Thursday January 12, 2017
Kabul (BNA) In Afghan culture, dowry is one of the worst traditions has since long made households not to resort to marrying their sons/daughters.
A youngster from Kabul, Rohullah said he can’t seek marrying with a girl as he can’t afford the dowry the bride household sets. “Dowry has considerably increased and families can’t pay for, as the girls’ families have wide expectations for what they said had to provide for their daughters while going to their house for courting,” said Rohullah who asked the government for preventing such a tradition that would lead to failure of most of the youth to resort to negative activities when seeking enough money to pay for their marriage. Some women rights activists believed the plan if could work for the marriage of the young girls and boys, is what should be sought within the families themselves in the first step as they are the only ones could tackle their families disputes, through wise decisions that may not lead to household disputes in the future. An activist and female House member, Safia Seddeqi told that the government should do its best to prevent it. “Young boys can’t continue their education, girls remain restricted inside houses and future disputes within the families due to high dowry is inevitable, if the heinous tradition was not prevented by both households and the government,” said Seddeqi who blamed the government for incompetence in this field. Some broke households are reportedly vending their underage children against money, a vicious marriage plan on which the Ministry of Hajj and Islamic Affairs should be asked for, due to failure to even discuss the issue with the related organs.
Beating, murder or the so-called honor killings, underage marriages and the worst one, high many for marriage (dowry) are among the causes that could be against the law and violation against women rights in the country. In Ghor province, religious scholars resorted to prevention of high dowry (wedding gift) and asked the people not ask for high intolerable money when marrying their daughters. They said most of violence in the province emerged from asking high marriage money, an act could result in family disputes in the future. Mawlavi Abdul Khaleq Haidari a member of the Ghor provincial religious scholar said a gathering of the scholars was set to denounce suicide and self-murder due to rise of violence cases in the households, mostly emanating from high dowry in the province. The Ulama Council has resolved that high dowry should be prevented among the households as it was illegal and against religious teachings. Provincial women rights chairman, Massuma Haidari also said poor culture and poverty were behind growing cases of violence and asking for high marriage fees. She said she has found that most cases of violence in the province have been emerged from the households’ asking for high cashes when courting a girl for marriage. Ghor governor, Naser Khazea said he supported the resolution of the religious scholars in this field and is ready to provide them with all cooperation in this respect.
Shukria Kohistani