Law alone will not get rid of dowries

Dowries are like a curse on the poorer sections of our society. Young maidens are not married off without the compulsory payment of dowry in the form of cash, land and different articles of use. Reports appear regularly in newspapers about the persecution of brides in the houses of their husbands or in-laws for the failure of the brides' fathers or guardians to pay dowries in the pledged proportion after the marriage. Wives are divorced, beaten and sometimes tortured to death on such grounds. Thus, dowry is nothing but an abominable social custom which is truly motivated by nothing else but greed and inhumanity on the part of those who seek enforcement of dowry payments. Dowries cause serious financial liabilities for families. Apart from ruining the tender minds and bodies of young maidens, dowries impose in many cases a crushing burden on their parents from the requirement to pay them. The scourge of the dowry cannot be prohibited by law only. This is because by informal agreements, the families of the bridegroom can still seek and actually persuade the families of the brides to deliver dowries leaving no proof in the process. Hence, they can expect to evade actions even if anti-dowry laws are introduced. The best way to tackle this malaise is to raise social awareness against dowry. It needs to be taken up strongly by all non-governmental organisations (NGOs), philanthrophic organisations, civic forums and other bodies including the government's own ministry of social welfare. Campaigns must be launched and maintained to change hearts and minds to bring about successful realisation on all sides that dowry is an evil practice. Strong anti-dowry movements waged on community basis can succeed like no other in intensifying public opinion against dowry. The media should also see the merit of playing their part regularly in helping to sustain anti-dowry campaigns. Tarana Hafiz Dhanmondi, Dhaka