Child marriage is a disgusting practice

Don’t we teach our children to stay away from strangers? Then how can we make them spend their entire lives with them?

Parivash Ahmed March 09, 2016
Every year, hundreds of young girls are deprived of their destiny right before they blossom and they’re trampled upon mercilessly. Why do rituals, generation-old promises and societal concerns continue to decide the fate of those who haven’t even reached adulthood?

The on-going issue of child marriages in developing countries has been highlighted by UNICEF in a hair rising video. UNICEF has taken a step to create awareness about child brides and is taking great initiatives to put a much needed end to this grave issue.

This thought provoking agony is just another story for listeners but in reality, it puts an end to a child’s dreams, fantasies and wishes within minutes.

The video starts off with glittering preparations for a wedding and ends on a note of bitter reality; pushing young girls into marriage.

No religion, culture, society and no ethnicity should have the power to snatch a girl’s youth. Every child deserves the right to experience childhood rather than being pushed into adulthood.

The glamour of a wedding and a marriage ceases to exist if the bride is being forced into it and especially if she’s marrying a complete stranger who is thrice her age. Don’t we teach our children to stay away from strangers? Then how can parents turn that around so dramatically and make their children spend their entire lives with them?

This is a harsh reality, one which we have learnt to digest over time.

But for how long?

This video should make everyone want to take immediate action against the issue of underage marriages and child brides, especially considering how Pakistan suffers from the very same issue. Even though the Child Marriages Restraint Act is intact in Pakistan, it has various loopholes and doesn’t deter age old customs.

Let’s join hands and stand united against such evils existing in our society before someone we know falls prey to this disgusting practice.
WRITTEN BY:
Parivash Ahmed The author is a CBM Graduate, in love with the digital world and passionately involved in it. She adores the world and it's wonder and is sad to see the weakened roots. She is on a venture to make a difference. She tweets @PAQureshi
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (12)

Logical Mind | 8 years ago | Reply The video and the whole article is based on the Western/liberal/secular perspective. Islam's stance on marriage, family definition, criteria for adulthood, age of consent etc. are totally different. However as far as Muslims, in general, are concerned, there surely are some bad customs that are prevalent in some areas (different ones in different areas) but these usually have roots in local culture or are due to the lack of proper Islamic education. For example, the notion that a man "owns" his wife is not Islamic. Similarly another custom where people give their girls in marriage (whether underage or not) to settle murder cases is another non-Islamic practice. Such bad practices definitely need to be abolished and laws should be made and enforced to address these. But using such practices to justify making laws that blindly attempt to make a Muslim society conform to Western norms is not acceptable to Muslims. If you identify yourself as a Muslim, you have to accept the rules and the code of life that Islam defines. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam and its constitution specifies that no law can be made in this country that violates the Islamic principles of jurisdiction (Islamic Shariah). It is unfortunate that despite this, several laws in Pakistan are in violation of Islamic principles including the Child Marriages Restraint Act that the author mentions. And lastly, the notion that marriage snatches the youth of a girl if she is married before the West-conformant age of 18 years, is baseless and illogical. The fact is that if a girl's life becomes miserable because of marriage that actually means that the man (and/or the in-laws) were a bad selection in first place - the girl's life in such a case would be equally miserable even if she was above the age of 18. P.S.: Note that the article deliberately does not mention Islam and tries to make a sweeping argument, treating Islam as just another religion. But since the article is posted on a forum that is on a Pakistani domain and the author is likely a Muslim (guessing from her name) so the implied audience is Muslims and the ideology under attack is Islam hence my comment follows the perspective of a Muslim only.
Miqdad Naqvi | 8 years ago | Reply Good piece! Indeed there is very need of awareness raising and behavior change communication strategies. One thing Provincial Child Marriage restraint acts has been promulgated in Sindh and Punjab as Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act.2013 (much descriptive and with a deterrence) and Punjab Child Marriages Restraint (amendment) 2015. The law mentioned in your blog Child Marriages Restraint Act.1929 is enforced only in ICT, KPK and Baluchistan
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