Men, women encouraged to be cognisant of marriage rights

Karachi

Both the bride and groom should be aware of their respective rights and ensure the right clauses were mentioned in their marriage certificate before they sign it, observed dean Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences University of Karachi (KU), Dr Khalid Iraqi, at a seminar on women empowerment, on Monday.

He was speaking at a one day workshop on women’s reconstruction of self - an initiative of Team Break Free –
Active Citizens in partnership with the British Council - held at the Dr AQ Khan Institute
of Biotechnology and Gene-tic Engineering Auditorium, KU.

He added that mental abuse was the worst form of domestic violence, and encouraged women to take decisions independently, and go through the marriage certificate their selves. “The marriage certificate should ensure a future financial protection for the woman, in the form of Haq Mehar.”

“You have to be brave enough to protect yourself, only then would others be able to help you.” Appreciating the effort, Dr Iraqi said such workshops were important to create a society aware of women rights.

He lauded the British Council’s efforts and called for organising more programmes on such pertinent issues.

Former dean Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences KU, Prof Dr Abuzar Wajidi, termed divorce a major societal issue and called for a joint framework to address it.

He supported the view that a divorcee woman should carry on with their lives normally because life goes on regardless of tragedies.

KU Department of Public Administration former chairman Prof Dr Syed Humayun emphasised on creating awareness and an understanding on this key societal issue.

Discussing the legal point of view, a panel comprising Barrister Shahida Jamil, and renowned Supreme Court advocates Syed Shua-un-Nabi and Tahera Hasan termed divorce a right ensured in Islam under ‘Khula’.

Barrister Shahida spoke about domestic violence being an illegal act, also prohibited in Islam. However, she added that the police in our country prefer not to interfere in such cases due to societal norms which provided space to the abusers.

Advocate Shoa-un-Nabi said marriage was the very first form of social contract between men and women and divorce should always be the last resort. “Husbands should have a mature mindset which naturally depends on how they were brought up.”  

He further added that lawyers and judges try their utmost for both the husband and the wife to reconcile so that a broken family could be avoided. He added that in our society one of the main reasons for a divorce was a joint family system.

Lamenting a lack of implementation of anti-dowry laws, Advocate Tahera Hasan observed that, “Laws protecting women’s right for divorce exist, it was only implementation that was missing.”

Psychologist and assistant professor at the Department of Psychology, KU, Dr Qudsia Tariq said divorce becomes inevitable when verbal and physical abuses become a regular practice. “A woman should be given all the support she needs by her family, required to recuperate after a divorce.”

However, she added that it was not only men who were abusers but women also engaged in abuse.

Other panellists including Dr Uzma Shujaat, Wali Zahid and Riffat Humayun termed it a natural issue as conflicts were bound to happen when human beings try to co-habit. They termed divorce a financial issue in West while an emotional one in the East.

Later, event coordinator Hoor-ul-Ain while speaking of the rise in divorce incidents said we must learn to forgive people when it comes to personal relationships. “Often, men and their families blame women for all their sufferings which is a completely misplaced notion.”

She further observed that women had also proved to be their own enemies in several cases as well.

Head of security at British Council Major (retd) Zuhair Raza, and programme coordinator British Council Karachi Kanwal Shah also attended the workshop.