Dear Friends
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that a family from Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) is forced to migrate from their ancestral home due to the brutal tribal custom of Ghag whereby any man can forcibly demands or claims the hand of a woman, without her own or her parents will and free consent. The custom has made life a living hell for the women of the Frontier Region (FR) where might is right. The area is governed under centuries old tribal customs and traditions and the constitution of Pakistan is not applicable, the only semblance of so called writ of the state is represented through a political agent who has little or no influence in the area. Even if the aggrieved women migrate to other parts of the country they cannot seek justice as the area is not under the jurisdiction of any court of law.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information received from Blue Veins- an organistaion working for female empowerment- 18-year-old Abida Bibi daughter of Aman Gull is a resident of Drazanda Tehsil, Froteir Region-Dera Ismail Khan Khan Kyber Pakhtunkhuwa province, on 2nd May 2014 she along with other women had gone out to collect fire wood when the accused Mandoz Khan and Safar Gul tried to kidnap her. Abida and other women raised a hue and cry and put up a resistance forcing the accused t flee the scene. Later the same day the accused fired outside the main mosque announcing to all and sundry that Abida is hereby engaged to Mandoz khan and that no one should dare marry her.
The family of the accused also made an open declaration of taking Ms. Abida’s hand in marriage with Mandoz Khan against the will of victim and her parents. This tradition of forcing a girl to marriage is called “Ghag” and is criminalized by the law “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013”. However ironically this law is not applicable in the Frontier Region where the tradition is most prevalent and had ruined the lives of many innocent girls.
The victim’s family was forced to flee move from their native town to their uncle’s home in far village and they are hiding from the accused family to save their daughter.
Several death threats have been received by the family from the accused and demand for handing over the girl to them. The family and girl have been dishonored and it has become extremely difficult for them to marry the victim to someone of their choice.
For the protection of the family from accused and proceeding the case, three applications have been submitted to the Assistant Political Agents of Dera Ismail Khan who is the relevant law enforcement authority on dates, January 07, 2016, February 09, 2016, and April 04, 2016, respectively but no response have been received till date. The documents can be viewed here.
In terms of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013 ’Ghag” means a custom, usage, tradition or practice whereby a person forcibly demands or claims the hand of a woman, without her own or her parents’ or wali’s will and free consent, by making an open declaration either by words spoken or written or by visible representation or by an imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, in a locality or before public in general that the woman shall stand engaged to him or any other particular man and that no other man shall make a marriage proposal to her or marry her, threatening her parents and other relatives to refrain from giving her hand in marriage to any other person.
For centuries, young girls in the northwestern tribes have shuddered at the word ‘Ghag’. A tribal leader, or an influential enemy of their fathers, may set his eyes upon them and make a silent claim of marriage – which neither their tears, nor their families’ pleas could undo. This resolve of marriage, known as ‘Ghag’ is binding upon the chosen girl and her family, lest she opts to remain unmarried all her life. The local jirga( tribal council of elders) also add insult to injury by ordering the family of victim to pay hefty compensation if they refused to marry off their daughter to the ‘Ghag’ claimant.
As the law against Ghag is not applicable in the FATA region the women and the families are left without any legal redressal. They cannot report the incident of Ghag in any part of the KPK province as the jurisdiction of the courts and police station is limited outside the tribal regions. The victim families have no other option but to flee and live under constant threat in other regions of the country. Many resign to their fate and marry their claimant against their will or commit suicide as a last resort.
An Assistant Political Agent (APA) is the only political agent who can intervene to exert writ of the state however most often APA does not intervene for fear of backlash from the tribal influentials.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Due to lack of complaint mechanism no Data is available on the number of Ghag victims in FATA. However according to unofficial data collected by Blue Veins, in the year 2015, 12 Ghag victims have committed suicide after being disheartened by the lack of justice. In 2013 Razia from Kurram Agency who has been victim of the Custom of the Ghag ended her life when the man claiming her in Ghag refused to back off from his claim even though her parents refused to marry her off to him.
17 Years Gulmena from Khyber Agency of FATA also committed suicide after her father has decided to give her hand in marriage to the Ghag claimant as he was poor and was not able to fight for his daughter. In another case 9 years old Sumaria also became a victim of the barbarian custom as when she was born her neighbor 43 years of Gul Hassan fired in front of her house to declare that Sumaira will be his wife when she will reach puberty.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the mentioned authorities calling upon them to arrest and prosecute the accused. Please also urge the authorities to provide safety and protection to the victim and her family so that they can lead a normal live.
