The trafficked brides of Pakistan

It all started a couple of years ago when appearance of Chinese nationals increased in Pakistan

It all started a couple of years ago when appearance of Chinese nationals increased in streets and malls across Pakistan. Advertisements showing mixing of Chinese nationals with Pakistani population through cuisine and culture became common and the universities here started offering Chinese-language courses. Apparently, there was nothing wrong except that all of the aforementioned were indicators of the much-expected fusion consequential to CPEC.

Later, another interesting piece of news surfaced when images of a Pakistani CNIC issued to a Chinese started circulating on the internet. While the then interior minister, Ahsan Iqbal, attempted to clear the air by clarifying that both the parents of the individual “were naturalised as Pakistani citizens in 1989, decades before CPEC was born”, it is noteworthy that the country of stay, as mentioned on the card, was China, Mainland and the issuance date was of year 2017.

While this could just be a regular process of renewal of documents, the citizens of Pakistan have been observing much more.

Several people living in posh areas have reported the presence of Chinese nationals in their neighbourhoods bringing new brides with them every other day. “A new day, a new face,” expressed a professor who is a resident of one such locality in Lahore.

“The girls are dressed up as brides and can only be seen for a few weeks after which there is no mention of them. The most astonishing thing that made me notice this happening is that most of the girls resemble the maids who work in our homes. They look poor and weak, as if they have been brought from slums.”

Deciphering the description of these brides is important in understanding what exactly is happening. And to better understand this phenomenon, we need to go back to the 19^th century when lusty advances of British rulers transformed Lahore’s Heera Mandi to the notorious red light district it is today. The neighbourhood was originally established to offer recreational activities to nawabs, with courtesans’ sole purpose being to entertain their guests through singing, dancing and poetry. But the outlook towards them began to change when British rulers transfigured the mohalla into a series of brothels for their soldiers.

The occupants of slums at that time were majorly Muslims because of them being a prominent minority, hence literature and films portraying most prostitutes as Muslims. These reasons made the Indian subcontinent’s Muslim minority of that time assailable, and these very reasons are now putting the Christian community here in Pakistan in jeopardy.

The ‘maid-like’ appearance of the brides is suggestive of the part of the society that is being targeted by this particular mafia. This group is operating by exploiting minorities that are: a) living in straitened circumstances and can hold on to any glittering opportunity; b) already deprived of fundamental rights and, therefore, less likely to report their sufferings.

This theory has been substantiated by the recent crackdown against these Chinese brokers and their Pakistani facilitators who seek out girls, sometimes by paying local influential persons of the community to tempt needy parents who receive several thousand dollars in exchange for their daughters. Once in China, these ‘brides’, mostly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation owing to language barrier that incapacitates them to seek help, are forced into prostitution or are used for organ donation.

The settling of this issue requires action at both ends. A check needs to be imposed by Pakistani authorities on registration of such marriages and ensuing documentation, such as change of name and/or country of stay, while China also needs to adopt the model practised in countries like Australia that do not grant permanent resident visa to spouses until at least two years of relationship has been established. But all of this and more should be done promptly as remorse has the power of questioning sanity and wisdom.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2019.

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