Fauji Colony — where girls can’t even dream
Locality in Pindi lacks education, health facilities with underage marriages common
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Sania* has aspirations of becoming a doctor one day.
But the 11-year-old’s dreams may hinge on what her grandfather or her 16-year-old cousin may think she should do.
The fifth grader is a resident of Fauji Colony, a downtrodden locality in the heart of Rawalpindi. She was engaged to her cousin, a labourer who earns a daily wage at the Sabzi Mandi, around seven months ago and is expected to be married in the next year or two as per family traditions. “My family is planning to have my wedding in the next year or two,” Sania told The Express Tribune.
“But I do not want to marry to early as I want to study,” she added.
When asked about what she understands about marriage, she relied shyly, “I do not know, but it is what my mother and father had done.”
“Her grandfather wants her to quit her studies as they [elders] do not allow girls to go to school after they turn 11,” said Sania’s mother, Nafisa Bibi*.
“About marriage, she will get to know once she will get married, just like I did.” Nafisa pointed out that marriage at an early age was quite common in her family as she pointed out several example of women who were married off at ages of nine or 10.
However, Pir Wadhai police – whose jurisdiction extends to Fauji Colony – SHO Kamal Nizai told The Express Tribune that in the four months he had been in-charge of precinct, he had not come across any complaints about underage marriage in the colony.
Lack of family planning
Fauji Colony, an area dominated by Pashtuns, has many such families which have six to eight children on an average. Most of these children do not go to school and can be seen playing in unhygienic conditions.
Only three of Nafisa’s children go to school while the rest spend their day in the streets outside their small two-room house. Nafisa explained that they had moved to Fauji colony from the slum in I-11 in 2005 and that her husband was a vendor who earned a meagre Rs9,000 every month and they had to make do in the amount. The lack of family planning also impacts the health of women. “A few months ago I had my seventh baby and now I do not wish to have any more children because of my deteriorating health but I do not know how to convince my husband,” Nafisa said, adding that, “In our family saying ‘no’ to the husband is equal to committing a sin.”
Other women in the area also echoed a similar sentiment. “Every year our men [husbands] want us to give birth to a child and for us refusing them is equal to committing a sin,” said a few women in the colony.
“The wife of my elder brother-in-law died while giving birth to her sixth child and I am scared. I don’t want to die because my health condition is not well and doctor too has asked me to stop having children,” Nafisa said. “I cannot say no to this blessing [children] and it’s Allah who arranges food, clothes and other necessary things for them,” said Shamil Khan*, Nafisa’s husband.
While talking to The Express Tribune Arif Sherazi a field officer with the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) - the only registered NGO working in the area for children - said that people living in the area are deprived of their basic rights to education and health. “There is a lack of healthcare facilities and family planning services in Fauji colony and hardly any lady health worker visits the area,” he said.
He added that enrollment of girls in schools is also quite low with a majority of girls not continuing their studies beyond primary.
“In 2015 around 40 girls passed primary school and out of them 20 discontinued their studies”, he said. Official data suggested that there was no dispensary for around 56,000 people living in the colony, though there were around 33 private clinics. There was also only one primary school for girls in the locality.
Sherazi added that schools in the area also lack staff, pointing out that in 2016, there were just seven teachers for 300 students with around 80 students in every class. However, the problem is the same for boys as well.
While talking to The Express Tribune, an official in the Punjab government looking after UC-8 said, “There are many other such areas in Rawalpindi city where the situation is same and it is mainly because of government negligence as the occupants are poor.”
*Names changed to protect identity
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM MUDASSIR RAJA IN RAWALPINDI
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2017.
Sania* has aspirations of becoming a doctor one day.
But the 11-year-old’s dreams may hinge on what her grandfather or her 16-year-old cousin may think she should do.
The fifth grader is a resident of Fauji Colony, a downtrodden locality in the heart of Rawalpindi. She was engaged to her cousin, a labourer who earns a daily wage at the Sabzi Mandi, around seven months ago and is expected to be married in the next year or two as per family traditions. “My family is planning to have my wedding in the next year or two,” Sania told The Express Tribune.
“But I do not want to marry to early as I want to study,” she added.
When asked about what she understands about marriage, she relied shyly, “I do not know, but it is what my mother and father had done.”
“Her grandfather wants her to quit her studies as they [elders] do not allow girls to go to school after they turn 11,” said Sania’s mother, Nafisa Bibi*.
“About marriage, she will get to know once she will get married, just like I did.” Nafisa pointed out that marriage at an early age was quite common in her family as she pointed out several example of women who were married off at ages of nine or 10.
However, Pir Wadhai police – whose jurisdiction extends to Fauji Colony – SHO Kamal Nizai told The Express Tribune that in the four months he had been in-charge of precinct, he had not come across any complaints about underage marriage in the colony.
Lack of family planning
Fauji Colony, an area dominated by Pashtuns, has many such families which have six to eight children on an average. Most of these children do not go to school and can be seen playing in unhygienic conditions.
Only three of Nafisa’s children go to school while the rest spend their day in the streets outside their small two-room house. Nafisa explained that they had moved to Fauji colony from the slum in I-11 in 2005 and that her husband was a vendor who earned a meagre Rs9,000 every month and they had to make do in the amount. The lack of family planning also impacts the health of women. “A few months ago I had my seventh baby and now I do not wish to have any more children because of my deteriorating health but I do not know how to convince my husband,” Nafisa said, adding that, “In our family saying ‘no’ to the husband is equal to committing a sin.”
Other women in the area also echoed a similar sentiment. “Every year our men [husbands] want us to give birth to a child and for us refusing them is equal to committing a sin,” said a few women in the colony.
“The wife of my elder brother-in-law died while giving birth to her sixth child and I am scared. I don’t want to die because my health condition is not well and doctor too has asked me to stop having children,” Nafisa said. “I cannot say no to this blessing [children] and it’s Allah who arranges food, clothes and other necessary things for them,” said Shamil Khan*, Nafisa’s husband.
While talking to The Express Tribune Arif Sherazi a field officer with the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) - the only registered NGO working in the area for children - said that people living in the area are deprived of their basic rights to education and health. “There is a lack of healthcare facilities and family planning services in Fauji colony and hardly any lady health worker visits the area,” he said.
He added that enrollment of girls in schools is also quite low with a majority of girls not continuing their studies beyond primary.
“In 2015 around 40 girls passed primary school and out of them 20 discontinued their studies”, he said. Official data suggested that there was no dispensary for around 56,000 people living in the colony, though there were around 33 private clinics. There was also only one primary school for girls in the locality.
Sherazi added that schools in the area also lack staff, pointing out that in 2016, there were just seven teachers for 300 students with around 80 students in every class. However, the problem is the same for boys as well.
While talking to The Express Tribune, an official in the Punjab government looking after UC-8 said, “There are many other such areas in Rawalpindi city where the situation is same and it is mainly because of government negligence as the occupants are poor.”
*Names changed to protect identity
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM MUDASSIR RAJA IN RAWALPINDI
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2017.