One Farzana shows the way for others..

Still many treat females as voiceless beings who have to suffer silently all the wrongs done to them. Even many parents are obliged to tolerate mistreatment of their daughters in their in-laws house, as well. However, a young bride, namely Farzana, has sent a strong message to the country by rejecting her husband on the ground that her husband's relatives demanded dowry. It is, certainly, a wind of change at a time when many people are basically devoid of all kinds of sense and sensibility, many have forgotten to even disclose the fact and the society, as a whole, is facing a moral crisis. Newly married women, more often than not, are considered unwanted if they fail to give a sizeable amount of money or other forms of dowries to their husbands' families. Unfortunately, people have forgotten the teachings of Islam. The greed of earning easy money is forcing them to ask for dowry as a matter of right. It is a clear deviation from preaching of Islam. Over the years, though, this social malice has been taking its toll, successive governments have failed to contain the issue to save millions of poor parents from paying a heavy price. One could find volumes of research and media reports on the issue. To be frank, this menace is still a hindrance to the empowerment of women. The present government, of late, might have received MDG award for achieving some of its MDG targets but the reality is far from satisfactory. Dowry related problems, at times, lead to divorce and physical torture and the impact of these heinous acts on a family can last even for generations. According to a study, conducted by CARE Bangladesh, dowry is still the prime reason for violence against women in Bangladesh despite the government's multi-pronged efforts to eliminate the social vice. The study said 24.4 per cent of the poor women are victims of physical violence by their partners for dowry. It also said 19.9 per cent women are tortured by their ill-tempered husbands, 15.3 per cent for being in conflict with female members of the in-laws house, 14.2 per cent for being provoked by the male family members, and 12 per cent for multiple marriages of their husbands. Though, the law relating to dowry is strict on paper but lack of enforcement has made it quite easier for the perpetrators to escape punishment. Again, poverty is a major obstacle for the poor parents seeking justice. Women's rights groups are doing commendable work in certain areas while media, both electronic and print, are playing their role but they need concerted support from all and sundry to succeed in their mission. Again, stalking, eve-teasing and other forms of harassment are plentiful in the country, to say the least. All these have led many schoolgirls to commit suicide, and these social crimes are going on without any respite in spite of the government's repeated declarations that this act will not be tolerated. Only the law is not enough to eliminate these problems and gender balance should not be considered in terms of the number of men and women, but in terms of balance of their rights between these two sexes. Be that as it may, under such circumstances, all-out attempts should be taken at the family level to restore our traditional value system through teaching the essence of dignity, self respect, moral and ethics. However, if we sit with our hands clasped, we can hardly expect a changed society. The courage of speaking up and doing something against dowry as shown by the young lady, Farzana, is very rare incident, but we have to ensure that the protest against dowry or any form of harassment gains momentum. All women and girls should work hand in hand in this respect. If Farzana, alone, can show the way, others should wake up as well. This message should be conveyed to all. The writer can be reached at email: shafiqul0032@yahoo.com