Allama Mohammad Iqbal highlighted the importance of a woman through his poetry verse according to which the beauty and colors of universe are due to women. From birth till death a girl has to suffer a lot to for the safety of her existence in this society. Even in today's modern world there is no country where women are protected. For me the image of woman is a lovely daughter, a responsible caring mother, a loving and caring sister and a caring loving wife adorned with beauty and love. May be many people has objection on this definition of woman but it does not matter as everyone has his own likes, dislikes, opinions and way of thinking. It is true that there are certain Hitler type women which are the part of our society and they have spoiled the lives of many men.
Mistreatment and discrimination for women in our society has extended so much that now they are considered as part of the normal routine but such shameful acts are defaming humanity. In Pakistan in terms of population, women are half of the population but still the condition of women is miserable. In our society women are not considered as human being or at least equal to man. Under the name of different ritual customs degree of exploitation of women is continuous. In our society the violence against women is continuous with different ways, sometimes they are mentally and physically tortured for bringing less material “Jahaiz” with her after marriage, dozens of cases about acid attacks were reported but not a single criminal is arrested yet, still deprecated traditions of the past have captured women with their despotism. The so-called traditions of KARO KARI, VANI and SWARA are still the part of our culture and society. Every year, thousands of women loss their lives due to these traditions.
VANI:
Vani is derived from “Pashto” Veena word whose meaning is blood. In this tradition the girls of murderer family are given to slain’s family and so it ends the quarrel but these people do not think for a while what is the fault of that innocent girls, why are they punished? Their lives are ruined. They are treated as servants and being the relatives of murderer they hate these innocent girls. Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal Pashtun populations in different regions of the country are known for courage , hard, hospitality, respect for tribal traditions. However, unawareness of the religion, unfamiliarity with knowledge and adoption of non-Islamic and out dated practices has caused negative effect on Pakhtun Society.
SWARA:
In such antiquated practices “Swara” is on top of the list. Both “Swara” and “Vani” traditions are similar in many aspects. In “Swara” tradition the daughter or sister of borrowers or murderers are given to loan lender or slain’s family. And in girls usually one or two might be under the age of three or seven and they are forced to marry aged even disable persons.
KARO KARI:
The practice of “Karo kari” is continued for centuries, the man and the woman is killed if both have physical relationship without marriage. In the province of Sindh it is known as “Karo kari, in Punjab it is known as “Kala Kali”, in KPK it has the name “Tor toora” and in Baluchistan it has a special name “Siya kaari”. Whatever their name is, these ancient traditions and ritualshave long been used against women. Many men to wipe away their longstanding disputes,for land acquisition, second marriage, to get rid from unwanted wife and for the sake of many other similar purposes make women the victim of this practice.
These traditions are curse as they dishonored the sanctity and holiness of the woman. Women do not have any significant legislation for their rights and there are still many problems that Parliament did not notice. Government made some laws but without implementation laws have no value and as a result violence and discrimination against women has increased ten times.
