Pakistan is a home for more than 250 Million souls out of which more than 120 Millions are women on gender basis. On gender basis nearly 51 percent women are literate against 72 percent literacy in male population.
Under two-Third of the Population of Pakistan lies under the age of 29, making it one of the countries having largest youth pole called Youth bulge.
LAWS Protecting Women Property Rights in Pakistan
Article 23 of Constitution of Pakistan guarantees the right to own property for every man and woman in the country anywhere in Pakistan.
However women are subject to coercion or fraud relating to property where property comes to their ownership by way of inheritance or by way of Sale Deed. In this article I shall be focusing on the protection of property which comes to a women by way of inheritance.
It is by way of societal observation that women are either denied or given Minute and lesser share established by the Shariah and the ordinary law of Land.
The first and foremost gender based biasness emerges at home where parents think that any piece of land being given to a girl will end up may be outside family as if the girl gets married to outside own caste, thus giving it a compulsive factor for marrying a girl within own immediate family so that the property remains within the close confined family/siblings of same bloodline.
In certain part of country like Sind, it is even observed that a girl is married with holy Book “Quran” so that her inheritance share does not get transferred to outside family. This is not only utterly abusive but not in compliance with spirit of Islam hence non Shariah and un-Islamic absolutely.
Way-forward to tackle the dilemma
The first and foremost requirement is that the parents shall understand that they are to nurture their children in a just manner, the way they spent money on the education of a boy, in similar fashion they need to focus the education of a girl.
Secondly, the practice that a girl property share is forcibly taken in favor of a brother by the will of parents stating that the parents gave her education and dowery.
This is clear mockery of not only of Law but also of Shariah as boys to get good education and their brides too get jewelry and ancillary stuff so that equation does not fit in to absolutely negate a daughter of her property rights.
Secondly due to this social injustice, after the death of parents, the brother and sisters start quarreling amongst each other so that in some families people get murdered over trivial property matters.
The most recent bill passed in this regard, the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2021, seeks to ensure that the right of women to own and possess property is not violated by means of harassment, coercion, force or fraud.
Meanwhile, under the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Act, 2011, denying women their inherited property through ‘deceitful or illegal means’ is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years, but no less than five, and/or a fine of Rs1 million.
The Most common way of depriving women of their property rights in favor of their brothers is by way of “HIBBA” or Gift deed where forcibly women are to surrender in favor of their brothers or even widow women in favor of their son.
Punjab Land record authority PLRA responsible for the execution of land transfer can provide the numbers which are off course staggering in thousands. We need legislation to henceforth stop this cruel practice so that alternatively this will reduce burden on civil courts as the family which is aggrieved by such transfer later on joins civil suit for non provision of their rightful inheritance share or their share wrongly or coercively transferred in favor of brother.
So the finality is that if parents deprive some daughter of their legal rights ,They are not only violating the law of land but also in clear violation of Allah’s straight orders to do justice amongst distribution of wealth and property amongst children.