Despite constitutional guarantees and clear Islamic injunctions safeguarding female inheritance, millions of women in Pakistan continue to be systematically stripped of their rightful property shares.
Driven by deeply ingrained feudal traditions and societal pressures, male heirs routinely deploy fraudulent deeds, frivolous litigation, and informal tribunals to deny mothers, sisters, and daughters their lawful rights. It is high time civil society, the judiciary, and executive authorities confront this administrative failure and dismantle the outdated mindsets keeping women financially vulnerable.
By Zafar Wassan
Nature has no discrimination against women. It created women with same abilities as it endowed to men, to be the part of system. They have all abilities to prove the equal endowment of the nature. Their abilities substantiated by their outstanding performance in the academic, professional and administrative fields.
But, the orthodox societal norms made the women vincible and vulnerable in our country. It is a bitter reality of our system that women are not being equally treated when to divide the resources. It is a norm of the day, that daughters, sisters and mothers are deprived of their share in distribution of inherited properties. The legal framework meant to transfer the property are not short to support the women. Likewise, the provisions of Islamic law confer the title in inherited property. It ensure the share of women in inherited properties of their fathers, mothers and other relatives, as admissible after their death. But is our feudalistic and outdated societal norms that causes embarrassments for the women. The different means to commit the crime of deprivation from the inherited property share due from deceased parents, husbands and other relatives after the death are described as under.
Firstly, the name of women heirs are not shown in property records when it transfers after the death of owner. In general the female heirs name are not shown in the records. This offence is committed in the honor as like honor killing. The male heir defend it as we don’t want to disclose the name of our female family members in office records. Secondly, the properties of female heirs are transferred by means of fake, fraudulent and forged gift deeds. In other cases, these statements are obtained by exerting pressures and coercive means on legal instruments to deprive them from their rights. Likewise, these properties are purchased by sale deed on nominal price by fleecing tricks.
Thirdly, male heirs start frivolous litigation in our courts just to delay and deprive them from their due share in deceased’s property. In wake of this long term litigation, burdened with monetary and mental hassles, compel the female litigants to withdraw from their legal rights conferred by legal provision. The judicial system and mandatory requirements to avail the judicial remedy delay the accrual of property for female heirs in the name of fair trial.
It was about the exploitation of women to deprive the women who belong to their own family. The stories of women and their dependents is quite different and mournful than these family tragedies. In these case, if a male family married from another family, the other members of her husband’s family, will bring a nightmare in her life. He is completely and blankly refused to give the legal share from the property of deceased as admissible under shariah and country’s law. In these cases the modus operandi to deprive the woman and her dependent from her property share is somehow different. Firstly, she is denounced as concubine of deceased and all her offsprings are termed as Illegitimate.
Secondly, she is denounced the lady from other caste is introduced as the married woman. The nikkah with her deceased husband pleaded void against the injunctions of Islam. It is pleaded that the offsprings or dependent were born from her former husband. Therefore, that it doesn’t confer the inheritance title to avail the property from the property of deceased.
Thirdly, they are engaged in frivolous litigations in court. In meantime, they are harassed to settle the issue outside the court for a nominal consideration. They are pressurized to write off whole of share in property of deceased.
Fourthly, jirga is called with an agenda to settle the issue outside the court. The oppressive right holders are tried to convince, that it is very urgent to keep you out for the sake of family honor and prestige. In these jirgas the oppressive right holders are threatened to face dire consequences. In the case of disobedience the right holder may see the death.
I think Pakistan stands at the top rank to exploit the women while observing the property succession protocols. Thousands of civil suits are pending in courts for its ultimate end. In view of the above described agonies it now high time to take action on the part of civil society, executive, media, judiciary and parliament. The stakeholders should come forward and start rescue operations for the property security of women in Pakistan. In present situation, legal frameworks are quite helpful to seek the relief from executive and judiciary. But, the problem is lies with the feudalistic mindset and
Subjective mentality of the people. The unwritten and verbal orders from the political executives caused to thrive up these outdated and failed, unjust and outdated governance ideologies .In present critical scenario, the governance failure is attributed to the irreverence and impiety to the law. The laws has the sanctity for its effectiveness to develop a order in the society. This order develops, harmony, peace and unity amongst the people leading to develop patriotic instincts in society.
It is suggested that executive should come forward to develop and set the writ mechanisms, with ultimate objectives to secure the rights of women secure. The women are perpetually subjected to a humiliation, mental torture and degradation in society, in the name of outdated and irrelevant norms of medieval societies. It is high time to get rid of these outdated mindset to ignore and deprive the women from their property share conferred vide the Shariah and Country’s law.
Read: Roots of Revolt: Sindh’s Hur Struggle
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Hailing from Sanghar district of Sindh, the author served as public functionary on various senior positions. Now, regularly writing as freelance writer.
