Child marriage burden
IT is a tragedy that South Asia carries the highest burden of child marriage in the world, an indication of how unsuccessful rights activists and policymakers have been in protecting children.
New estimates released recently by Unicef suggest that there are around 290m child brides in the region — a staggering figure which represents 45pc of all child marriages globally.
What is even more tragic is that economic pressures unleashed since Covid-19 have caused more families in the region to push their young daughters into marriage.
Girls suffer far more than boys in this regard, with many being married off — often to much older men — by their families due to economic stress or senseless custom.
Pakistan, specifically, has a shameful record. Other than Sindh, where the legal age for marriage is 18 years, in the rest of the country, girls as young as 16 are officially allowed to marry.
In Nepal, the legal age is 20 years, whereas in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it is 18. Afghanistan is the only other country in the region that allows 16-year-olds to marry.
Our region must do more to enforce the laws, in fact improve them. Child marriages have a serious negative impact on the health, education and well-being of girls. In the long run, this affects the country at large.
While there are efforts being made to address this issue, they are not enough to overcome the obnoxious trend. Girls who marry as children suffer tremendously.
They suffer complications during childbirth and register higher maternal mortality. Most of them are not allowed to go to school — another cruel tradition in communities where young brides are the norm. Because children are not allowed to have a say in major life decisions, these marriages are frequently forced.
Child marriage is a serious human rights violation. South Asia’s policymakers must realise how prevalent the practice is and act fast before the future of millions more girls is destroyed.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023
Holiday politics
THE drawing room conservations this Eid are going to be quite something. An unusually difficult Ramazan is now behind us, but the country’s political and economic challenges remain very much in play.
Shortly before the country slipped into extended holiday mode, there had been a strong push to have the main political parties sit down and negotiate over the elections matter.
Sirajul Haq of the Jamaat-i-Islami, who was spearheading an initiative from the political side, met both PTI chief Imran Khan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last weekend in an attempt to break ground for a more meaningful engagement between the government and opposition camps.
The PPP, too, had held discussions between the coalition partners regarding the possibility of talking a way out of the present legal and political mess.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to back down from its May 14 deadline for the Punjab Assembly elections has given further impetus to the need for negotiations, leaving some stakeholders grumbling about being made to talk ‘at gunpoint’.
These goings-on in Islamabad impact everyone’s lives in one way or the other. The citizenry will, therefore, have much to gossip over as they socialise during Eid festivities.
It is hoped that the holiday will also allow a much-needed cooling of political temperatures and offer a chance for all stakeholders to reflect on where they stand.
The incumbent government has erred gravely by casting aside the constitutional edict on holding elections within 90 days for the dissolved assemblies of KP and Punjab.
There is no sugar-coating the fact that it has subverted the law of the land to protect the political interests of its member parties. Recent polls indicate that the citizenry believes elections should be held as soon as possible so that the current state of uncertainty can end.
However, that possibility appears remote unless the PTI is willing to show some flexibility. The party needs to realise that it gave up its leverage voluntarily by quitting the National Assembly and by dissolving the Punjab and KP legislatures.
It must now decide whether it ought to continue on a path of increasing confrontation against more than a dozen political parties backed by the might of the state or gain some of its leverage back by making some compromises.
It will be interesting to see what the resumption of ‘normal business’ brings post-Eid.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023
Eid reflections
THIS Eidul Fitr is amongst the toughest in decades, as record, backbreaking inflation threatens to take the middle classes under, while the poor have already been hammered and pushed deeper into poverty by high prices.
On this day, families gather to have a meal together, children show off new outfits and react with glee to the crisp notes collected as eidi. However, for many households, the country’s dire economic situation has snatched even these small joys of Eid as people struggle to stay afloat.
There are numerous reasons for our predicament. But arguably, our perpetually warring elite — the politicians, establishment as well as other state institutions — share much of the blame.
They indulge in Byzantine intrigues while people toil to put food on the table. Decades of financial mismanagement have brought us to this pass. Still, the elite remain oblivious to the suffering of the common man.
At the other end, those deprived of food literally risk their lives for a bag of flour.
In addition, there are forces beyond our control; ie, the global economic downturn and several wars, both hot and cold, being waged near and far. All these factors have combined to aggravate the economic situation as never before.
Tens of thousands have lost their jobs; in fact, according to some estimates, the layoffs have been in the millions. Assembly lines have come to a grinding halt, while factories have shut down. Breadlines have grown, as the poor and the ‘new poor’ struggle to secure two square meals a day. The prices of staples — flour, rice, cooking oil, fuel — have gone through the roof, decimating domestic budgets.
It is in the midst of this economic storm that Pakistan celebrates Eid today. As media reports have noted, people are cutting back on critical expenses, compromising even on education and healthcare.
But elsewhere in the Muslim world, there seems to be a flicker of hope. After a long, tense stand-off, Saudi Arabia and Iran have decided to mend fences. This has impacted the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts, which means that, hopefully, the extended nightmare the people of these war-scarred countries have suffered may soon end.
For Pakistan’s resilient people — who have survived major disasters in decades past, such as the break-up of the country — there is a need to counter the all-pervading hopelessness and gloom.
Times are very tough, but with perseverance and hard work, the nation can overcome its formidable obstacles — that is, if the rulers choose to mend their ways, focus on the people’s needs, and work to create a democratic welfare state that can stand on its own feet.
These are admittedly difficult goals for our selfish elite. But the sincere hope is that by next Eid, Pakistan will be on the road to recovery.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023