Ashiana-e-Ali

Nice polite and heartwarming. Rather beautifully put.

A heartfelt writeup! Greed knows no religion and widows left alone in Pakistan are just as much fair game as anybody else anywhere. The real problem is deeper than the specific law and how that law is implemented – it is rooted in the mindset that a widow needs “…to gain protection”.

I wonder if he has any thoughts of joining the group of writers who write in DAWN newspaper- I mean retired colonelsand generals,, retired former secretaries, Ambassdors of previous disgraced Pakistan governments, ultra-nationalist, superreligious patriotic Pakistanis etc. All he has to do is blame Hindustan , the West and the Rest for the miseries Pakistan is in in the past 58 years of its existance!.

...what a boo-boo by chowk editors...this has already been published...

rezwan:

subtle and understated way to highlight injustice

in backward societies like ours women are the lowest rung of the totem poles...and widows even lower...(in other places, let me hasten to add they are only marginally better)

keep contributing

rgds

t

rezwan:

thanks for writing about this. the plight of women in general and widows in particular in patriarchal societies like pakistan couldn’t be highlighted enough. it’s a travesty that things like this continue to happen.

rgds
m

I still remember when my late father`s friend talked to him about the fear of property dispute after his death. Soon after he converted to Shiaism (wink, wink) and saved his only daughter from her vulture male cousins. FYI, there are different property laws for Shia`s and Sunnis in Pakistan. Convert on my brothers and sisters :)

regards,

haideri

haideri:

this is interesting

reminds me of the time when zina ul haq (may he rot in hell perpetually) would tax the savings accounts and certificates held in financial institutions

machiavellian moulvis showed a way to beat it -- submit an affidavit to inform the financial institutions saying you are a shia -- bingo no mandatory zakat deduction

lve

t

Bajwa Sahib, Bohat Khoob. Sad, heart wrenching.

The funny paradoxical thing is that the same book that orders injunctions upon injunctions for the protection of the orphans and widows is used by the formulators of the Shariah to usurp their very rights.

Bajwa Sahib, I really like the material of your story. I am sure if you polish it a bit, your story would turn into a real gem.

The story made my head spin. It is so hard to figure out who died when and who married whom. That reminds me of old time Agatha Christie novels where a list of all the characters and their relationships to each other used to be given at the start of the book - that used to help a lot.

Though there are some technical weaknesses,but the issue raised in the story is too powerful to cover them.

Bigger question is that who is to be blamed? Is Mohsin Bhai the main culprit?...but he has done everything within the ``legal`` framework.

We often hear people saying about this kind of injustice that there is the bigger court above all the courts--the court of Allah!!......how paradoxical is the fact that this kind of injustice is done by the law itself, in the country which came into being for the followers of Allah`s own religeon.
Coming back to the question--is religion the culprit then? ...or Allah....or...Allah`s own men...in the land of pure?????

urstruly

drink a strong cup of coffee!

on second thoughts forget it

nothing would help you with this...the intricacies would blind-side you...what with religioun and women ;)

rgds

t

Disjointed article. Hard to figure out who ended up doing what. The theme may be powerful, but needs to be portrayed better.

although this was a rather badly written piece, it was moving and sad ........ it is a shame that women are treated like scum by ``god-fearing`` societies that claim to have superior ``family values`` ............ when it comes to money, all this family crap quickly goes out the door ..........

ayatullah hamidm:

did you say you abhor women being forcibly married to the qur`an?

and if you did

some innocent questions come to mind

1: the conditions for two witnesses is complied? and how so?...hmmm....who says qubool hay on behalf of the book?

2: meh`r moajjul hoti hay ya mowajjul

3: divorce kaisay hosakhti hay

i have more innocent queries waiting in the wing..but first these..

t,

..... i hear you, but sometimes i wish I was married to the koran or some other inanimate object ! .........

....... on a more serious note - even though things look awful, they are a lot better than they used to be because now, at least, people are talking about it ........ the other day, on geo tv, i actually saw some woman politician yelling at a slimy bearded goat and was absolutely thrilled when she reached out to touch him a couple of times ....... i thought the man was gong to blow a gasket !...... i know it is a very small consolation, but ....