:: Dowry! A curse ::
 

[B]Human rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported many incidents that are labeled 'dowry death', that is the bride has been murdered because she did not bring a sufficient dowry with her[/B]


"A dowry is either the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage or a gift of money or property to man."

We as a nation have not taken the dowry in its true sense in this exploitive society. The stereotypical thinking of our society cannot be changed as it has adopted the name from the religion but the practice of demanding dowry is as per their requirement. It goes with the concept of hijab, which have been misused in the name of Islam. We have always been hearing that dowry is a curse but in reality we have misinterpreted the concept.

It has become a binding duty of the bride to bring with her a collection of all sorts of appliances, furniture and other household items as usually only then does the groom's family welcome and show regard to the bride.

Human rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported many incidents that are labeled 'dowry death', that is the bride has been murdered because she did not bring a sufficient dowry with her. It has been found that in remote and rural areas this problem is deep-rooted and many women have been murdered violently because of this. This problem exists does not only in Pakistan but in India and other countries of South Asia also, in fact in India it is reported to be much worse than here.

Time magazine reported that dowry deaths in India increased from around 400 a year in the early 1980s to around 5,800 a year by the middle of the 1990s. It is not known whether this represents an increase in incidence or whether it reflects increased reporting of these crimes due to the rise of women's groups in India. In India there are close to 15,000 dowry deaths estimated per year. Mostly it is alleged that the woman died because of a kitchen fire and they are passed off as accidents.

In Islam the idea of dowry was to set the precedent to give gifts to the daughter when she gets married and leaves the house. These are the gifts which parents could easily give on their own will without being forced by anyone. But now the groom's family often demand a large dowry and don't get embarrassed that they are openly showing their material motives. Newly wed girls have been burned in fire by stove blasts or gas leaks and a number of women have also been burnt by sprinkling kerosene oil on them and then setting them alight on this dowry issue.

As in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the issue of dowry in Pakistan and the violence that often accompanies it has become one of major concern to women's rights activists. Numerous studies have been conducted on the issue of dowries in neighboring India, where observers recorded 23,000 dowry-related deaths between 1994 and 1998. There are no such studies about the impact of dowry violence in Pakistan.

Now the government and the HRCP has been trying to create awareness about this menace of dowries and also implementing arranging mass weddings for poor people at the expense of the government or the NGO so that grooms wil have no complaint about the dowry. This year about a thousand couples have been married in the NWFP and Punjab.

Every couple is given a water cooler, sets of bed sheets and a dinner service for six. Couples also received a wedding chest containing sets of unstitched clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, a Koran, a prayer mat and a burka. The territory's provincial government provided each newlywed couple with 10,000 rupees.