April 29, 2004

As crimes against women are committed in the name of honour, Shahid Shah reports on how far men will go to ensure that their daughters and women are not educated

Rozina Ujjan, a 17-year-old matriculate from district Khairpur, was declared a kari but what makes the story unusual is that it seems to have been done because her father-in-law did not approve of her educating the village girls in a non-formal school run by the villagers. At the moment, she has sought shelter in Karachi because her life is at risk back home.

Rozina was married five months ago to an illiterate man. She was amongst a group of girls who was teaching students against the will of the village elders and while the other girls came under pressure from their families and stopped teaching, Rozina decided to continue. She felt she was prepared to face the consequences of her decision. Ultimately, her father-in-law was heard telling some villagers that he did not like his daughter-in-law teaching at the school, so he was going to have his son divorce her.

Rozina’s husband soon declared his wife a kari, accusing her of having an illicit relationship with a 15-year-old boy. Two jirgas were convened and in the first one, Rozina’s father-in-law’s statement was recorded but she was declared innocent whereas the second jirga believed her husband. An audio tape had recorded the villagers as saying that the girl was being punished for the education that she had received and was imparting.

Female education is almost unofficially banned in many rural areas of upper Sindh where parents think that girls will become too independent and difficult to control. Fayaz Chand Kaleri, a young Sindhi poet and journalist, says, “Parents think if girls get educated, they will marry of their own will, and will refuse to accept the boys chosen for them by their parents.”

The parents assume that “girls will seek employment and become financially independent; will demand their share of the property, therefore, it is better that they are not educated and are made to work in the fields,” he added.

The feudal community deliberately deprives their women from being educated to which end they have imposed customs such as karo-kari. “One of the main reasons for observing customs such as karo-kari is to keep women oppressed and not give them their right of going to school,” said Kaleri. Despite being subjected to such discriminatory practices, educated girls have managed to avert such decisions with the help of NGOs and the media. They have dared to challenge their elders’ decisions for their marriages and have taken charge of their lives.

Rabia Mallah, another girl from Dadu was forbidden from attending school by her mother and stepfather and has now sought refuge in Karachi. Rabia who was pressured to marry an older man has suffered greatly. After her mother divorced and remarried a man who had another wife; Rabia’s stepfather allegedly wanted to have immoral relations with her. When she refused to enter into such a relationship she was banned from getting an education. She thought she would get shelter in her maternal uncle’s house, but instead he wanted to sell her off. Rabia left her uncle’s house and is now living in Karachi. In her absence, she was declared kari in a jirga held in Dadu.

People are reluctant to send their daughters to schools due to pressure from other family members and the community who regard them with scorn. Those parents who take the bold step and ignore this attitude, often end up facing severe consequences. Ameer Bukhari, a columnist and poet of Ghotki, dared to admit his daughter in a primary school some years ago but he was severely beaten up by his elder brother who blamed him for being baighairat (shameless). Ameer suffered a stroke after this and as a result was unable to educate his daughter and in the process lost his health.

Even the influential families of the rural areas of the province believe that their honour is at stake if their women are seen outside their homes. In such families one sees a very low literacy rate of girls as compared to their boys, of whom 80 per cent are educated. Madad Ali Sindhi, writer and editor of a Sindhi newspaper, said that there had been a slight change in the feudal class’ mentality with respect to female education, but a lot more had yet to be done. “All the social evils including karo-kari and other atrocities against women are caused by illiteracy. These can only be eradicated through education and progressive thinking,” said Ali. He feels that the government should ensure quality female education in rural areas so that the hegemony of the feudals is broken.

Since the feudals have a stronghold in rural areas, female education in other communities has also remained very low. The official data shows only 13.1 rural girls out of 100 reach primary level education as compared to 52.1 in the urban areas. Even the male literacy rate in rural areas which is 39.5 per cent is much lower than the male literacy rate in urban areas which is 72.1 per cent. The data shows that in 2001 only 2,459,304 girls were registered in primary schools in the province, 1,234,576 in middle school, 598,808 in secondary, 548,735 in higher secondary, 794,226 in degree colleges, and 325,286 were registered in post graduate programmes.

The overall literacy rate in urban areas of the province is recorded at 64 per cent while the rural literacy rate stays at 32 per cent. The government is reluctant to improve the educational institutions in rural areas due to feudal pressure. The schools in many katcha areas have become the autaqs of landlords. It is a pity that the conditions of the existing schools are deplorable — 35 per cent of the total schools in the province are shelter less, 66 per cent of the schools do not have drinking water, out of 43,035 schools 35,209 do not have electricity and 28,341 have no toilets.

Humaira Alvani, Sindh Assembly member of the Pakistan People’s Party, has tried to help girls like Rozina Ujjan and Rabia Mallha, but she has received severe threats by the communities to hand the girls over to their families. Alvani says, “I am facing a lot of pressure by such people who want to keep their hold over their girls and women by making sure they remain uneducated. They have made female illiteracy a matter of their pride and honour.”

She said that individually one cannot change these outdated customs, which is why “the educated people should come forward to bring about a change,” especially men living in the rural areas. “It is education that will change the minds of the people towards progress,” she concluded.

Who will come forward? Will it take an individual or a political party to save the lives of those Rozinas and Rabias who have dared to take their lives into their own hands and make their decisions and choices at whatever cost? Presently they are only supported by the confidence they have because of the education they have received. However, their fate will remain hanging in the balance until such time that their communities open their minds and realize the significance education has in everyone’s lives.

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