Right to Marry

Recently, I came across an article about three girls who were buried alive by their tribal heads in order to punish them because they wanted to choose their own husbands and not marry the men whom their parents had chosen for them. The orders for their brutal murder were given out by their tribe heads who made a point to murder the girls themselves as they found their deed extremely dishonorable. According to the United Nations Organization, these girls had absolute right to choose their spouses and certainly were not supposed to be brutally murdered.

In rural areas of our country, Pakistan, decisions regarding many matters are not taken to the courts. They are solved by groups of people within the areas who are the heads of the tribes. They are the respected lot of the community whose decisions are taken to be the final ones. They are usually the powerful people who give the final verdict to one’s punishment by deciding with each other and observing the matters carefully.

As the news reached the masses, politicians from their area defended the killings by calling it legal in their area. They stressed over the rules of their tribal system that did not allow women to choose their own husbands instead such decisions were taken by the families or tribal heads. They highlighted the displeasing fact that such was a tradition of their culture that has been carried forward and will be continued.  No arrests have been taken place and the government itself is hesitant as the ministers from Baluchistan favor the event themselves. For them speaking regarding the decisions that they make is talking against their culture which for them is highly offending. They are proud of the decisions that they make regarding the treatment of women in such cases. For them it’s the matter of their respect and ‘honor’ which they avenge by sentencing the ‘culprits’ to shameful and agonized deaths.

The girls were human beings and had the right to all the human right articles set by the United Nations. Though such traditions do exist in our society, it is the government who needs to take action against such happenings. Burying humans just because they willed to live a life of their own choice does not mean they should be killed. And instead of condemning the event, the tribesmen and politicians from the province were proud of the practice and were ready to fight for it. The government here should have taken action in order to stop future such practices but of course hesitated as the powerful ministers of Baluchistan found the incident satisfactory.

Every day we hear or read about many such practices in a country like ours and even some remote areas of India. Women being shamefully stoned to death, black polishes rubbed onto their faces in public, their hair being shaved off, burned in front of everyone and so on are all common practices in such areas. They all exist because the right to freely marry and choose one’s own spouse has still not been accepted in such cultures and thus anyone who dares to go against the rule is punished. The rule here is that no marriage decision shall be taken by any individual and instead such matters will be handled by their families or tribal heads who will decide for them.