‘Women in Swat don’t have proper rights to land’

Some acknowledge women should get a share of inherited land as granted by religion, but others think it as a disgrace.

KARACHI: “There definitely is friction between custom and religion, especially when it comes to giving women land rights,” said speakers at at an event organised by the Irtiqa Institute of Social Sciences on Tuesday.

Dr Saba Gul Khattak, a member of the social sector at the Planning Commission, said that while doing research in the Swat Valley recently, she came across many instances where people were against the thought of giving women land rights “as if it is something which can distort the very fabric of society”.

There were some people who acknowledged the fact that women should get a share of inherited land because it is granted so by religion, but to some it was a disgrace.

“It is considered a disgrace because a woman is demanding that she be given a right,” explained Dr Khattak. Moreover, many families that she interviewed were of the opinion that empowering women by giving them land rights would mean destroying the basic purpose of their culture. “Which they said is to protect women,” she added.

Land, property and other such issues are decided through jirgas in Swat. But now, more people are looking towards the police and judiciary to get a fairer deal.

However, when it comes to women, the situation is hardly any better.

Most men who Dr Khattak interviewed were of the opinion that women should not get land because they do not have proper knowledge about it. “I found out that the reason some women do not have any knowledge is that patriarchy is still a fundamental part of society, and men decide what a woman should or should not do.”

Justice (retired) Majida Rizvi, who was chairing the event, said that inheritance is something which is largely ignored in our country. “That is why we do not have any consolidated data on whether women get that right or not.”

“How can one gain equality when the constitution itself discriminates?” she asked.

Giving an example, she said that Article 10 of the Citizenship Act has different terms for men and women. “If a woman married outside Pakistan, she is not allowed to bring her spouse to the country. No such rules apply to men.”

Similarly, in matters relating to land rights, women are often emotionally blackmailed. “If we continue this then there is no purpose of speaking about empowering women at all.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2011.