40 flood-affected couples tie the knot

KOT ADDU: Forty couples belonging to the flood affected areas were married in a three-day ceremony organised at the relief camps in Kot Addu.

These couples belonged to Muzaffargarh, Daira Deen Panah, Kot Addu, Qasba Gujrat, Rohilanwali, Shah Jamaal, Taunsa, Shehar Sultan, Sanaawaan and some other adjoining villages.

One of the couples, Rubab and Asghar Sajjad, residents of Muzaffargarh, told The Express Tribune said their marriage had been arranged well ahead of the floods.

Rubab said her parents had lost whatever they had collected for her dowry in the floods.  She said the ceremony proved a blessing as her parents had lost hope of marrying her off for another two to three years.

Sajjad’s family said the ceremony had revived their faith in the people of the country.

The gathering, they said, showed that we as a nation were still concerned about each other’s grief.

The ceremony was organised by Mutayebul Islam Foundation.

People from civil society including members of traders associations, students and some influential farmers also contributed to the event.

Mutayebul Islam Foundation chairman Muhammad Khalid said he would organise similar events in the future.

He said he wanted to give a gift to the flood affected people and could not think of anything better then helping them wed their children.

The foundation is involved in printing and publishing the Holy Quran. It also organises classes to teach Quran to women in several southern districts of the Punjab.

Another sponsor, Rana Bilal, an office bearer of Hall Road, Lahore’s Traders Union, said he had been visiting the flood affected districts to distribute relief goods. He said this time he had arrived to inaugurate 100 houses his association had helped build in Kot Addu, Wasande wali and Khangarh areas. He said he got in touch with several local landlords and the Mutayebul Islam Foundation and they decided to hold the marriage in the first week of the new year.

Other sponsors included Tahir Khan and Mumtaz Gillani, two landlords from Muzaffargarh and Mahmood Kot.

The ceremony was organised at an Elementary School in Kot Addu. More than 2,500 people attended the ceremony.

The dowry included Rs2,000 each for the brides, a copy of the Holy Quran, a wall clock and some jewelry. Some of the visitors contributed to the dowry at the spot. They donated household items such as quilts, clothes and crockery.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.