Ushna Shah urges artists to stop encouraging cousin marriages in dramas

Actor highlighted how the practice results in several health issues in children

Actor Ushna Shah recently took to Twitter to call out the cousin marriage trope in Pakistani dramas, elaborating on how the practice results in several health issues in children. She encouraged artists to steer clear of promoting the practice in their work, listing down the diseases that are likely to crop up in a child born out of cousin marriage.

Ushna tweeted, “As artists and creators, we should stop encouraging cousin romances in dramas. Generations of cousin marriages have resulted in countless health issues and birth defects in children, such as thalassaemia and learning disabilities. Let’s take this seriously.” The Parizaad actor reposted a news article highlighting the plight of children suffering from genetic disorders due to cousin marriages as well.

As artists & creators we should stop encouraging cousin romances in dramas. Generations of cousin marriages have resulted in countless health issues & birth defects in children such as thallassamia & learning disabilities. Let’s take this seriously.https://t.co/B8WNd6JoYB

— Ushna Shah (@ushnashah) February 19, 2022

Recently, comedian Ali Gul Pir took a dig at the practice in his song Cousin Dhazan. Speaking along the lines of how cousins are made to treat each other like siblings all their life until they’re suddenly arranged to be married, the song puts into perspective how awkward this arrangement becomes for the individuals involved. "A love song for cousins who grew up together and then ended up marrying each other. I bring you Cousin Dhazan!"

In 2019, speaking to Daily Express, Dr Iqbal Chaudhry, the chairman of ICCBS, shared why children born out of cousin marriages are more likely to develop health issues. He explained, "The disease does not develop in babies if only one parent carries the faulty gene… Therefore, the chances of carrying the disease through genes are considerably reduced if marriages do not take place within the families, as individuals carrying the same genes are more prone to having babies with birth defects."