The Curse of Swara
Tehreem HASAN (Pakistan)In the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, Pukhtunwali is the code of life followed by
the pukhtuns living there. These people are hospitable, following Melmastiya (hospitality)
and Nanawatay (forgiveness). Along with such typical characteristics of their race, otherhideous practices also prevail. In this report I would like to mention Swara―a cultural
practice where minor girls are given away in marriage as part of the peace making
arrangements between two disputing parties.
The Pakhtuns settle their scores by badla (revenge) to maintain their honour. Daughtersand sisters are given to resolve conflicts and prevent further bloodshed. For the jirga (aninformal tribal village elders’ council), Swara is an accepted dispute resolution mechanism.
This custom is not peculiar to the Pakhtuns alone. In the provinces of Balochistan, Central
Pinjab and Sindh, nearly identical customs are presently called by the names of khoon baha,vani,and sang chatti.
In May 2006, in Shikarpur, Sindh, a jirga ordered a father Mohammad Ramzan, to handover two daughters-aged nine and one –as compensation for money owed to a local feudal
lord for three buffaloes. The father consented in writing. Luckily for the girls, the Sindh
High court intervened and barred the transaction.
What happens if the family does not have girls to be used as swara. Afsar Ali, alternatively,bought 13 year old Bibi Jan in a market place in Peshawar for PKS 53,000 (approxUSD680).
Even in the cities, females are sacrificed to settle disputes. Recently the father of a teenage
girl filed a missing report of his daughter and wife. He had agreed to marry his daughter toa 50 year old, uneducated man due to ulterior-business motives. Can anyone judge why thefemales are missing? Their helplessness is sad.
This attitude stands in stark contrast to what our religion commands. Islam is a religion ofpeace, love, harmony, tolerance and kindness starting from the immediate family, relatives,country and the world at large-even to other forms of creation.
Women have a venerated place in Islam. From the Quran, it is abundantly clear that both
men and women are promised the same reward for good deeds and the same punishmentfor misconduct. The Prophet (PBUH) necessitated the pursuit of knowledge for both Muslim
men and women equally. In Islam there is indeed absolutely no difference between men andwomen as far as their relationship to Allah is concerned. Woman is recognized by Islam asa full and equal partner of man in the procreation of humankind. By this partnership, she
has an equal contribution in every facet of this process. She undertakes equalresponsibilities and is, therefore, entitled to equal rights. In her are as many qualities andas much humanity as there are in her partner. The Quran says:“And their Lord has accepted (their prayers) and answered them (saying):'Never will I cause to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female;
you are members, one of another.”.(3:195).
The status of woman is clearly given in the following Quranic injunction;”And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what isequitable; but men have a degree (of advantage as in some cases of inheritance) over them”(2:228).
This degree is not a license of superiority or an authorization of brutal governance overher. It is to match with the extra responsibilities of man and give him some compensation
for his many responsibilities. It is these extra responsibilities that give man a degree overwoman in some economic aspects. It is not a higher degree in humanity or in character. Nor
is it a dominance of one over the other.
Man made laws too guarantee equality of both sexes. Both the UN Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Pakistani constitution
clearly, emphatically and unambiguously guarantee equality on grounds of sex.
What is happening in Pakistani society? A lot of good work is being done but still we are amale dominated culture where the male mentality is heads-you-lose-tails-I-win, situation
for the Pakistani female.

Acknowledgement: This report has been compiled with the help of facts supplied by Samar
Minallah, Anthrapologist and Executive Director of the NGO Ethnomedia and Development,
which works against the Swara system.