By: Muhammad Waseem
“Though I am running a small dairy farming business to provide for my children, the struggles in my life seem never-ending. It feels as though they will last forever, all because of the wrong decisions made for me by my elders,” said Bakht Begum.
Bakht Begum, 50, is currently living in Swat and is the mother of four children. She became a victim of Swara when she was only eight years old. Instead of her sister, who refused to marry the boy she was engaged to, Bakht Begum was given in Swara. To settle the dispute, her father gave her to the opposing group, who then sold her to a drug addict.
For the past 42 years, she has endured the hardships of life and is now working hard to create a better future for her children. She never wants them to become victims of cruel decisions like she did.
“Swara,” also known as “Badal-i-Sulah,” is an ancient Pashtun custom where women and girls from the offender’s family are given in marriage or servitude to the aggrieved parties as a form of reconciliation for familial disputes such as rivalry, murder, or abduction. It is a type of arranged or forced child marriage, with the decision made by a council or tribal elders called a jirga.
Tabassum Adnan, a women’s rights activist in Swat, encounters numerous females who are victims of Swara and silently bear domestic violence.
She emphasizes that the girls given in Swara are mere scapegoats for the families they are sent to. They sacrifice their dreams and tolerate a lifetime of slavery for the selfish desires of their male relatives.
Bakht Begum explained “My life became miserable when I was given to a drug-addicted person”
She further said that even though her husband didn’t care about her or their children, every male in the household considered her their property and wanted to have a sexual relationship with her. This was one of the most challenging times in her life.
Tabassum explains that when a girl becomes a Swara and is sent to her enemies, there is little possibility of a good life for her. She is not respected in her new home and faces terrible treatment. She lives a life inferior even to that of a maidservant. The innocent girl has to endure the consequences of actions she never committed for the rest of her life.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2005 declared the practice of giving females as Swara or Badal-i-Sulah as a criminal offense. The Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) strictly states that those who give females in marriage for such purposes will face imprisonment.
Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel, a lawyer specializing in female issues, said that although there has been a significant decrease in Swara cases, the custom is still practiced in some regions.
“I have dealt with cases of Swara where women’s rights to live were completely violated, and they were treated as servants in their own homes” added Mehwish
She further added that In one case, the husband made a second marriage and lived happily with his second wife and children, while the first wife was considered nothing more than a maid at home and was not given any honor.
Mehwish explains that these cases come to light when women, after years of enduring torture by their husbands, seek help from police stations or courts to take legal action or file for divorce (talaq) or separation (khula).
Bakht Begum, after bearing years of torture, finally decided to speak up for the sake of her children. She gave birth to four children from a drug-abused person and faced all the hardships without saying a word. But when it came to her children, she decided to take the necessary steps and seek a divorce (khula) to live her life independently.
“The laws in Pakistan regarding violence against women should be stricter, with longer imprisonment terms and increased fines. This will make it more difficult for offenders to escape punishment and help overcome this issue,” says Mehwish Muhib.
Mehwish suggested that there must be additional policies to ensure that cases of Swara are reported in Pakistan. Mass awareness campaigns must be conducted to educate people that Swara is an un-Islamic practice and is prohibited in the country.
A three-judge bench of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan (FSC) headed by the FSC Chief Justice, on 25 October 2021, delivered a judgment in one of the similar cases.
According to the FSC, the practice of Swara is deemed unconstitutional and un-Islamic due to its contradiction with the principles outlined in the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
The FSC made references to the Holy Quran and Ahadith when declaring Swara as un-Islamic. Therefore, the court ruled that on the basis of various Quranic verses and Ahadith, the practice of Swara is un-Islamic and against the injunctions of the Quran and Sunnah.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states the equal rights of men and women and addresses issues of equality and equity. In 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women), which obligates providing effective remedies to women who are victims of violence.
According to Tabassum Adnan, one of the central issues is the lack of awareness among people. Education in tribal areas and villages is nearly non-existent, and the standard is desperate. Female education in Pakistan is in a dire state, and it is crucial to educate people to put an end to such evil practices.
Amna, the program manager of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW), explains that the commission promotes awareness of violence against women through radio programs and seminars in higher education institutions such as universities and colleges. They also ran a campaign on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) of Peshawar to raise awareness during the 16 days of Activism.
“For unreported cases, the commission collaborates with civil society organizations to ensure awareness of referral mechanisms and link any cases that come to them to the necessary services,” says Amna.
Despite facing numerous difficulties and hardships in life, Bakht Begum never gave up. She stood tall and did everything possible to educate her children and raise them to be independent individuals. She never wants other girls to experience the cruel phase in life that she went through.
