Love is not the name of force

Ghagh is a very unique culture in Pashtun society. It is a kind of love culture. Whenever a man falls in love with a girl, he wants to marry her. Usually it happens that love culture is not acceptable in Pashtun society. And the family from the girl's side is not ready to engage their daughter with the beloved boy. So the people have introduced another custom. They take their weapon and they go to the house where the girl lives. They fire in air the weapon. This fire is a kind of proclamation to tell the whole society that the man is in love with a girl and only he would marry that girl. It is to show his power and strength with which he would achieve the girl and to let the girl not marry anybody. And it is a kind of her insult and her defamation. And usually it happens that when the fireman does not marry that girl, so any other man is not ready to marry her. So usually it would deprive the girl to marry for the whole life. She would not be able to marry. This culture also leads to chaos in Pashtun society. Because this custom is not right. It is against human rights. It is against the right of a free will to marry. And it is also a kind of insult of the girl. Anyhow, the tribal chieftains also worry about this. They also do not like this kind of custom because it is not appreciated in Pashtun society. Because the system is not good, the government also intervened in this system. And they formulated a law, especially the government of KPK in Pakistan. That whoever is involved in this custom, he will be imprisoned for a particular period of time. So now this culture has almost vanished. And remaining a little bit somewhere in some tribal societies. Let us hope that with the spread of education and awareness among the masses, it will vanish completely.

Now the law is, Ghagh forced marriages were deemed illegal in Pakistan in 2013, punishable with up to seven years in prison and high fines. Nevertheless, the practice continues. With a lack of knowledge of their rights, many don’t report the offense. And those who do are too often disappointed when men are granted bail after apologizing for their behavior. While more people are coming forward, courts and governments need to do more to support victims.

It is a very good initiative taken by the government of Pakistan in the for the empowerment of women. It is a step to preserve the rights of women, to empower women, and give them protection under the law. The judiciary and administrative setup is very active, and now the women are preserved and they can marry with their freedom and consent. Now there is need to bring awareness among the masses and this law should be very common and this voice should reach to the women. Because if women are not aware of this system, so they cannot take benefit of this law. Usually the tribal society and Pashtun societies are uneducated and this question is not common here. So, now it is also required to give awareness to women that their right to movement has been preserved and held as illegal culture in Pashtun society.Marriage is a right of woman and she has to marry according to her consent. If she is not ready to marry someone, nobody can force her because it is her right. The men should also not exploit their power to take weapon and showcase their strength in the whole society. Woman empowerment in this regard is very good and very crucial.