PukhtunWomen

Samar Minallah

Meeting Samar was a wonderful experience, having known her for nearly two years through emails this was the first time we met face to face. Meeting her in person renewed my faith in the goodness of the human heart. Samar turned out to be a smart young lady with a shiny personality and brimming with intelligence.

We met in June right after her victory in The Pakistan Supreme Court in her fight against the unfair and tyrannical, but also un-Islamic custom of ‘Swara’.

Swara is the Pukhtun tradition of giving (and in most cases an unwilling) daughter/female of the clan to your enemy in order to end an old rivalry. It is actually more like blood money/price where a girl is substituted for money. If scrutinized, this barbaric tradition is also against the faith of the people who practice it, since according to Islamic jurisprudence; a girl or a woman cannot be given as a trade agreement. A tribal custom which forces families to give their daughters away in marriage as "compensation" to aggrieved parties is deeply entrenched in local culture and needs to be handled very carefully, according to analysts and rights activists

The centuries old Pukhtun code of conduct or Pukhtunwali found Swara to be a means to stop bloodshed among rival clans. Traditionally it is thought that the children born to the girls from the rival warring faction belong to both families, thus the feuding will definitely stop in the next generation
Most people living in the areas where Swara is practiced are unaware of the fact that it still exists, mainly because arranged marriages are a common occurrence and one more marriage where the bride happens to be a peace offering is just overlooked. As in most arranged marriages both the groom and bride have little say, but at least the bride is accepted as a legitimate member of the family, whereas in Swara, she is treated as an outcast and years worth of feuding and hatred is vented on her. The bone chilling words of a tribal leader in Samar’s documentary "She is the prize of my son’s death and will be treated accordingly, I'll taunt and humiliate her for she's the price paid for my son's death. She's not part of the family and cannot partake in any rituals or festivities."

Maulana Nur Mohammad of Fazil Uloom-i-Islamia in Mardan in the NWFP says that Swara is un-Islamic. "When a girl is forced into such a relationship, it's not nikah (marriage) but nikah bil jabar (forced marriage), which is not permitted in Islam." Justice Dr Fida Mohammad Khan of the Federal Shariat Court, a parallel court system that takes up cases in the light of Islamic jurisprudence, says, "Islam prescribes that a punishment should be punitive, retributive, reformative and act as a deterrent. Swara doesn't have any of these features. The criminal goes free, and an innocent girl pays the price."

The Law and Justice Commission came out with a draft amendment to Article 366-C of the Pakistan Penal Code in 2004, seeking to penalize the act of offering and accepting by way of compensation any child, or woman against her free will. The amendment has yet to be passed, despite the fact that in 1990 Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Muslim Family Law itself states that, in a marriage, a girl must be at least 16 and must give her consent.

As Samar puts it, "Swara is a part of the Pukhtun culture, we are always told it is a noble sacrifice or that the girl is an ambassador of peace. Sadly though, throughout my research, it is clear that the girl that is given away in the name of Swara has very little chances of leading a good life. A custom that so heartlessly forces a girl to suffer for the rest of her life is completely against basic human rights". Samar’s research suggests that it still happens a lot in areas like Sawabi, Karak, Khyber Agency, Dara and Swat, as well as Peshawar itself. People, who give their daughters in Swara, may not call it Swara, but marrying a young girl to appease the enemy can be called nothing short of barbaric no matter how pretty a picture you paint." She stressed how important it was to document such cases and remind ourselves that we are no longer barbarians.

On discussing her documentary "Bridge over troubled waters", she said that she was glad for all the publicity it had got, both good and bad, because her main objective was to get people talking about Swara. She realistically points out that she does not expect one documentary to make an impact, but it is a start and the more attention that is drawn to it can only lead to a positive change.

Samar admits that very few girls come forward to get help. In fact, one might as well consider it non-existent, since these girls will never speak up against their family and its honor. These girls think of it as the price they have to pay to save the lives of their fathers or brothers. A very low percentage would dare to speak up since it would drag their families into court and thus make them face the ridicule of their peers and neighbors.
Due to Samar's efforts, in December 2005 a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Khokhar and Justice Shakirullah Jan gave police orders to protect women against Swara by registering any complaints for women who came forward. Her petition requested the court to declare the handing over of a woman as compensation in any form of settlement illegal, and to declare that marriage under the custom of Sawara did not constitute legal marriage. She also requested the court to declare that Jirga decisions in such cases hold no legal value as it violates fundamental rights besides section 310(1) (compounding of Qisas) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and that Sawara customs should be banned immediately and the victims be released to lead a new life in accordance with the constitution.

Throughout dinner Samar was constantly getting phones from well-wishers and relatives congratulating her on her victory earlier that day. She was a little emotional as she described the five little girls whose life this decision had changed, the youngest of whom were 2 years old and the other three were 3, 5 and 6 respectively.

I watched her talk passionately about what could be done to help these girls and I felt her happiness and joy at this victory, it seemed to make all the threats and harsh criticism she faces every day worthwhile.
We watched our daughters eat ice cream and our sons pretending to be all grown up, yet what I remember most and will always cherish is the sparkle in Samar's eyes, that says her quest is not in vain and though the hurdles are many, the reward is sweet. No matter what anyone says about her I will always believe the best for her and if anyone ever dares criticize her in front of me for smearing Pukhtunwali, I will tell them go drink a glass of cold water and if necessary pour one over their head and then watch the videos that Samar made for Bibi Sherini and Shinwari Lewangina.