Daily Times

It is said that a parent can feed and take care of children, regardless of the number, be they two or 10, but all the children put together cannot take care of even a single parent.

There is no specific law that provides for the maintenance of elderly or infirm parents, grandparents and relatives in Pakistan. Maybe the legislature has not felt the need for one. With an increasing elderly population above the age of 60, measures need to be put in place to enable elderly parents and relatives to live in dignity.

Singapore has a law in place since 1995 called the ‘Maintenance of Parents Act’. This law enables parents over the age of 60 years unable to maintain themselves to sue a child, whether biological, illegitimate, adopted or step, for maintenance. However, instead of going to the courts, the applications are made to special tribunals and the emphasis is on conciliation. The maintenance receivable encompasses basic needs and amenities like food, shelter and clothing. If the parent files a claim against one child, excluding other children, that child has an option to make his siblings a party. A child is not obligated to maintain his parents if he can prove that he was abused, neglected or abandoned by them when young. There is a penal provision for non-compliance of the law that includes fine and imprisonment.

India also has a law called ‘The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007’. According to the terminology used, the word ‘children’ includes sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters but does not include minors; ‘maintenance’ includes provision for food, clothing, residence and medical attendance and treatment; ‘parent’ means father or mother whether biological, adoptive or step, regardless of the parent being a senior citizen; and ‘relative’ means any legal heir of the childless senior citizen who is not a minor and is in possession of, or would inherit, the senior citizen’s property after death.

According to field surveys conducted in seven South Asian countries, 58.2 percent of the elderly in Pakistan were fully dependent economically on their spouse, children and grandchildren for their basic needs, whereas 17.1 percent were partially dependant and 24.7 percent were not dependent at all. Despite the fact that two-thirds population of our elderly is dependent on others, we have failed to provide legal cover to ensure their dignity in old age. Although the concept of old people’s homes as found in the west still has not gained ground in our society, there are several institutions that cater to abandoned or neglected elderly parents and relatives.

The Muhammaden Law obligates children to provide for their parents, grandparents and other poor relatives, to a degree, but this provision has not been made a part of the family laws in force in Pakistan, although the principles may be applicable. The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 as well as the schedule of the Family Courts Act 1964 do not expressly provide for maintenance of parents and other relatives.

It is a common phenomenon that parents who transfer their properties to their children during their lifetimes are more often than not treated as pieces of unused and discarded furniture; many are turned out of their homes, abandoned or left in hospitals and institutions. The Muhammaden Law provides for a person to be able to gift his property to another on condition of retaining the right to recurring income during his lifetime. However, not many are aware of this provision and fewer choose to exercise it, having blind faith in the goodness of the other. I have personally seen many morally decrepit children who have actually sued their parents over property. Mercifully, our courts still frown upon such disrespect towards parents and many a time I have witnessed a good, well deserved, dressing-down being given to such children. In India the law now entails that any property that is transferred by any senior citizen to another person with the understanding that such person will provide maintenance and care, but does not fulfil his obligation, then transfer of such property is considered void and deemed to be a result of fraud, coercion or undue influence. It further provides for the senior citizen’s right to maintenance to be an enforceable right. The law makes exposure and abandonment of a senior citizen by a caregiver an offence. We, however, still have a long way to go, even though we are an Islamic state bound by the injunctions of the Quran.

Islam clearly dictates, “And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as] ‘uff’ [i.e. an expression of irritation or disapproval] and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: ‘My Lord! Have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small’” (Quran 17:23-24).

The Catholic Church sponsors 15,448 homes around the world that cater for aged, chronically ill and handicapped persons, considering them a blessing instead of a burden on society. Pope Benedict XVI is quoted as saying, “Every generation can learn from the experience and wisdom of the generation that preceded it. Indeed, the provision of care for the elderly should be considered not so much an act of generosity as the repayment of a debt of gratitude.”

Making specific provisions for the care and protection of parents, grandparents, needy relatives and senior citizens, regardless of religion, is the need of the day in Pakistan. Since the very essence of Islam is based on the foundations of public good and public interest, Pakistan being an Islamic state is legally and morally obligated to enact laws that promote justice and safeguard the interests of all people. Though the courts can, in my opinion, entertain suits by parents and other relatives, in the interest of justice, equity and fair play, having a specialised law and tribunal, perhaps at the community level and/or to empower the existing arbitration councils at the union council level, will make life easier for the elderly. Maintenance is not limited to mere provision of three meals a day and clothing but encompasses all amenities, in accordance with the status of the parties, which reflect enjoyment of a right to life in a dignified manner. Beneficiaries of gifts of property by parents and other relatives who fail to provide for them should be visited with penal consequences. Just as a father cannot be absolved of his duty to provide for a child, that same child when faced with providing for a parent, should not be absolved of his or her duty. Morally decrepit children who have enjoyed and benefitted from the care and protection given by their parents and elders when they were young, but refuse to acknowledge the same when the tables turn, should be reminded by a forceful mandate of law to repay the debt of gratitude and to respect and honour the hand that once rocked their cradle.

The writer is an advocate of the High Court