Irrespective of their faith, creed, or culture, historically women lived the life of a lesser human in South Asian society. Women are not allowed to make critical decisions including the right to choose their own life partners for them. It is expected of daughters (in the so-called orient culture) to assent with eyes shut to their parent’s choice of selected bridegroom. So much so at the time of their wedding, daughters are reminded that they have to live all their remaining lives at their in-laws’ houses, no matter how hard it would be and that their dead bodies have to finally return to their parents. If the arrival of the British East India Co (BEIC) in 1757 in India from the South and the defeat of the local Mogul dynasty later in 1801, and other smaller Muslim Khanates was the beginning of a long drawn colonial age but at the same time such unfortunate incident also proven a bless in disguise on many other accounts. Before the advent of the BEIC colonial Govt and later the taking over of the Indian colony by the British crown in 1858, there was no concept of written and defined law or code of conduct for the state to run and govern the masses. Every new king used to bring his own set of laws that only suited his own despotic rule. It was something unimaginable that such an autocrat dynasties could have taken care of women rights, when even men were unsafe of the state brutalities. For centuries, after the death of their husbands, the Hindu widows used to jump into the same pyre and burn alive wherein the dead bodies of their husbands were mounted for cremation. Such rituals were considered highly pious by the Hindu religious society; however it was first banned by Lord William Bentinck on 4 December 1829 in Bengal and later completely outlawed in 1861 in the entire British controlled territories of India. Banning the century’s old Sati religious custom was not a small achievement and that was one of the few historical events that opened the path for more such women friendly statute/legislations. Soon Married Women Property Act of 1874 was enacted which allowed the women to own property including land in their names. Muslim Personal Law Act (Sharia Act) of 1937 was another milestone. All sort of issues related to inheritance, marriage, divorce, succession, custody of children and charity amongst Muslim population in India. Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939 cemented it further that allowed married women to apply for separation. In the situation where Women who had applied for dissolution of marriage can keep what she has earned for herself but is not entitled to claim anything out of her husband’s properties or the value of her dowry that was promised by her husband. Pakistan went a step further and enacted Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 and Sharia Application Act of 1962, wherein the women earned the right to inherit and own property including the agricultural land according to the predefined Sharia laws. Despite many good pieces of legislation to protect women rights, the British Indian Government was not willing to grant the right to vote to the women in India. It was also a drastic injustice, on the part of UK parliament, who recognized the right to vote to the British women on Feb 6, 1918 but resisted to concede the same right to the women in its Indian colony till its last day in power. It was not until the new Indian constitution that recognized the women’s right to vote on January 26, 1950. Pakistan followed the suite few years later and let the women to vote during the 1956 general elections. Enacting women friendly legislation by the Govt and implementing it in letter and spirit are two different issues. We can see that the British Indian Government though gradually but steadily took all those steps which ensured the women rights are protected. Situation, however in the princely states and generally prevailed in the Muslim society was quite different. For instance in the princely states of Swat (Riasat Khudada Yousafzai Swat), Dir and Chitral did not allow its women subjects to own land in their name or inherit property from their parents. So much so the former Badshah (Wali) of Swat left his official will in 1939 to divide all of its property amongst his two sons, depriving his daughters. Later on Feb 10, 1972, the late Wali of Swat again validated through a statement that he divided all the inherited properties from his father equally divided amongst himself and his brother, again depriving his sister of any inheritance from their father. Ironically to avoid transferring agricultural land to the womenfolk as inheritance from their parents, the judicial system in Swat always referred to the Rewaj (Pashtun cultural norms and tradition) rather than Sharia. Women though used to receive agricultural land (as Haq Mahar or marriage/dowry money) from their husband families but they were not allowed to dispose of their land (selling or mortgaging) by any means. They were, however, entitled to receive the seasonal produce from the said land. After the death the land given to the women, would pass to her son or sons and if she had no son or sons then the ownership would go to their widowed husbands. Again the women (daughters) were deprived of their legal right of having land in their names from their deceased mothers. In case of issueless deceased men, all of his property would pass to his living brother or even living nephews than his own daughters. At times his (the deceased issueless person) unmarried daughter(s) and wife would throw out of their homes to take over the property. On January 15, 1976, the Muslim Personal Law was extended to the former state of Swat, thus granting women their right to inherit property from their parents; however they were not allowed to apply the same in retrospectively. Now it became mandatory for the Land Revenue operators to have the agreement of all children of the deceased to transfer the land into their names. If the female forgoes their right in the favor of their brothers they must submit her statement on official and attested documents. The Supreme Court of Pakistan (Chief Justice Afzal Zullah) in its verdict in 1990 again reinforced the legislation against deriving the female of their legitimate right to inherit land or own it, however the court at the same time cautioned and observed, if the women themselves wish to renounce their right then they are free to do so. Because of gradual improvement and rise in literacy rate in the Northern parts of Pakistan, the situation with women rights is getting better. The state of affairs in rural Sindh and Punjab is even worse though. To save agricultural land from giving away to others as legal inheritance, the young girls, particularly in the Syed families (Who consider themselves the upper caste Muslim) are married off to the Quran by their families. Once these girls are known about their marriage to the holy book, no one dares to seek for their hands in marriage, thus an easy but cruel and inhuman custom to deprive the women from getting married and live their family lives. In South and central Punjab, there is no reliable data available on women property ownership, however according to a study in 1995, amongst 1000 households only 36 women had property registered in their names and only 9 of these 36 women had the power to purchase or sell their property without seeking permission from their male relatives. As stated earlier good legislation and true implementation of any law, are two different issues. The constitution of Pakistan under its articles 23 and 24 clearly recognize the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property in any part of Pakistan by its citizen (male and female) Practically no parent has yet willingly transferred the share of their daughters and it is always the aggrieved daughters who approach the courts to acquire their legitimate share in their parent’s property. The writer is student of Mass Media and Mass Communication at Iqra National University Peshawar