The State authorities should criminalize the barbaric custom of Ghag and should extent the jurisdiction of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013 to FATA tribal regions. the authorities should also take strong action against the unconstitutional parallel justice system of jirgas, which perpetuates violence against the weak and vulnerable.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, calling for the Special Rapporteur’s intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Call to abolish Ghag, a tribal custom, that had ruined lives of many girls
Name of victim: Abida Bibi Daughter of Aman Gul resident of Drazanda Tehsil, FR-Dera Ismail Khan, KP province
Names of alleged perpetrators:
Mandoz Khan, resident of Drazanda Tehsil, FR-Dera Ismail Khan, KP province
Safar Gul, resident of Drazanda Tehsil, FR-Dera Ismail Khan, KP province
Assistant Political Agents of Dera Ismail Khan, KP province
Date of incident: 2nd May 2014
Place of incident: Drazanda Tehsil, FR-Dera Ismail Khan, KP province
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the information that a family from Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) is forced to migrate from their ancestral home due to the brutal tribal custom of Ghag whereby any man can forcibly demand or claims the hand of a woman, without her own or her parents will and free consent. The custom has made life a living hell for the women of the Frontier Region(FR) where might is right. The area is governed under centuries old tribal customs and traditions and the constitution of Pakistan is not applicable, the only semblance of so called writ of the state is represented through a political agent who has little or no influence in the area. Even if the aggrieved women migrate to other parts of the country they cannot seek justice as the area is not under the jurisdiction of any court of law
According to the information received from Blue Veins- an organistaion working for female empowerment- 18-year-old Abida Bibi daughter of Aman Gull is a resident of Drazanda Tehsil, Froteir Region-Dera Ismail Khan Khan Kyber Pakhtunkhuwa province, on 2nd May 2014 she along with other women had gone out to collect fire wood when the accused Mandoz Khan and Safar Gul tried to kidnap her. Abida and other women raised a hue and cry and put up a resistance forcing the accused t flee the scene. Later the same day the accused fired outside the main mosque announcing to all and sundry that Abida is hereby engaged to Mandoz khan and that no one should dare marry her.
The family of the accused also made an open declaration of taking Ms. Abida’s hand in marriage with Mandoz Khan against the will of victim and her parents. This tradition of forcing a girl to marriage is called “Ghag” and is criminalized by the law “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013”. However ironically this law is not applicable in the Frontier Region where the tradition is most prevalent and had ruined the lives of many innocent girls.
The victim’s family was forced to flee move from their native town to their uncle’s home in far village and they are hiding from the accused family to save their daughter.
Several death threats have been received by the family from the accused and demand for handing over the girl to them. The family and girl have been dishonored and it has become extremely difficult for them to marry the victim to someone of their choice.
For the protection of the family from accused and proceeding the case, three applications have been submitted to the Assistant Political Agents of Dera Ismail Khan who is the relevant law enforcement authority on dates, January 07, 2016, February 09, 2016, and April 04, 2016, respectively but no response have been received till date. The documents can be viewed here.
In terms of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013 ’Ghag” means a custom, usage, tradition or practice whereby a person forcibly demands or claims the hand of a woman, without her own or her parents’ or wali’s will and free consent, by making an open declaration either by words spoken or written or by visible representation or by an imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, in a locality or before public in general that the woman shall stand engaged to him or any other particular man and that no other man shall make a marriage proposal to her or marry her, threatening her parents and other relatives to refrain from giving her hand in marriage to any other person.
For centuries, young girls in the northwestern tribes have shuddered at the word ‘Ghag’. A tribal leader, or an influential enemy of their fathers, may set his eyes upon them and make a silent claim of marriage – which neither their tears, nor their families’ pleas could undo. This resolve of marriage, known as ‘Ghag’ is binding upon the chosen girl and her family, lest she opts to remain unmarried all her life. The local Jirga (tribal council of elders) also add insult to injury by ordering the family of victim to pay hefty compensation if they refused to marry off their daughter to the ‘Ghag’ claimant.
As the law against Ghag is not applicable in the FATA region the women and the families are left without any legal redressal. They cannot report the incident of Ghag in any part of the KPK province as the jurisdiction of the courts and police station is limited outside the tribal regions. The victim families have no other option but to flee and live under constant threat in other regions of the country. Many resign to their fate and marry their claimant against their will or commit suicide as a last resort.
An Assistant Political Agent (APA) is the only political agent who can intervene to exert writ of the state however most often APA does not intervene for fear of backlash from the tribal influential.
I therefore, call upon them to arrest and prosecute the accused. provide safety and protection to the victim and her family so that they can lead a normal live.
The State authorities should criminalize the barbaric custom of Ghag and should extent the jurisdiction of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act, 2013 to FATA tribal regions. the authorities should also take strong action against the unconstitutional parallel justice system of jirgas, which perpetuates violence against the weak and vulnerable.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, calling for the Special Rapporteur’s intervention into this matter.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Mr. Mian Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Telephone: +92 51 920 6111, +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Mr. Parvez Khattak
Chief Minister KPK
Chief Minister Secretariat,
Shahibzada Abdul Qayum Road, Peshawar
Telephone: 091-9222460-464
Fax 091-9212237
Email: complaints@crckp.gov.pk
3. Mr. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
Minister
Ministry of Interior of Pakistan
R Block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Telephone: +92 51 9212026
Fax: +92 51 9202624
Email: interior.complaintcell@gmail.com, ministry.interior@gmail.com
4. Mr. Zahid Hamid
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
State Life Building No. 5, Blue Area,
Jinnah Avenue, China Chowk, Islamabad
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
5.Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court
Peshawar High Court, Khyber Road, Peshawar,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Telephone:+92-91-9210149-58
Fax: +92-91-9210170
6. Mr. Nasir Durrani
Inspector General Police Kyber Pakhtunkhwa
Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Road, Civil Secretariat Peshawar,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Telephone 9210084
Fax: 9210925
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
