Muslims campaign against dowry system

Islami Sangh Nepal, a Mus­lim umbrella organization founded in 1985, launched a 10-day campaign against the dowry system that is deeply rooted in the Madhesi soci­ety. This campaign, which will be run in all eight districts of Province 2, started with a rally in Birgunj on Dec 16.“In Islam religion, there is no custom of giving dowry to the groom. The groom has to actually give money and property to the bride party,” said Jelisha Suman, a Mus­lim woman who was taking part in the rally. “However, in recent years, Muslims have started exchanging dowries by copying ill practices of other communities.” Another par­ticipant in the road rally said, “We, Muslim women and girls, have taken to the streets to fight this evil system.”

Different types of aware­ness programs will be held in the 10-day campaign.

Islami Sangh Parsa chapter President Jamil Akhtar, also a participant in the demonstra­tion, said, “In our religion it is thought Allah gets angry just hearing the word ‘dowry’. It is considered haram. If someone takes dowry, they are no lon­ger Muslims. However, Muslim people are now demanding millions of rupees during mar­riage of their sons.”

President Akhtar informed that different types of aware­ness programs will be held in the 10-day campaign.

“This dowry system that is spreading like an epidemic has been destroying lives of women. When a girl is born into a household, she is seen as a liability,” said Mujtuwa Ansari, a Muslim leader. He added, “Muslim community is against such practices. Sup­port from other communities and religions is also necessary for success of this campaign.”

According to 2011 census, Muslims comprise 4.39 per­cent of national population of 26.49 million, most them living in the Tarai belt.

 

 Padman’ brings smiles to school girls

 Birgunj : “Earlier, when we had our periods, we used to skip school for 4-5 days,” said Puja Kumari Chauhan, a Grade X student at Parsa’s Ram Charitra Bhagat Sec­ondary School. “If we sud­denly got our period in school, we would tell our teacher that we were sick and go home.”

Then along came Mad­hav Prasad Bhandari. He has been distributing free sanitary pads in Parsa’s rural areas after he heard that local girls missed school during their peri­ods. He works via Rose Bahini Sirjansil Mahila Samaj, of which he is a founder. “When I heard about girls missing schools on the radio, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” says Bhandari.

Chauhan, the Grade X student, says she is happy she no longer has to miss school.

Bhandari plans to dis­tribute sanitary pads in 150 schools in rural areas of the district. He has already provided free sanitary pads in commu­nity schools of Rolpa, Kanchanpur, Bhojpur, Dang, Surkhet, Banke, Kailali, Nawalparasi and Dhading districts.

He says he will work with local NGOs to ensure that these girls never run out of sanitary napkins.