You kill the spirit of your daughters: Mahira Khan talks patriarchy in new interview

Actor speaks up against oppression of women and how it starts very young in latest interview

While local television remains cluttered with patriarchal tropes, Mahira Khan’s latest accolade Razia shines through in an attempt to rid the culture of the common narrative; that a woman’s identity remains attached to that of a man’s.

While Khan takes to various forums to promote the new series spectacle, the actor sits down in an interview with Momal Sheikh and screenplay writer for the series, Mohsin Ali on Gloss Etc by Maliha Rehman.

While addressing where oppression towards women begins, Ali narrates a dialogue from the serial in a voice-over segment by Khan. The writer emphasizes that while wishing for boys to be born into the family, we inadvertently end up killing the spirit of our daughters and women. He narrates, “Bete ki khwaish mein beti ka haq jo mara jata hai na, woh hai uske wujood ki hafiqat (In the wish for a son, when we rob our daughters of their rights, it becomes the reality of her existence/a burden she'll always carry).”

Khan further discusses the sheer morbidity of the situation, lamenting how women are robbed of their huqooq (rights) very young, after which the cycle snowballs out of control, to a point where women themselves are not aware of what they are worthy of.

The Razia narrator explains, “This is the first right you take away, and then you just keep taking and taking. Eventually there comes a point when she herself forgets her rights, and questions if they're even hers when told otherwise… Just on the basis of being human – forget woman, man, everything, the fact that you are human means you must have rights.”

Releasing just last week, the mini-series Razia aims to be a breath of fresh air as it tackles the patriarchal notions society is plagued with. The series will understandably tell the story of Razia, as a young girl to when she grows up, starring Mahira Khan as the older, unapologetically outspoken Razia who narrates her tale.