By: Roquia Sabri
The endowment is a thing that is considered essential for a young girl getting married. It’s a concept of providing some essentials to the bride when she leaves the house but this whole concept has been conveniently put to destruction. Because, from a religious perspective there is no such concept of providing cash to the family especially when it’s hard for a bride’s family to afford it.
Dowry mainly consists of 10 to 15 dresses for the whole family of the groom. It can also include crockery, furniture, bed sets, etc. while on the other hand, parents of the groom also expect fancy cars, bungalows, motor bikes and money which is a whole new and a wrong concept.
Unfortunately, the dowry concept is a lethal disease that still exists in Pakistan. It’s a process of victimizing unmarried girls whose qualities and personalities are dependent on the costs of their particular shares.
Dowry is a system that should be banned right away. Much the same as other stupid concepts like more than one dish at wedding function should be restricted. Because restrictions on such stupid trends will save the guardians of the bride from embarrassment and tensions.
More than it’s an added pressure on the family of the bride, Dowry is a complete injustice with women and it takes away equal rights from them whereas men remain superior. This creates a bad and negative vibe in the society.
Dowry could be anything but Islamic demonstration. It is so seriously put together in Islamic society as well as in Pakistan that there seems to have zero chance to get out of it.
Forget the less educated even the most educated families seem to have strong faith in the dowry system. This is exactly why guardians do not wish to have baby girls. They know that at the end of the day, they will have to pay certain things to the family they will get her married to.
It’s a common misconception that dowry problem originated from the parents in law. Usually, blame goes on the heads of the family whereas, we believe everyone is to be equally blamed. At certain occasions, the spouse makes an effort not to push the bride for endowment, but parents in law put an added pressure on demand for essentials.
If not given, they start throwing insults on the girl and her family which negatively affects the mental health of the woman who comes to the house leaving behind all that she had.
Dowry, in short, is a lethal form of evil that often leads to verbal, emotional, and at times psychological mistreatment that leaves the bride with less or zero self-confidence. In that case, either the girl survives or goes back home in order to find some mental peace.
However, there’s only one possible way in which the dowry system deems as good. It’s when the bride’s family wants to give something to their daughter. Otherwise, demands from the bride’s family are wrong and illegal at all levels.
