Daily Times

In Pakistan, women are entitled to the fundamental rights to life, liberty, security and dignity by the Constitution and international laws. But unfortunately, the parallel justice system, like jirgas and panchayats, has been a massive source of serious violations of these women’s rights. Shockingly, the members of jirgas and panchayats are authorised to use unrestricted powers without being accountable or answerable to anyone. Recently, a local jirga of tribal elders of the Wara region of Mamond tehsil of Bajaur district banned women from calling the local radio station and visiting Sada-e-Aman Centre.

Sada-e-Aman Centre is a place where cash grant is given to women after they give birth to babies under the government policy.

The jirga announced that if any tribesman allowed his female to telephone the radio station or visit the said centre, he would be fined Rs 10,000. Similarly, on the behest of the jirga, a couple hailing from Kohistan, which had married of their own free will in Karachi, was allegedly killed after two months in November. In another incident, a 15-year-old girl and a boy, 17, were reportedly electrocuted by their families in compliance with the orders of a jirga in September last year in Karachi. These are the latest episodes in the ongoing saga of such heinous decrees of the unconstitutional parallel judicial system across the country.

The Khwendo Jirga, a forum for resolving disputes usually reserved for men, is now providing equal rights to males and females in Swat.

Moreover, Vani or Swara is a tradition of giving girls in marriage by force to compensate for a crime committed by their male relatives, which is the most ubiquitous tradition in rural Pakistan. In 2012, 13 girls between the ages of four and 16 were ordered to be married off to resolve a murder dispute between two clans in Baluchistan.

The women are making history by forming a jirga in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Khwendo Jirga, a forum for resolving disputes usually reserved for men, is now providing equal rights to males and females in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The first-of-its-kind women’s council has 25 women who solved women’s issues at the grass-root level and refer to women’s cases for free legal aid.

Tabassum Adnan is the peace activist and founder of the women jirga in Swat, whose mission the council is to empower the women in rural regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She expressed that the women’s jirga empowers women, who can get equality in social, political and economically, as well as the right to livelihood and freedom of expression. Talking about the idea behind such a jirga, she said that women have always suffered because they have to accept the decisions of men Jirga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She further explained that in most areas, there is still a tradition of the male jirga, in which there is no representation of women.

The award-winning woman expressed that she raised her voice against this inhumane act of men, and succeeded in establishing the first-ever female Jirga of Pakistan in the Swat district. Talking about the legality, she said that this is an authorized forum, from where she could raise her voice for the rights of women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

She further shared that the Women Jirga is the first of its kind council, which is registered under the name of the Khwendo Jirga in 2014. The activist further recalled that many incidents occurred like cutting off the women’s legs, acid throwing, cutting noses, and human trafficking, which led to a strong and official platform.

She responded to a question that the women jirga focused on to promote girls’ education, health, nutrition and well-being of newborns and pregnant women to facilitate self-reliance. The human rights defender expressed that the jirga also enabled local self-governance, ensured natural resource management and promoted women’s advocacy in the man-dominated society and the situation of women’s rights. On the question of threats and challenges, she said that yes, there were a lot of threats and challenges she faced in the area, which was once a region of militancy and extremism. She said that when she had started this jirga, even some women would ridicule her for her lofty aspirations. She further enlightened me that she proudly continued my work with a belief that people who had once ridiculed her would follow her example.

The social activist shared that sometime in the jirga, “I have been threatened but I don’t pay any heed to such threat because I know that I am doing something best for my gender I belong.” She expressed determination that despite threats and challenges, the Khwendo Jirga looked forward to a progressive and sustainable society, where all women live a happy life, peacefully and with dignity.

The peace activist expressed that she would continue to struggle for the women of the region. She aimed to have a powerful and concrete team to achieve all her goals.

The head of the women’s jirga concluded with the comment that she aimed to make this platform stronger and extend the services to the whole of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern areas. In the patriarchal society, disputes are traditionally resolved by a meeting of man elders in the parallel justice system, which is known as the jirga.

This Jirga system has always been a male-only domain, but now a group of women spoke up in their female jirga in Swat. The jirga focused on justice based on Criminal, Traditional, Customary, Education, Environmental, Peace-building, and Women’s Rights across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Among many, Maria Bibi, a resident of Swat, faced domestic violence after getting her marriage in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The 20-year-old shared her story via a video shared on social media and said that she was facing threats and torture from in-laws after getting a divorce.

She said in a video that she had three tolas of gold, which she had given to her during the Nikkah, but now their in-laws wanted it back.

She came to register her complaint in women jirga and said that the law enforcement departments were providing her with justice. She felt hope from the women jirga that this would be the only platform to listen to us and give them legal justice against the influential.

Jawad Yousufzai is freelance journalist based in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He is specialist in Waves, Text, Photography & Documentaries. He tweet at @JawadYousufxai