Ignorance, dowry take their toll on char women

GOLAKGANJ, Feb 9 – The plight of women in char areas in Dhubri district remains pathetic. Education is still a distant dream for most of the womenfolk here. Literacy rate in char areas is ten percent, out of which the women’s share is almost nil. Women of these areas are mainly considered tools for childbirth and maintaining household chores. “It is their duty”, said Mollah Ajgar Ali of Chalakura Char. Besides household chores, the women help their male counterparts in the paddy fields. It may be mentioned that the char women of Chalakura-Birshing, Baraibari, Kuntirchar, Bhasanirchar, Dewaneralga, Mantrir char and Gossaindubi cannot even have a look of their husbands’ faces before marriage. Sometimes, their families arrange their marriages with much older grooms due to acute financial hardships. One Fatema Bibi (17) of Chalakura char told this correspondent that the mothers donot want their daughters to leave home. On the other hand, both women and men are totally ignorant of birth-control policies. As a result the population of the char areas is increasing at an alarming rate. When contacted, a medical worker at Birshing char in Dhubri disclosed that all educated persons including teachers were against birth control, and many char women had given birth to a large number of children only to please their husbands. In recent times, the dowry system has drowned the happiness of many unmarried young girls. “My parents took a loan of Rs 6000 for my elder sister’s marriage a couple of years ago. So, I am working in a brick kiln to repay the debt”, narrated thirteen-year-old Mafida Khatun of Asharikandi brick-kiln in Gauripur. The girl said, “Though I have already worked for more than two years in the factory, I could repay only Rs 2000 till date.” “I want to play and go to school, but these are mere dreams as I have to spend more than twelve hours a day in the kiln. Inspite of this, it is impossible for me to have two square meals a day”. On the other hand, talak (divorce) system has been plaguing the lives of women. The women are unable to voice protest against these malpractices. Anowara Begum (33) of Gossaidubi was divorced recently. Her husband Anarul Sheikh (43) has married another woman after giving talak to her. Even after several steps being taken to abolish these Civil practices, dowry deaths and talak continue in the Muslim society.