Pirani

Jamal,

thanks for writing this gripping sad story that reflects an age old practice that continues to this day in Pakistan. Any way that we can help end this slave trade ? How about severe, timely, public, corporal punishment (say 100 lashes) for those who dare to buy and sell women in this fashion?

Omar1974

Re: Ather Mian

I am deeply disappointed by your remarks on Iqbal`s poetry. I guess according to your theory any book which has not changed a nation (including Quran, Bible, Gita ?) is not worth anything.

re the debate

the `sale` of Pirani in this story is actually the practice of paying a `bride price` that was widely practiced in much of South Asia until fairly recently. This patriarchal practice recognized that young women were productive members of the household and their marriage ended in a loss of valuable labour for their natal families, to the benefit of the husband`s family. It was and is horrible, of course, as the story makes clear. However, contrast this with the practice of giving dowry. The tradition of dowry was originally a Brahaminic practice, not followed by `lower caste` hindus or non-hindus in North India. It started out as a voluntary tribute paid to the groom`s family for bestowing the honour of marrying the woman. It has degenerated into a means of extorting (involuntraily, of course) wealth from the bride`s family and a practice, that is becoming increasingly common in much of South Asia. Because marriage enriches the groom`s family, brides are often burnt in stove deaths, so that the man can re-marry and get more dowry. if buying a bride is bad, how awful is asking for money to marry someone? What does it say about how our society values women? I am not suggesting that paying a `bride price` is somehow more egalitarian or not that bad, just pointing out that there are practices that a larger number of South Asians (including Pakistanis) engage in, that has worse implications. And, frighteningly, the dowry tradition is become the norm in our countries.

To: M. Aliani

I am sorry to say but let us accept some facts, which we Pakistanis (and other 3rd worlders)in general have in general refused to accept.

Yes, poverty is a factor, but then for example, the Vikings or the Anglo-Saxons never sold their daughters...or allowed female circumcisions. And they were extremely poor a couple of hundred years ago. But maybe they are responsible for eliminating ``Native`` Americans, and getting rid of heroes like Saddam Hussein.

And by the way why are we poor and depressed in the first place ?!!! Some of us have claimed to be heirs of the Great Islamic Civilization on one hand, and of the Great Indus Civilization on the other. But it is the ability to learn and struggle against the odds that we have lost...Pakistan has enough resources but they are just extremely badly managed.

And this still does not excuse the ``poor`` father from the heinous act of selling his daughter (and then crying about it later !) He is no hero...we need not sympathize with him. He is the villain, no better than the wadera himself (or herself.)

If there is so much oppression and cruelty, and ``they`` are doing it, why don`t we all rise in rebellion against ``them``, instead of just talking about it ? I don`t see it happening, so I must assume it is not just ``them``... the problem is deeper. Maybe the enemy is us.

Re: Aliani

I agree that people are missing the point here. This is not a case of unholy habits and traditions of a particular group but the grip of poverty on the helpless and exploited poor.

Selling humans is abominable but we must be a bit more discerning than to quickly and completely blame say, the parents driven to it (or call it a particular culture`s blemish). The sellers ARE to blame, as are the buyers. But so are the pervasive external agents and social conditions.

``Pirani`` represents the traditional sale of
human aspirations that the poor of Pakistan
(and many other countries) continue to face.
The ``selling`` of a daughter is the ultimate
price to be paid to a system that should have
been destroyed years ago.
Except for Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (with all his
faults), no national leader has been able to make a dent or speak against such traditions.

Ras

Besides the depiction of the seperation scene which was inexpressibly powerful and real, I think the best of this tale lay in not melodramatically villifying the mother or father (or even the groom and his family). They are all tied up and restricted and jostling and choking and surviving the only way they know.

The images are searing: the groom`s father pinching to ``test`` the amount of flesh, the girl clapping with joy early on, the neighbor woman clasping her child.

As was said, heart-rending. And further, to me, haunting.

Heart-rending...

I wonder how Sindh (or other parts of Pakistan) can make true progress unless the citizens themselves can reform their age-old habits. Sounds like nothing has changed since the British days, which is probably why our feudal lords were falling over each other to greet the British Queen on her recent visit to her brown slaves, in poor grammar (indeed nothing has changed here , either !)

I remember my Aitchison College days, when I entered the Library for the first time, having been admitted to the A-level class. The first thing I noticed raising my head up was a facsimile of a diploma granted to the Nawab (of Bahawalpur?) in third class. That still makes all of us very proud, I think. Except that now we go to the Cornells and Harvards and MITs !!

Also I can recount from a recent Forbes interview of V.S. Naipaul on his rise to knighthood (Sir Vidiadhur!) Sir V. recalls an 80s conversation with an Iranian editor, who was writing anti-US diatribes. The editor described at length what was wrong with the U.S., but when Sir V. asked him why he was sending his son to a U.S. college, the editor exclaimed, ``but that is where the future is !``

Looks to me that whereas 15 years ago, it was only the secular, elitist class who were currying favor with the West while condemning its policies at home, only to get more failed-IMF aid (or to get their relatives plush bureaucratic jobs in Western capitals), the poorer, more ``Islamist`` minded folks have also joined the game. I applaud the equal opportunity implications, but just do not like the inherent hypocrisy.

PS Our Shair-e-Mashriq, ``Allama`` Iqbal`s MA thesis at Oriental College, Oxbridge was also approved in third class, from another facsimile photo I remember having seen in a book back in those days. No wonder the Allama`s cheap-wine influenced poetry produced no miracles for the Umma. Some of us sycophants still beat our chests about how great the ``Poet Of The East`` was. Just as we have his modern version, ``Daughter Of The East`` (who says Pakistanis don`t have affirmative action ?!) But maybe that`s all we got.