Marrying off minor daughters is a tradition here
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, December 30
As India takes pride in empowering woman in every sphere of life, Haseena Akhter (name changed) is married at the age of 14.

Haseena was married a few months back and her father Alif Din (name changed), a nomad, who shuttles between warm plain during winters and cold mountains during summer, along with his cattle, says he just followed his “rich culture and tradition” and did nothing wrong. Ignorant of the marriageable age for girls, Din says he did nothing wrong in marrying her daughter at such a young age and adds that poverty was one of the reasons for such a decision.

“Besides Haseena, I have four more children, including two more daughters, to look after. Since I have limited resources to raise them, so I married Haseena at such an age and did nothing wrong or illegal. I am also looking for grooms for my other two daughters who are 11 years and 13 years old”, says Alif Din.

On asking him, is the age at which he had married his daughter legally acceptable, Din avers that he was not aware about the age by which a girl should be married as per law. Haseena’s is not an isolated case; there have been thousands of instances in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch where nomads (Gujjar and Bakkarwals) and other people living in backward areas marry off their daughters at an age of 12-15 years, which is legally and medically not acceptable.

The areas where the practice is quite common are Tuli Banna, Gunda, Khawas in Buddhal area in Rajouri district and Kalai, Jhallas, Mandi, Sawjian, Chandak areas in Poonch district.

Dr Javed Rahi, national secretary, Tribal Research and Cultural foundation, told The Tribune that the marriage of minor girls was a part of rich culture and traditions of the Gujjars and Bakkarwal nomads. He added that there were many reasons for this tradition, which includes high illiteracy rate resulting in less awareness about the marriageable age of the girls, besides low birth rate of the girl child in these tribes which fetches good matches for girls at an early age.

Professor, the department of law, University of Jammu, VK Kapoor, who studied this tradition of minor marriage of girls among the Gujjar and Bakkarwal as part of his research on “procedure for the resolution of conflicts among the Gujjar and Bakkarwals in the state of Jammu and Kashmir”, told The Tribune that the traditions exists among both the Gujjars and Bakkarwals tribes but it was more predominantly found among the latter.

As regards the age by which the girls are married being not legally acceptable and the police action thereof, Kapoor averred “though it is violation of the law of land and the police can take action. But these tribes prefer their matters are resolved through their own Jirzahs (main control and decision making body). These issues are hardly brought to the notice of the police for action”.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu, K Rajendra, told The Tribune “Since it is a social problem it has to be addressed by the society. We cannot do much into the matter except for creating awareness among the people”, he said.

“I also believe that high literacy rate among these tribes will solve this problem to a larger extent”. A health officer at a local government hospital here confirmed that the hospital receives large number of minor married nomadic girls from the areas across Buddhal who suffer from various gynaecological problems.