is a Senior Medical Officer at Peoples Medical College Hospital, Nawabshah and has contracted a valid marriage under the Muslim Family Law Act-1964 with Dr Ghulam Mustafa, who is a Senior Resident Medical Officer posted at Moro, on 30-11-2002 in presence of witnesses and the Nikkahnama was duly registered by the Nikkah Registrar in concerned Union Council. When she announced her marriage to her brothers, Amnat stated that they started harassing her and her husband in league with SHO Gulshan-e-Iqbal, District Police Officer, Naushehro Feroz and SHO PS Moro to cause damage to the life, liberty and property of the petitioner and her husband and his family. Amnat also expressed her apprehension of being implicated in false cases by the police at the instance of her brothers and their accomplices as her eldest brother is an influential person and is also Nazim Union Council.

Superintendent of Police, Investigation, Naushehro Feroze wrote to the District Attorney, Naushehro Feroze on 16-10-2003 that the case registered against Amnat and Mustafa Solangi under Hadood Ordinance is false and the two are married legally, therefore the case FIR no 110/ 2003 should be withdrawn. The office of the Superintendent Police also disposed off the case against Dr Amnat and Dr Mustafa as false.

It is for the past three months that Amnat and Mustafa have been in hiding, for fear of being killed under the pretext of Karo Kari (honour killing). They have sought protection of life from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Pakistan Medical Association narrating the incident when they were attacked to be killed but narrowly escaped. They have been served show cause notices from their employers for not performing their duty and hence have not received monthly pay for the past three months. Their savings are drying up, and they are in constant fear of being killed. The two tried their best to compromise with the brothers of Dr Amnat. A jirga was also arranged to the effect, but Dr Amnat’s brother demanded a huge sum of Rs2 million, in cash as well as a woman. The couple could not fulfil the demand. They cannot survive without working to earn but their life is in danger anywhere in Pakistan. They do not want to meet the fate of Shazia Khaskheli and Hasan Solangi, who were brutally murdered by their close relatives in the name Karo Kari because they did not approve of their marriage.

The two professionals, Mr and Mrs Solangi find themselves in a mousetrap. They are not safe anywhere in Pakistan. Is there a way out for them? Perhaps, a way out of this country?

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