ISLAMABAD, July 12: Sheema Kirmani took to the stage at the National Library Auditorium on Monday evening but this time it was not a dance performance.

Ms Kirmani has brought a play titled 'Dhiyan Malay Pardes' (Daughters destined for far-off lands), trying to highlight a grave socio-cultural issue of forced marriages in the society.

The focus of the play was particularly on young girls, who have been brought up in developed world societies like the United Kingdom, Europe and the US and are brought back home by their parents on some pretext and then are forced into marriages against their will.

Ms Kirmani along with Asma Mundrawala, Mahvash Faruqi, Amjad Ansari, Mehmood Bhatti and Saife Hasan gave a moving performance projecting the story of three young girls two of whom were visiting their families from the United Kingdom while one was an educated young girl of local origin.

One of the girls who was brought up in the UK was already forced into marriage against her will and wishes by her parents and brother and was living a miserable life as her husband could never adjust with her while, once trapped, she tried to make the best of the life she was forced to live.

Her passport and other documents were taken away from her and she felt completely trapped, cut off from the rest of the world, her every move closely watched by her husband and the in- laws who made sure she did not get in contact with the world to which she once belonged.

The husband, an illiterate villager, is suspicious of her past contacts and effectively prevents all her communications with the outside world while she seemed to have been completely forgotten by her own mother, father and brother who brought her to this land.

The second girl is the sister-in-law of the first one who is being forced into a marriage with an aged person against her will and is not ready to accept the decision of her family being imposed on her.

She revolts and takes her sister-in-law (UK-returned) along as they leave home and after an arduous struggle manage to reach a shelter in a town which is meant to provide protection to such women and girls.

There they meet another girl, also a UK national, who has also run away from her family which was trying to force her into a marriage against her consent. However, being a lawyer herself she refused to budge and decided to take refuge in the shelter. Her family comes after her, trying to convince her to accept what was being forced upon her and even family honour was mentioned.

Ultimately there was violence and apparently the three women lost their lives in a shootout and the worst part of our society reflected when the incident was not pursued and things got hushed up. The play was an excellent attempt at highlighting the issue but the audience to which it was presented was already aware and sensitive towards the problem.

The performers did their roles very well but Ms Kirmani seemed to be not completely focussed and stuttered a couple of times, which could be because she was also engaged in direction of the play with a very fast tempo in which characters quickly changed their roles according to the situations.

The audience, which was thickly represented by the officials and activists of different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in Islamabad, was appreciative and encouraging.

The play was presented by Tehrik-i-Niswan (Women Movement) in collaboration with the Islamabad-based NGO 'Sach' and the British High Commission. A number of officials from the British High Commission including the head of the Media and Public Affairs Section, Tim Handley, were also present.

The ambassador of France to Islamabad, Pierre Charasse, National Commission on the Status of Women Justice (retired) Majida Rizvi, PPP MPA Shafqat Abbasi and a number of other prominent figures were present at the drama presentation.